For these relatively simple needs there are all kinds of products to help them or to help you help them including passive, active, some sort of rules based (almost a hybrid of active and passive) and of course multiple wrappers to access these strategies.
My colleague from the fire department retired late last year but is relatively young and is interested in monetizing one of his hobbies (I doubt he’s ever read my blog so I doubt he knows that term which may be a Random Roger original) and needed my help doing so.
He recently became an EMT and is looking to hire out on large fires in a couple of different capacities related to his EMT certification. The work on large fires is difficult as the days are 12-16 hours which means a lot of time and a half so the check from a two-week assignment can cover two-three months of living expenses for someone whose mortgage is paid off and otherwise lives a modest lifestyle.
While I know my colleague is a market participant I do not know the particulars of his involvement so to the extent his portfolio has to generate an income, he will need less of an income from the portfolio if he can get out on a couple of fires which is exactly the context of what the hobby monetization discussion has always been about.
A diversified portfolio is going to be a part of the equation for all three people. It would be great if everyone could save enough to meet whatever their needs turn out to be but will not be the case and as people of influence, our friends and families may need help figuring this out and they will turn to us for answers.
The picture is from the Rupert Fire in 2011.