Monetize A Hobby?

There will be plenty of time to talk about investing in capital markets but I wanted to take a diversion with this post so that not every thing I write here is the same as the other site.

Long time readers will know about my involvement with the local fire department. We moved to our cabin full time in 2002. The area has a danger of wildfires and so my wife and I, knowing nothing at all about it, wanted to join in order to help out. We both found it very interesting, fun and completely different from anything else we had ever done.

It quickly grew into something I absolutely love doing because it is a physical challenge, a mental challenge, it keeps me involved, it helps the community and something I can stay involved with for many years. Some of the guys are in their 60's and one is 74 and is perhaps the fittest of us all.

In a very short time I have already become co-assistant fire chief. There is visibility that I will be chief or co-chief for many years.

A little over a year ago I became aware of an interesting little tidbit about our involvement as fire fighters. We are eligible for small pensions for our service. The number for me is small, and would be a little less for my wife because she is not as involved as I am. This might work out to $250 per month in today's dollars, based on what I've learned.

The number is not as small as it seems. $250 is about 15% of our fixed monthly expenses (no mortgage or car payments). This creates a little more wiggle room for whatever my portfolio might become in the future. Realistically I am hoping that this means I will have less of an income need from my portfolio.

Reducing an income need from 5% down to 4% could be huge over a 30-year time period. It would allow for riding out poor return environments with less stress.

In addition to the pension, there is a potential income to be made volunteering as a fire fighter. During bad fire seasons we participate in inter-agency patrols for which we get paid as a department for our truck and our personnel. The season for this can be two to three months long and can be several days a week of work. We have guys doing this that are retired. The income potential is small, $86-$114 per day, depending on your pay grade. It would be easy to make a few hundred dollars per month during the summer which could help pay some bills for a portion of the year.

If we actually have a fire, I have fought about 14 fires in my time, we get paid for that as well. Earning one months's worth of fixed expenses doing a hobby can provide a little more relief to the work you portfolio needs to do.

No one is too old to start this type of volunteerism. We have had guys start in the 50's and 60's. Based on some good genetics and what I see other people doing, this is an activity that I will be able to do for a long time. I would be doing what I am doing even if there was no monetary benefit, I enjoy it immensely. That I could finance that much of our future income need from this is just a bonus.

The point here is not that you should be a firefighter. The point is I found an activity that I love doing and it turns out it can be monetized. I have to think that there are other activities along these lines that can also be monetized.

If you have some sort of extracurricular activity in your life, you may be able to monetize it. In this post I detailed something I know a little about, firefighting. I would urge you to explore if this could apply to something you do now or something you would like to get involved with.

Bigger picture, I think this is an important concept. We may see below average stock market returns and social security might be compromised one way or another at some point. Supplementing the traditional sources of income with ideas like this an easy way to relieve potential portfolio stress.

I have more ideas along these lines that I will share in future posts. I hope readers will share their ideas along these lines like maybe writing, tutoring, grant writing, antiquing and so on.