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Volunteering Overseas in Retirement

By WTOP Staff

One great way to begin to assimilate into your new community, when and wherever you decide to relaunch your life in retirement overseas, is to volunteer.

No matter where you land, there will be organizations, big and small, international and local, in need of a helping hand. Some programs may offer reimbursement, while others may charge a volunteer fee. But volunteering isn’t about the money. This is about meeting new people in your new home, giving something back to the community that has welcomed you and creating an opportunity for you to practice the new language you may be struggling to learn.

In fact, volunteer opportunities could be a driving agenda. You could pick where you would like to reinvent your life overseas by identifying a particularly appealing volunteer opportunity somewhere and following it.

Some volunteer opportunities require little to no skill, while other groups seek professional volunteers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers positions to retirees interested in using their professional skills in a job overseas. Say you’ve worked at a chemical company all your life. Through the CDC, you could volunteer your skills in a country that needs assistance in that area.

Volunteering can also be a chance to develop a new skill. Uvolunteer.org has positions in Costa Rica, Argentina, Peru and Nicaragua that offer a chance for volunteers to teach while they learn and study Spanish.

Most volunteer positions are offered through sponsoring companies, typically non-governmental or religious organizations. In Chiang Mai, Thailand, Helping Hands, which provides support to the Thai hill tribes, Huen Nam Jai, which assists street children, and Vieng Ping, an orphanage and nursing home, are always in the market for new volunteers, as is Granada Street Kids, with programs for street kids in this Nicaraguan colonial city.

Depending on the organization and the program, you usually must commit to anywhere from a few weeks to a few years. Often the longer you sign on for, the more interesting the work you are given.

Since 2004, the Fundacion Bolivar has been helping foreigners, both resident and visiting the country, to share their time, talents and experience with people in Ecuador who can benefit. The non-profit group is active in Quito, Cuenca, the jungle, the Galapagos and on the coast. Their efforts are focused on education and environmental conservation.

The programs are highly customizable. You can volunteer on your own, with your family or with a group of friends. You could organize a two-week program to include your children or grandchildren over one of their school breaks. Some programs include home stays with indigenous families in the north of the country where you could spend a couple of weeks helping them to manage their farms or other activities related to generating a livelihood.

Or you could volunteer as a teacher’s aid or even a teacher in a village school. It’s not necessary that you have experience or any special qualifications. It’s difficult for these remote schools to find teachers, and foreign retirees are very welcome to teach primary-age children.

The Fundacion Bolivar offers 24/7 support for its volunteers. If you’re coming to Ecuador specifically to participate in a Fundacion Bolivar program, you’ll be met at the airport and delivered to accommodation for your getting acquainted and language study transition period.

Here are other ideas to get your imagination working. You could:

— Join a marine mammal monitoring program in Mexico

— Work on marine life conservation in the Seychelles

— Teach terrestrial wildlife preservation in Kenya

— Join a wildlife conservation effort in the Ecuadorian Amazon or Costa Rica

— Assist tutoring or mentoring teens in other countries

— Assist at daycares to provide academic and emotional support to children

Or you could keep your volunteer work search low-key and very local and ask around when you arrive in your new home. In Panama City, where I’ve been living for the past six years, I’ve become involved with the Fatima Parish in a barrio known as San Felipe. This long-established Catholic parish operates an orphanage, daycare and before- and after-school programs intended to help keep the local kids off the streets. They’re always looking for hands to help.

A friend, a retiree with a long career in the music industry, is volunteering in local Panama public schools, teaching the kids to play musical instruments he imported to the country with him.

Kathleen Peddicord is the founder of the Live and Invest Overseas publishing group .

More from U.S. News

10 Retirement Lifestyles Worth Trying

9 Affordable Places to Retire Overseas

The Best Places to Work in Retirement

Volunteering Overseas in Retirement originally appeared on usnews.com

Don’t Settle for Student Loans to Pay for Online Education

By WTOP Staff
Online college programs are becoming a more popular choice for prospective students, with one study finding that more than 6 million students enrolled in at least one online course in fall 2015. The popularity of these courses can be attributed in part to their flexibility with working adults' schedules, students' ability to progress more quickly through online programs and, oftentimes, cheaper tuition. [See 10 low-cost online bachelor's programs for out-of-state students.]Online degrees can be beneficial to many college students, but some studies have shown online learners complete their programs at lower rates than students at traditional brick-and-mortar campuses. Individuals with student loans but no degree comprise two-thirds of defaulted borrowers. Though these numbers are not encouraging, just like for traditional programs, there are ways to reduce how much you'll need to borrow for an online program to ensure you won't become one of these statistics. Don't just settle on borrowing student loans to cover the whole cost of your program and living expenses. Instead, start thinking about how to cut costs and cover your balance in different ways, such as the following. -- Grants and scholarships: Even though you are taking an online course, you can still apply and receive grants and scholarships. But your first step should be to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, commonly referred to as the FAFSA, which will allow you to receive a Pell Grant if your expected family contribution is low enough. The EFC criteria and award amounts are adjusted annually, but the 2017-2018 academic year awards range from $606 to $5,920, which could significantly lower the amount you borrow annually. Your next step is to apply for scholarships. You can start by checking online scholarship search engines, such as the Salt Scholarship Search, College Board's BigFuture and Peterson's. But don't forget to take advantage of local organizations and your school's financial aid office. Both may offer scholarships that you can't find with a national scholarship search. [Review these 10 sites to kick off your scholarship search.]For instance, organizations like the Elks Club, Knights of Columbus or the Rotary Club typically offer scholarships annually to local students. Just because you're going to school online doesn't mean you're ineligible. Visit your local library for scholarship listings, and ask around town. You might be surprised how many local organizations offer scholarships. While these scholarships typically aren't large, every little bit counts. Each dollar you receive in a scholarship is a dollar you don't have to borrow and pay interest on. -- Work-study: Another option for online students may be work-study awards. Not all students enrolled in online programs are eligible, but students at some schools -- including, for example, SUNY Empire State College and Liberty University -- are. Work-study awards are not given upfront like scholarships and grants. In most cases, they are an offer to earn up to the awarded amount if you secure an eligible work-study job. While there is a misconception that all work-study jobs must be on campus, students can work for off-campus, nonprofit or public employers as long as the work is in the public's interest. You may be able to work for a for-profit employer if the job is relevant to your course of study. No matter who the outside employer is, it will need to have an established agreement with your college for you to receive work-study funds. Remember, to be eligible for federal financial aid, you must be enrolled and pursuing a degree or certificate. If you're not working toward a credential, Pell Grants and work-study won't be option, but you may still be able to take advantage of private scholarships -- just be sure to read the eligibility criteria carefully. [Explore what to know about financial aid in online programs.]-- Pay as you go: One of the great benefits to enrolling online is the flexible schedule, which can allow you to complete your college coursework around your responsibilities. But prospective students often overlook using their part- or full-time job earnings as an option for paying for college. Almost 80 percent of college students in 2015 worked at least part time while attending classes, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. By budgeting and thinking strategically about your college costs, you can likely reduce your dependence on student loans by paying a portion out of pocket. Many -- but not all -- online programs are less expensive than traditional programs and often have shorter payment periods. Six, eight or 10 weeks are common course durations. Because of the frequency of payments in an online setting, you may be well-placed to pay as you go and possibly avoid borrowing altogether. Attending college online and avoiding student loans may be challenging, but if you are willing to put in the effort, you can limit the amount you need to borrow. More from U.S. News Q&A: Understanding Student Loan Discharge Eligibility Student Loan Refinancing Isn't Right for All Borrowers
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