When workers break ground in Austin, Texas, next week on a new house for a wounded veteran, financial advisor Shane Morrow plans to go in shirt sleeves to help in any way he can.
That’s because the groundbreaking will be a celebration for a pro bono client of Morrow’s who has qualified for a specially equipped house from Homes for our Troops, a national charity that has been building homes for wounded vets since 2014.
While the homes are free of charge to wounded vets, those who apply are required to have a financial plan to ensure they have the budgeting and financial skills in place to successfully pay taxes, utilities, insurance and all the other expenses that come along with home ownership.
“That’s where we come in,” said Morrow, a founding partner with Austin-based Iron Bridge Wealth Counsel LLC. “We work with veterans on a pro-bono basis to make sure they have a financial plan that will allow them to successfully cover all their housing costs.”
Morrow is among the advisors across the country who work with the Military Pro Bono Program of their state’s Financial Planning Association (FPA) chapter to provide pro-bono planning services to veterans.
“We always wanted to give back and this is a nice way to do so with a mission and purpose,” said Morrow, whose brother and father are both first responders.
Working with vets is just as personal for Jonathon Harrington, who recently returned from his third tour of duty overseas as an officer with the U.S. Army Reserve.
“I'm a veteran myself and am also co-chair of the military pro-bono program with the Massachusetts FPA Chapter, said Harrington, an advisor with Milestone Financial Planning LLC in Bedford, N.H., who has done pro-bono financial planning for veterans for more than a decade.
Harrington said he works with applicants for Homes for our Troops as well as veterans and active and deployed service members and their spouses.
“When you work with service members, especially on the active-duty side, a lot are so young, [so] retirement planning is not on their mind. They are thinking about cars and enjoying life and the fun they can have while not deployed. But that’s where advisors can come in to give them a nudge regarding the power of compounding and the new match they can get in the Thrift Savings Plan,” Harrington said.