Who am I helping?

Who did I help?

When you donate platelets at @the American red cross you have plenty of time to think. The average donation takes a over 2.5 hours.

Other than?watching TV/streaming via the Red Cross TVs, there is no use of screens/devices during the donation. With each arm connected to the aphaeresis machine, using a phone or tablet is not possible. It is a nice break from the world of social media.?

Even when streaming, my mind wanders duration my donation. This week I wondered: who is this donation going to help? For obvious reasons, I will never meet the recipient of the platelets I donated Saturday; I have to have the confidence they will be used to help the right person at the right time.

Changing lives

My mind also wandered to: how does this relate to the work I, and so many others, are dedicated to in the defined contribution business??

How many people’s lives do we change that we never get to meet? Have you ever been part of an employee education or #financialwellness meeting where it felt no one present was engaged? Or have you ever been disappointed at the turnout at such a meeting?

Here is some mixed news from the “2021 Financial Wellness Year-in-Review” from the folks at https://www.financialfinesse.com/

The percentage of financially resilient* workers increased from 34 percent in 2019 to 40 percent in 2021. While these results are encouraging, there are cracks starting to appear. Improvement in resilience was offset by decline in financial security** from 28 percent in 2019 to 26 percent in 2021.

Accoring to:

nearly 5,000 units of platelets and 6,500 units of plasma are needed daily in the US. Donated?Platelets must be used within just 5 days.?

Like I must have faith my platelet donation helps the right person at the right time, defined contribution professionals must believe we are making a difference in workers’ lives even when we don’t receive direct confirmation.?

One of the best ways to understand how our efforts are changing lives and what work still needs to be done, may be thru these resources:

Allow the interesting stats in the “Financial Wellness Year-in-Review” to encourage you that you are making a difference. It has been said we earn the money we make in bear markets. Keep your faith strong and keep changing the lives of American workers, even if you don’t get to directly see the results.