Server methods outside of Meteor.methods - meteor

Question

On the client I need a helper method that returns true or false depending on whether the user is eligible for a payment request.
However, I can't really use a Meteor.method for this, because they don't return a value on the client.
Instead, I have done this and would like to know if this poses any security holes or if there is a preferable approach
Server:
...
// Constants
//
_.extend(Payments, {
MINIMUM_REQUIRED_FOR_REQUEST: 100
});
// Public
//
Meteor.methods({
});
canRequestPayment = function(userId) {
var user = Meteor.users.findOne(userId, { fields: { earnings: 1 } });
if (_.isUndefined(user)) { throw new Meteor.Error('user-not-found', 'User not found'); }
return hasEnoughCreditForRequest(user) && hasNoPendingPayments(user);
};
// Private
//
var hasNoPendingPayments = function(user) {
return Payments.find({ userId: user._id, state: 'pending' }).count() === 0;
};
var hasEnoughCreditForRequest = function(user) {
var period = user.earnings.period;
return period >= Payments.MINIMUM_REQUIRED_FOR_REQUEST;
};
As can be seen, I have created two helper methods with var, to mimic private behavior, and then I have the canRequestPayment method which is accessable outside of the file, and that I call on the client instead of a Meteor.method
Client:
Template.payments.helpers({
eligibleForPaymentRequest: function() {
return canRequestPayment(Meteor.userId());
},