Remember when you were a kid, and you told your mom “When I
grow up, I’m going to buy you a great big house!” or something like that?
Or think about the times you’ve said “If I could afford it,
I’d donate to the (your favorite charity)”….
Some people have these impulses, and some don’t.
Take Bill Gates. He’s worth more than $81 billion, and
during 2008-2013 he gave $7.5 billion to his charitable foundations.
Or Warren Buffett. He’s worth over $68 billion, and during
that six-year period he donated more than $8 billion to his personal
foundations.
Or take the Waltons—Christy, Jim, Alice and Rob—who are
incredibly rich because Sam Walton built Wal-Mart. Each one of the four is
worth more than $35 billion, for a combined total of about $145 billion. During
2008-2013, they gave a combined total of $17.5 million (million, not billion)
to the Walton family foundation.
The four Waltons gave their favorite charity about
twelve-thousandths of one percent of their net worth over a six-year period. The
DailyKos.com says they use the foundation to minimize their future estate
taxes.
What’s your net worth? Not your income, your net worth. Try
this: add up the equity in your house and the value of your car, your bank
account, your 401k….if your net worth is, say, $200,000, and you give more than
$4 a year to your favorite charities, you’re being more
generous than the Waltons.
Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2015 All rights reserved.
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