Aim High
I am a practical person, so I look at money from a practical point of view. I make a practical assessment of how much money I need for daily living, for emergency funds, and for retirement planning.
I spent most of my life building my career and building my family and home. I have spent most of my money on day to day living needs, education for my children, leisure activities, and a modest amount of traveling.
I realize that I have more money than I or my family members need. I want to broaden my sphere of care, to open my eyes to human beings outside of my immediate family whose needs are just as real as my own family's needs.
I am concerned that many of us save more money in our retirement accounts than we will ever need. We keep money locked up in 401K’s and bequeath it to our children at the time of our death, even though our children and grandchildren often do not need our money in order to live happy and financially secure lives.
Meanwhile, hundreds of millions of people suffer daily with extreme poverty, malnourishment, lack of medical care, and lack of educational and job opportunities. But our money, with all of its life-changing potential, with the power to dramatically impact lives for good, sits in 401K’s, rises and falls with the stock market fluctuations, gives us a false sense of security, and does absolutely no one any good. It’s a tragic waste of potential.
Capital Gains Giving: Designate the dollar amount of savings that you need for retirement security. At the end of each year, if the balance in your investment accounts is above that level, then give your capital gains that year to your fellow human beings. If you don’t have capital gains in a year, then you don’t give that year. With this plan, you give away only the amounts that you don’t need.
Here's a great way to reach outside of your immediate family circle and make a dramatic impact on the life-trajectory of individuals: Give college scholarships to youth who live in the poorest country.
I decided that I don’t want to Aim Too Low. I hope you do too!
Let’s do as much good as we can, while we can!
Fran Roby, PASS Co-Founder
How Much Can I Give?
You may NOT consider yourself wealthy, however, if your annual household income for 2 adults is greater than $63,000, then you are in the top 5% of the world population with regard to your income. Check out this website and calculate how rich you are: https://www.givingwhatwecan.org/how-rich-am-i?
A Prayer for All
We believe that God is present in the darkness before dawn; in the waiting and uncertainty where fear and courage join hands, conflict and caring link arms, and the sun rises over barbed wire. We believe in a with-us God who sits down in our midst to share our humanity, a feasting God. We affirm a faith that takes us beyond a safe place into action, into vulnerability, into the streets. We commit ourselves to work for change and put ourselves on the line; to bear responsibility, to take risks, live powerfully and face humiliation; to stand with those on the edge; to choose life and be used by the Spirit for God’s new community of Hope. Amen.
It often surprises Christians when they discover just how much the Bible talks about money. In fact there are more than 2,300 verses on money, wealth and possessions. Jesus spoke about money roughly 15% of his preaching and 11 out of 39 parables. It was Jesus' most talked about topic.
- Matthew 25:34-36
Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ - Mark 10:21-22
Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions. - Mark 12:41-44
He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.’
God expects us to be like the poor widow and not like the rich people in His Son’s parable, so just imagine how much He expects us wealthy people to give!
Many retirees have substantial sums of money in their retirement funds but give far less than what our Christian faith expects of us. Upon our deaths, we bequeath large sums to our children and grandchildren, much more than they need, meanwhile the majority of people in our world suffer from malnourishment, die from curable illnesses, and are destined to live a life in extreme poverty because they lack the money they need to better their lives through education. This is happening on “our watch”.
Please, for your own sake, do NOT "nickel and dime" the poor. Give generously because you are very wealthy in comparison to the vast majority of the people of our world, and your Christian faith expects more of you.
Retirees: Consider Capital Gains Giving. Designate a portion of your retirement savings and give the capital gains from that amount to charity each year. In addition, consider giving at least 10% of your annual income to charity each year.