Why you shouldn’t give to charities… …until you retire or die.

[boefixepa]

Re: Why you shouldn’t give to charities… …until you retire or die.

Giving is eay when you have the money, giving takes faith when you don't. To say you shouldn't tithe until you have the money to do so is like saying you'll excercise once you are skinny and have the energy. Everything we have is a blessing and yes I will attest sometimes it means going without, but that is the principle of sacrifice.

I also agree that you should be aware of where the money you are donating is going. You have to trust to a certain degree and remember no one is perfect. Even the bum on the street my go and buy alcohol, but that doesn't mean you don't feel good, or that you won't be blessed for giving him the money.

Each person must reconcile their givings to their own concious, but personally tithing for me comes before everything, because the Lord is first on my list.

[Lemony]

Re: Why you shouldn’t give to charities… …until you retire or die.

I'm an agnostic Buddhist, but I do give quite freely to charity. I love the OP's mathematical argument, but if I wait to give my money to, say, Juvenile Diabetes Research, won't I be postponing the vaccine for said disease? Charities kind of need my money now, don't they?

[cbmeeks]

Re: Why you shouldn’t give to charities… …until you retire or die.

I'm an agnostic Buddhist, but I do give quite freely to charity. I love the OP's mathematical argument, but if I wait to give my money to, say, Juvenile Diabetes Research, won't I be postponing the vaccine for said disease? Charities kind of need my money now, don't they?

Agreed. In fact, waiting 20 years from now and then giving them a lump sum would delay even more. Once they rec'd the million, they would then have to start research with that new money.

It's always better to give when you can, what you can. The actual dollar amounts don't mean as much as the effort.

cb

my $0.03 because my opinion is worth more than two pennies.

[b4freedom]

Re: Why you shouldn’t give to charities… …until you retire or die.

Don't forget the affects of inflation. The $1 million in 40 years will have the buying power of $300,000 of todays dollars assuming 3% inflation per year. Also the $60,500 will have less buying power than $20,000 of todays dollars.


However, if the church invested the same $250.00 a month with an average rate of 8.5% over the same 40 year they’ll end up with $1,009,663!

I left inflation out for a reason. Nobody expects to make $30,000/year for the rest of their lives. The buying power of $30,000 in 40 years would only be $8,871. If your income adjusts for inflation each year and you continue to give 10% of your inflation adjusted income, the numbers work out to be the same.

[b4freedom]

Re: Why you shouldn’t give to charities… …until you retire or die.

I think the trouble is with that line.

I thought about that line for a long time. It is the “cringe” aspect of the argument.

[slimcustomer]

Re: Why you shouldn’t give to charities… …until you retire or die.

I left inflation out for a reason. Nobody expects to make $30,000/year for the rest of their lives. The buying power of $30,000 in 40 years would only be $8,871. If your income adjusts for inflation each year and you continue to give 10% of your inflation adjusted income, the numbers work out to be the same.

The problem is that your $1,000,000+ number ignores the time value of money, making a comparision between it and the sum of monthly giving in your illustration grossly misleading.

[shengmei]

Re: Why you shouldn’t give to charities… …until you retire or die.

A lot of professors do that in Texas A&M. They get the additional benefit of becoming some kind of chair and having the ability to decide policies.

Personally I would love to have a building named after me.

[Writer@Large]

Re: Why you shouldn’t give to charities… …until you retire or die.

Everything we have is a blessing and yes I will attest sometimes it means going without, but that is the principle of sacrifice.

If going without means without new shoes or something, sure. But if "going without" means I tithe my 10%, but then have to watch my own kids go hungry ... 20:.

--W@L

[abowers]

Re: Why you shouldn’t give to charities… …until you retire or die.

I think the plan makes sense as long as you adopt a million black cats so they won't get euthanized this year.

I'll get off my soapbox for now..............

I like cats, but we decided on adopting a retired Greyhound this summer!

I'm not a religious person, and I don't have globs of money to donate, but I have volunteered much of my time at soup kitchens, the community chest, and my job was basically social work stuff for a total of about 4 years while in college/just after graduating. I buy toys for tots at Christmas time. I'm only 22. I think I'm doing alright with 'giving' for my small income.

[lrjohnson]

Re: Why you shouldn’t give to charities… …until you retire or die.

I

I'm an agnostic Buddhist, but I do give quite freely to charity. I love the OP's mathematical argument, but if I wait to give my money to, say, Juvenile Diabetes Research, won't I be postponing the vaccine for said disease? Charities kind of need my money now, don't they?

I'm with Lemony. I give money now so that it can be used to improve lives now.

[Elgin526]

Re: Why you shouldn’t give to charities… …until you retire or die.

Another thought is this. If you set it up so that the $1m gets donated upon your death, your money may not wind up with the charity or church as you intended. All it takes is for a spouse, kid or grandkid to decide that THEY want the money and sue for it.

And this does happen. My best friends grandfather died, leaving the bulk of his sizable estate divided up between his children from his first marriage, and his grand kids. His second wife, to whom he'd only been married to for a few years (and had no kids with) sued in court after his death and won the bulk of the estate for herself, leaving on a few thousand dollars for each of the kids/grandkids.

[b4freedom]

Re: Why you shouldn’t give to charities… …until you retire or die.

A lot of professors do that in Texas A&M. They get the additional benefit of becoming some kind of chair and having the ability to decide policies.

Personally I would love to have a building named after me.

Invest $250 month for 40 years and you too can have a building named after you.

[boefixepa]

Re: Why you shouldn’t give to charities… …until you retire or die.

Quote:
Originally Posted by boefixepa
Everything we have is a blessing and yes I will attest sometimes it means going without, but that is the principle of sacrifice.

If going without means without new shoes or something, sure. But if "going without" means I tithe my 10%, but then have to watch my own kids go hungry ... .

--W@L

That would be a hard call. Personally in my own religion I've never seen it happen, but I have taken weeks worth of food to individuals in need that claimed it was either food or tithing. I made it so they didn't have to choose. That being said, I'm sure there are those situations where this may be the case. I guess that's what food storage is for....my father has been out of work for months finally got a job, but for much less money. We never went without because we stored in times of plenty. It's all part of a whole. I could tell stories, but this isn't a religious form. It's all about planning. Plan for giving and you will always have it to give.

[wwjdmsl]

Re: Why you shouldn’t give to charities… …until you retire or die.

Everything we have is a blessing and yes I will attest sometimes it means going without, but that is the principle of sacrifice.

I also agree that you should be aware of where the money you are donating is going. You have to trust to a certain degree and remember no one is perfect. Even the bum on the street my go and buy alcohol, but that doesn't mean you don't feel good, or that you won't be blessed for giving him the money.

Each person must reconcile their givings to their own concious, but personally tithing for me comes before everything, because the Lord is first on my list.

Agree totally, my Christian faith has helped me to understand that everything I have earned is part of what God has provided. Being a good steward of what he has provided is part of the obedience to my faith in Jesus Christ. I dont need to be overly-obsessed about storing more than is necessary because I know what my eternal reward will be. The math is sound on the original post, however, life can mean so much more when you put yourself aside and focus on others. <Off soapbox>

[abowers]

Re: Why you shouldn’t give to charities… …until you retire or die.

And this does happen. My best friends grandfather died, leaving the bulk of his sizable estate divided up between his children from his first marriage, and his grand kids. His second wife, to whom he'd only been married to for a few years (and had no kids with) sued in court after his death and won the bulk of the estate for herself, leaving on a few thousand dollars for each of the kids/grandkids.

This happened with my grandpa - he remarried, and had written a will, but his 2nd wife (whom he married ~5 years before he died) did something to change it, and instead of my grandpa's money being split among his 4 children, it was split among his 4 grown children + his 2nd wife + her 4 grown children (From a previous marriage)... My mom was not happy.