Friday, January 8, 2016

Living on $2 per Day

6 comments:

Unknown said...

If I win the lottery tonight I am going to help some of those poor people, starting with homeless families in the Twin Cities. My family members all agree if one of us is a winner we are starting the Wagner Foundation, the main difference is how much money to set aside for ourselves and what % to give to the foundation. I am the most generous pledging to keep only $1 million for myself. Would anyone else help the poor?

John said...

Tell us about how you plan to "help" the poor as compared to keeping them "dependent".

All of us want to help the poor. It is the how we help them that we disagree on.

Unknown said...

Off the top of my head I wanted to give money to a Ramsey county agency to develop more transitional housing. Every year I feel so sad for little kids (and teenagers) sleeping in my church basement, which operates as an overflow shelter each month of May.

It was really quite fun yesterday discussing which charities / organizations we would fund first with our winnings. Also at the top of my list was a library for my school and some money for aid for Syrian refugees. My husband and I both mentioned helping Nature Conservancy preserve some place, as we both have a strong love of the outdoors.

Join the fun. I am sure everyone who reads this blog would give a signigficant amount to charity (in terms of dollars at least, if not percentage wise) if they won nearly a billion dollars.

John said...

Please note that you did not say you would give additional money to the government general fund. On the upside that means you are as smart as Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, etc in knowing that private charities are more productive and effective than the politicians and bureaucrats.

Something that Jerry and I often point out.

As for money, I think I would form a charitable trust like the big guys and personally manage it. It would look to help people who truly want to improve their lives and are willing to work hard to do so.

Unknown said...

about "It would look to help people who truly want to improve their lives and are willing to work hard to do so."

Do you know of specific organization(s) currently doing that kind of work or would you need to start one?

After dreaming about winning some more I would also pay off my student loan, buy a new townhouse and a set aside a little bit of money to give to family members, who generally don't need very much. I would also like to throw a couple of big parties to celebrate. And I would invite commentators here to attend :)

So is anyone one else buying a ticket into the dream? The projection I saw said $1.3 billion the next time power ball is drawn.

John said...

We give generously to this group. PRISM I also use United Way to help vet charities.