What is your HHI and how much do you donate?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Obama put a stop to my donations.

Me too since he has been president. Given his history of lack of charitable donations before he ran for president, he is someone who thinks to take other people's money to help the poor but not his. He only started donating 15-20-ish percent since 2008. I find that hypocritical and disgusting which is why I can't stand to even look at the guy on t.v.

When then-presidential candidate Obama released his tax returns during the 2008 campaign, it was revealed that he began making significant gifts to charity after he started making serious money from his books — and after he decided to run for president.
Here’s what the numbers look like:
2005: $77,315 to charity out of income of $1.66 million (4.6 percent)
2004: $2,500 out of $207,647 (1.2 percent)
2003: $3,400 out of $238,327 (1.4 percent)
2002: $1,050 out of $259,394 (0.4 percent)

So, when he suddenly had an enormous amount of income - 5 times what he previously earned - he had more available to donate? What is your point here?

No - it's when he decided to run for the presidency that he gave a miserly 4.6 of his income to charity. For someone who thinks the poor and lazy people in this country deserve more of other people's money, he certainly doesn't lead by example except when he needs to get elected. I know it's hard for His supporters to see that, how sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Obama put a stop to my donations.

Me too since he has been president. Given his history of lack of charitable donations before he ran for president, he is someone who thinks to take other people's money to help the poor but not his. He only started donating 15-20-ish percent since 2008. I find that hypocritical and disgusting which is why I can't stand to even look at the guy on t.v.

When then-presidential candidate Obama released his tax returns during the 2008 campaign, it was revealed that he began making significant gifts to charity after he started making serious money from his books — and after he decided to run for president.
Here’s what the numbers look like:
2005: $77,315 to charity out of income of $1.66 million (4.6 percent)
2004: $2,500 out of $207,647 (1.2 percent)
2003: $3,400 out of $238,327 (1.4 percent)
2002: $1,050 out of $259,394 (0.4 percent)

You have too much time on your hands. I don't care what he gives. I don't care what he makes. I don't care what you give or what you make. See. Simple.

So, when he suddenly had an enormous amount of income - 5 times what he previously earned - he had more available to donate? What is your point here?

No - it's when he decided to run for the presidency that he gave a miserly 4.6 of his income to charity. For someone who thinks the poor and lazy people in this country deserve more of other people's money, he certainly doesn't lead by example except when he needs to get elected. I know it's hard for His supporters to see that, how sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. This thread is a real eye-opener.

So many people with so much money that are so unwilling to help others with charitable giving - and seem to be so resentful that anyone would even suggest that they could maybe give a little bit more.

I'm at $160K HHI, $3K donations - which I've often though was too low. But apparently I'm quite generous with my giving compared to many DCUMers. And yes, I have kids, and medical costs, and housing costs, and, like everyone else, need to save for retirement and college.

The people who quit giving because "Obummer"? Are you the same people who say we should cut government and let private charities fill the gap?

The more I think about it, the more sick reading this thread makes me feel. There's thousands of hungry children in the DC area. Would it kill any of you high-income earners to make a donation to your local food bank?

The thing is, and I know this may be difficult for you to understand...I just don't care what you or anyone thinks about how or where I spend my money. I don't give funds to any charities and I have my reasons. I do provide financial support for people I know who have outrageous medical bills, or aren't able to save for college or pay for private school due to circumstances beyond their control.

Having seen first hand how many non profits are run by clueless people, I have no desire to hand over money to them. I didn't get to my net worth by being a dummy nor did I get here because I'm not a generous person.

It's not difficult for me to understand. You're a cheap, ungrateful, son-of-a-b****. Of course you don't care. If you cared, you'd be a more decent person.

I hope that someday you'll see clear to being a little more charitable toward your fellow man.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. This thread is a real eye-opener.

So many people with so much money that are so unwilling to help others with charitable giving - and seem to be so resentful that anyone would even suggest that they could maybe give a little bit more.

I'm at $160K HHI, $3K donations - which I've often though was too low. But apparently I'm quite generous with my giving compared to many DCUMers. And yes, I have kids, and medical costs, and housing costs, and, like everyone else, need to save for retirement and college.

The people who quit giving because "Obummer"? Are you the same people who say we should cut government and let private charities fill the gap?

The more I think about it, the more sick reading this thread makes me feel. There's thousands of hungry children in the DC area. Would it kill any of you high-income earners to make a donation to your local food bank?

The thing is, and I know this may be difficult for you to understand...I just don't care what you or anyone thinks about how or where I spend my money. I don't give funds to any charities and I have my reasons. I do provide financial support for people I know who have outrageous medical bills, or aren't able to save for college or pay for private school due to circumstances beyond their control.

Having seen first hand how many non profits are run by clueless people, I have no desire to hand over money to them. I didn't get to my net worth by being a dummy nor did I get here because I'm not a generous person.

It's not difficult for me to understand. You're a cheap, ungrateful, son-of-a-b****. Of course you don't care. If you cared, you'd be a more decent person.

I hope that someday you'll see clear to being a little more charitable toward your fellow man.

You have reading comprehension skills, don't you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:900K

This year it was a few hundred dollars.

Not good, but we don't belong to a church, our alma maters are already rich, and we are really busy with little kids. I am not sure how to go about giving more, so I just make the same donations to schools/NPR/public television that I did when I was a grad student.

75K HHI poster here -- back when I actually had spare money, I decided that I would start with 1 percent of my income and divide that sum among a local charity, a national charity and an international charity. So, I did some research and decided that my local charity would be Academy of Hope, an adult literacy organization because DC has such a low adult literacy rate (http://www.aohdc.org/); my national charity was Fisher House ( http://www.fisherhouse.org/) which supports family of injured military, and my international charity was Doctors Without Borders.

Those issues -- literacy, family support, medical care to those in war zones -- were important to me, but something else may be important to you, of course. If you're interested in giving more, maybe just thinking about your priorities is one way to start, and then you can find who is doing good work in those areas. The local/national/international split worked for me.

[Anonymous]

We need to revisit this topic, since we set our donation targets when our income was a lot lower, but we donate about 3.5k donations for a HHI of 160k. Most of that is directly to our religious communities. Rest is to charities that support children, usually run by our faith's national entity.

[Anonymous]

We make 450k and give about $3,000 - $4,000 to various charities per year. We also give another $5,000 to our needy family members per year (we consider this a "donation" since we know it will never be paid paid).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is not an opinion. Conservatives give much much more to charity. Probably bc they go to church more.

I always find it hard to associate giving to a church with charitable giving. The vast majority of that money doesn't actually go to people/causes that need help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Obama put a stop to my donations.

Me too since he has been president. Given his history of lack of charitable donations before he ran for president, he is someone who thinks to take other people's money to help the poor but not his. He only started donating 15-20-ish percent since 2008. I find that hypocritical and disgusting which is why I can't stand to even look at the guy on t.v.

When then-presidential candidate Obama released his tax returns during the 2008 campaign, it was revealed that he began making significant gifts to charity after he started making serious money from his books — and after he decided to run for president.
Here’s what the numbers look like:
2005: $77,315 to charity out of income of $1.66 million (4.6 percent)
2004: $2,500 out of $207,647 (1.2 percent)
2003: $3,400 out of $238,327 (1.4 percent)
2002: $1,050 out of $259,394 (0.4 percent)

So, when he suddenly had an enormous amount of income - 5 times what he previously earned - he had more available to donate? What is your point here?

No - it's when he decided to run for the presidency that he gave a miserly 4.6 of his income to charity. For someone who thinks the poor and lazy people in this country deserve more of other people's money, he certainly doesn't lead by example except when he needs to get elected. I know it's hard for His supporters to see that, how sad.

Or, he donated more money when their HHI went up 8 fold just like most people would in their circumstances.

[Anonymous]

Having just done our taxes, this thread is a real eye-opener. And a little depressing. HHI=$78k. We gave appx. $1,200 last year, of which $500 was to our church. Surprised at the higher earners here who hoard.

[Anonymous]

150k, about 6K in donations....typicaly 2K to the synagog (cash), 1K in donations to thinks like children's cancer research and organizations that help people live with cancer, and 3k in material goods -- usually clothes/toys the kids out grew, etc.

[Anonymous]

About 480k this year and gave in the range of 7000-8000. Year before income was closer to 700 and gave about 80k

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Obama put a stop to my donations.

Me too since he has been president. Given his history of lack of charitable donations before he ran for president, he is someone who thinks to take other people's money to help the poor but not his. He only started donating 15-20-ish percent since 2008. I find that hypocritical and disgusting which is why I can't stand to even look at the guy on t.v.

When then-presidential candidate Obama released his tax returns during the 2008 campaign, it was revealed that he began making significant gifts to charity after he started making serious money from his books — and after he decided to run for president.
Here’s what the numbers look like:
2005: $77,315 to charity out of income of $1.66 million (4.6 percent)
2004: $2,500 out of $207,647 (1.2 percent)
2003: $3,400 out of $238,327 (1.4 percent)
2002: $1,050 out of $259,394 (0.4 percent)

Since he doesn't need to be re-elected anymore, his donations dropped from 22% down to 12%. He's pathetic.


So, when he suddenly had an enormous amount of income - 5 times what he previously earned - he had more available to donate? What is your point here?

No - it's when he decided to run for the presidency that he gave a miserly 4.6 of his income to charity. For someone who thinks the poor and lazy people in this country deserve more of other people's money, he certainly doesn't lead by example except when he needs to get elected. I know it's hard for His supporters to see that, how sad.

Or, he donated more money when their HHI went up 8 fold just like most people would in their circumstances.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Having just done our taxes, this thread is a real eye-opener. And a little depressing. HHI=$78k. We gave appx. $1,200 last year, of which $500 was to our church. Surprised at the higher earners here who hoard.

Who are you to say what is hoarding and what isn't? I was one of the higher HHI posters above - If I am maxing out my kid's 529 instead of donating to charity am I hoarding? If I take my kid on a great vacation a couple of times a year instead of donating is that hoarding? What if I want to go out to dinner a couple of times a week?


This thread is eye opening in both directions but the end result is that it's YOUR MONEY. Do whatever you want with it. Don't judge me by doing what I want with it. Last I checked, the government makes mandatory demands on my money and seems redistribute that in any way they choose - beyond that keep your judgmental opinions to yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having just done our taxes, this thread is a real eye-opener. And a little depressing. HHI=$78k. We gave appx. $1,200 last year, of which $500 was to our church. Surprised at the higher earners here who hoard.

Who are you to say what is hoarding and what isn't? I was one of the higher HHI posters above - If I am maxing out my kid's 529 instead of donating to charity am I hoarding? If I take my kid on a great vacation a couple of times a year instead of donating is that hoarding? What if I want to go out to dinner a couple of times a week?


This thread is eye opening in both directions but the end result is that it's YOUR MONEY. Do whatever you want with it. Don't judge me by doing what I want with it. Last I checked, the government makes mandatory demands on my money and seems redistribute that in any way they choose - beyond that keep your judgmental opinions to yourself.

Sorry, judgers gonna judge. And I am one.

We have a responsibility to our fellow man. That includes maybe not going to dinner quite as much so you can kick in a few bucks to help someone who needs the help just to eat, or to send their kids to school in clothes that fit. It's astonishing to me how few people on this board seem to believe that they have no moral responsibility for those in need.