Friday, February 11, 2005

Charitable Donations

How much do you give to charity? The average American household gives 3.2% of their income before taxes to charity. Bill Gates has given away 37% of his wealth. Warren Buffet has only given away 1%. Traditionally the church has asked for 10%.

I see no axiomatic way to determine the right level. One way is to determine the percentage of your wealth that you wish to give away. Another is to figure out how much you really need (or want) and give the rest away. That's difficult to do.