There is a saying, you can build 10 bridges, multiples buildings, but you can’t afford to burn even one of them. As you can see, the stories of these people some give more than other, but most of them are well-to-do if not down right successful. After they have reached financial freedom (FI), you don’t see them burning any bridges, instead, you see them building schools, hospitals, develop cure to diseases, and they only speak compassionate words while they are fighting for good causes.
1. Massachusetts’s couple live on 6% of their combined income and donate the rest.
One Massachusetts couple has committed to living only on six percent of their combined income so they can give $100,000 a year to charity.
Since 2008, Julia Wise and her husband, Jeff Kaufman, have donated a comparable percentage of their income every year.
Wise is a social worker and Kaufman is a software engineer at Google in Medford, Massachusetts. In 2016, their combined income was just under $245,000, landing them in the top 10 percent of US households.
Excluding taxes and savings, they lived on only $15,280 or about six percent of their income for that year.
2. Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan committed to give away 99% of Facebook stocks.
In 2011, Mark Zuckerberg game away $100M to New Jersey school district, so donors flocking in to donated $100M to help improve schools. Regardless, how the money was used (there was a lot of misused) of the money, their generousity was truly inspirational.
Prior to their baby was born, they’ve committed to build a school from K-12 that also take care of student health with free tuition. You know it will be top notch school because it’s Mark’s school.
After their baby girl was born, overjoyed by her arrival, the newly parents has committed to give 99% of Facebood stocks that worth $44B in today’s FB value.
Check out their letter to their daughter
3. Secret donors paid off $500,000 Walmart layaway
This story wasn’t about on person, but rather, it’s a collective effort of many generous people, I do admire their generousity and their wisdom to effectively give it where people need most.
I tried to helped my brother and my sister when they needed the money for medical care. It didn’t want to just give them the money, I want to pay the actual bill. But I’m a long way away from giving 5 digits at a time.
4. Victim Hero of San Bernardino shooting used his body to shield co-worker. “I got you”.
His words was simple and effective. I’m not sure if I’ll be brave enough like he was but in my simple life, I should practice more of being nice and simply helping other around me.
5. Top 20 generous people in the world – you will be able to see their donations from millions to billions. The names made to this list Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, George Soros, etc.
One person stand out to me: Charles Francis Feeney. His lifetime give away $6.3 billions and his networth $1.5M. Yep, you saw it right, he gave away most of his wealth while he is still alive.
6. Aung San Suu Kyi – she has just gotten elected as president of Myanma. But if you just google her name her story of getting here is amazing. She sacrificed motherhood to go back to Myanma to fight for freedom of her people. Reading her story brought tears to my eyes.
Her father, the top official, was murder when she was a toddler. Her mother sent her to Cambridge to study as a teenager. She met her husband and they had two sons. She was a devoted wife and mother. News from Myanmar that her mother was hospitalized, she went back. The colleges students who were protesting the militarized political party were arrested and injured in the same hospital. They looked to her as leaders. For the next two decades she was under house arrest. She had only get to see her husband and her two children one time. When her husband got cancer, his visa was denied several times before he passed away and she didn’t get to say goodbye.
She has written several books and was nominated for Nobel Prize.
Myanmar finally approve democratic nomination and the top army official, the grandson, of the man who put her under house arrest has given his words that he will support her, including a possible of changing the constitution of Myanmar who married a non-Bermese can still be president.
Her selfless act won me over as her strength to live in solitude and the total devotion to her country to protect democracy.
Thank you for teaching me about generosity. I will use your inspiration to fuel my own compassionate work in helping people.
For that, here are some quotes that I found about being generous.
Thanks for sharing! Its amazing once the burden FI is acheived what can be done to help others.
D4s