Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I really love your idea. It does seem like billionaires have forgotten about the little guy, that it's all about power. That's why ordinary Americans are feeling angry and left behind. Surely if some guy in a forgotten small town in Mississippi was given this opportunity he would be grateful. If George Soros gave his money in this way it would show that he cared better and less about power. I would think that conservatives wouldn't be oppose to this.
All of my "assets" are worth about $120,000. And I would gladly give up 80% of my assets for five years if it would mean that everyone in the USA could receive the education of their choice for free.
so why don't you?
Liquidate EVERYTHING, hold on to 20% of the cash, and fund just 1 worthy student for the next 4 years. Interview and select then, mentor them, help them, and then blog about the results.
Still, I must admit confusion on a couple of items ...
What "Low-risk investments can easily earn 10% on the principal"? Please be specific.
How do you "borrow" the wealth of anyone? Like, take their money and then give it back in 5 years? Or are they to obtain a loan against the value of their net worth, and then give that to the cause?
The equivalent of two years post high school education cost should be essentially as free as k-12. I don't think that necessarily applies to room and board. Community colleges and trade schools should be free. Some are now.
you'd have a far greater chance of properly subsidizing community college for those who were below a certain income than this socialized (his word) education scheme.
I really love your idea. It does seem like billionaires have forgotten about the little guy, that it's all about power. That's why ordinary Americans are feeling angry and left behind. Surely if some guy in a forgotten small town in Mississippi was given this opportunity he would be grateful. If George Soros gave his money in this way it would show that he cared better and less about power. Surely conservatives wouldn't be oppose to this.
Interesting you should mention George Soros. He's nowhere near rich enough to be in the list of the top 40 richest people in the USA. (He has dual Hungarian and American citizenship.)
Incidentally, as of March 2021, he had a net worth of $8.6 billion, having donated more than $32 billion to the Open Society Foundations, of which $15 billion have already been distributed, representing 64% of his original fortune. Forbes called him the "most generous giver" (in terms of percentage of net worth). (per Wikipedia)
All of my "assets" are worth about $120,000. And I would gladly give up 80% of my assets for five years if it would mean that everyone in the USA could receive the education of their choice for free.
So, donate $96,000 now and send proof to each billionaire, asking them to match your donation percentage.
Interesting you should mention George Soros. He's nowhere near rich enough to be in the list of the top 40 richest people in the USA. (He has dual Hungarian and American citizenship.)
Incidentally, as of March 2021, he had a net worth of $8.6 billion, having donated more than $32 billion to the Open Society Foundations, of which $15 billion have already been distributed, representing 64% of his original fortune. Forbes called him the "most generous giver" (in terms of percentage of net worth). (per Wikipedia)
Interesting I had no idea that Soros was so generous. There seems to be a lot of people who think that he's a mega villain who's far out of touch with the average American.
Hear me out, I’m just a socialist with a spreadsheet and a search engine.
According to Forbes--
1. The combined wealth of the world’s 10 richest people ballooned by over $400 billion in 2021.
2. There are over 400 billionaires in the USA.
Here's a thought experiment:
If we merely BORROWED 80% of the wealth from the top 40 wealthiest people in the USA for 5 years, interest free, we could set up a fund for free post-secondary education for anyone who needs it.
Important to note that they would still be billionaires several times over (each of them would temporarily be worth only between 3-40 billion instead of 18-201 billion).
This LOAN amount would be a total of one trillion, 854 billion, 800 million dollars.
Low-risk investments can easily earn 10% on the principal, amounting to well over $185 billion annually.
Skim off enough to pay for college (or trade school) nationwide for everyone from a household making less than $125,000.
This would be about $75 billion annually. (SOURCE: Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce,The Dollars and Sense of Free College, 2020.)
You would still have earnings of over $100 billion left, to which you will add $100 billion every year for 4 more years, earning 10%. At the end of the five years, the earnings with compounded interest would total well over $600 billion.
Then you can give them back their money back AND continue to fund post-secondary education in perpetuity.
What do you think? Can we afford to provide a free post-secondary education to all who need it? Should we? Wouldn't it be better if we could? Maybe it would even save money in the end, since it would give disadvantaged people a way out of extreme poverty and make college loans a thing of the past. It could actually be a huge boost to the economy.
Let’s start with the financial illiteracy that makes one think they have more than a few billion amongst the whole lot of them in cash to begin with.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eyebee Teepee
you'd have a far greater chance of properly subsidizing community college for those who were below a certain income than this socialized (his word) education scheme.
If the US wanted free education it could find it.
The problem is it would need constraints.
I personally like the idea the gov pays for half. That gives people skin in the game. And if the government wants the increased tax revenue from theoretical increased earnings it can help out as well.
But there also needs to be limits on tuition. The rate it currently goes up is asinine. I’d rank the inability to discharge the debt as a leading problem there.
Liquidate EVERYTHING, hold on to 20% of the cash, and fund just 1 worthy student for the next 4 years. Interview and select then, mentor them, help them, and then blog about the results.
Still, I must admit confusion on a couple of items ...
What "Low-risk investments can easily earn 10% on the principal"? Please be specific.
How do you "borrow" the wealth of anyone? Like, take their money and then give it back in 5 years? Or are they to obtain a loan against the value of their net worth, and then give that to the cause?
First, thanks for being willing to participate in this thought experiment.
The thing is, when you have the kind of wealth that these top 40 wealthiest people have, it doesn't even mean anything anymore. We're not talking about millionaires. We are talking about the kind of money that humans can barely grasp.
Example:
If you had a million dollars and spent $1,000 a day, you would run out in 3 years.
If you had a billion dollars and spent $1,000 a day, you would run out in 2,740 years.
And all this money is not doing anything but just sitting there.
It's not a helpful comparison at all to suggest I liquidate 80% of my miniscule wealth to make a tiny difference in the world.
Regarding rate of return, since 1926, the average annual return for stocks has been 10%.
Last edited by AguaDulce; 01-30-2022 at 12:58 PM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
