Last Monday, I posted about the widening wealth inequality gap in America. My recommendation for you was to become wealthy enough to give lots of money away.
I have reasons for that idea beyond those that I listed and one of them is supported by this article from Entrepreneur.com which reports that economists have proven that people actually gain wealth as a result of the activity of giving.
“…new economic research backs him up. Emerging evidence—crunchy statistics from real data, not the mushy self-help stuff—supports the contention that giving stimulates prosperity, for both individuals and nations. Charity, it appears, can really make you rich.”
And here’s part of the explanation: “Psychologists and neuroscientists have identified several ways that giving makes us more effective and successful. For example, new research from the University of Oregon finds that charity stimulates parts of the brain called the caudate nucleus and the nucleus accumbens, which are associated with meeting basic needs such as food and shelter—suggesting to the researchers that our brains know that giving is good for us.”
From my own experience, I see a few additional reasons to support that idea that giving and income are interelated:
- Giving is additional motivation for earning money. When you use the capabilities you have to benefit those less fortunate, you begin to find even more ways to use your capabilities.
- Not only that, but you begin to see additional ways to benefit others which leads back to earning money too.
- Most importantly though, giving engages you in your money. What’s measured gets managed and you can’t give without measuring what you have. So often times, the most profound result of giving is merely that the giver becomes aware of his or her finances. The awareness then leads to better management of the whole.
I encourage you to give 10% of your income. Give more when you’re wealthy, but 10% is plenty for most people. After a while you won’t miss it, but you’ll be amazed what it does for others and for yourself. And if you need encouragement, consider that there’s a reason America enjoys the wealth and prosperity we do.
“The United States is a remarkably charitable nation. The Giving U.S.A. Foundation estimates that Americans donated nearly $300 billion to charity in 2006—more than the gross domestic product (the annualized value of goods and services produced within a nation) of all but 33 countries in the world. More than three-quarters of this came from private individuals. Additional research suggests that between 65 and 85 percent of Americans give to charities each year.”
