Prosocial Spending Makes Us Happy - But We Tend to Spend for Personal Needs

Can money buy happiness? Much research has been done that shows that income has a reliable, but weak, relationship with being happy. While incomes have surged in recent decades, happiness levels have remained static, showing no sign of people being happier as a result of their increased income.
A University of British Columbia study (”Spending Money

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Helping Others Without Providing Financial Support

If you see a friend or family member struggle with their finances, you may want to help. But you may be wary of lending money — or even just gifting it outright. Money can easily come between the best of friends, and put strain on family relationships. Even when you formally structure a loan and

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Charitable Giving Starts With Finding A Cause You’re Passionate About

Charitable giving starts with finding a cause you’re passionate about. Find a cause or organization you are passionate about – whether it’s the environment, education, the arts, animals, or any other topic you care about. Ask what the needs are, and make a commitment to help.
When choosing an organization to assist, take a look at

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Charitable Gift Annuities - Charitable Giving Combined with a Lifetime Annuity

Unlike commercial annuities, which are sold by insurance companies, charitable gift annuities are offered directly by nonprofit organizations like charities, universities and hospitals.
Increasingly, people are discovering these products as a neat solution to both their charitable intentions and their desire to create more reliable income in retirement.
How they work
An organization accepts your donation – cash,

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Giving to Charity

When giving to charity here are a couple of helpful guidelines:

Earmark 80% of your annual giving for a specific mission while reserving the other 20% for spontaneous donations.
If you want your gift to solve a big problem like homelessness or AIDS do a little  research on the internet to find a charity that addresses that

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It Seems So Human To Hold Your Hand Out

These are excerpts about Paul Newman from a column in The Wall Street Journal (10/2/2008):
“What many may not know is that he donated 100% of the post-tax profits and royalties from the Newman’s Own company to charities world-wide – more than $250 million to date.”
“Paul’s passion for philanthropy was rooted in the strong belief that

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Charitable Giving Resources

Services
Find Charity Projects
Visit Global Giving to learn about charity projects throughout the world that are helping people and communities with education, health care and environmental support. The site allows you to make a donation to the project of your choice.
Directly Provide Individual Assistance
Visit Global Impact if you want to directly help a person and

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Charitable Giving and Due Diligence

The wealthy are doing more due diligence when preparing their charitable giving. The 2008 Bank of America Study of High Net-Worth Philanthropy, conducted by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, found that the wealthy are increasingly seeking financial advisers, attorneys and accountants for advice on charitable giving. That’s a big change from the

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“He Took Care of People”

The following excerpt from Peggy Noonan’s June 21, 2008 Wall St. Journal column about Tim Russert:

“In a way, the world is a great liar. It shows you it worships and admires money, but at the end of the day it doesn’t. It says it adores fame and celebrity, but it doesn’t, not really. The world

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