DKW 86 7,438 Posted June 25, 2006 Share Posted June 25, 2006 http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,200904,00.html Warren Buffett to Give Away Bulk of His $42 Billion Fortune Sunday, June 25, 2006 OMAHA, Neb.  Billionaire investor Warren Buffett announced plans Sunday to give the bulk of his roughly $42 billion fortune to five foundations in annual gifts of stock starting next month. The decision represents a stark reversal for the world's second-richest man, who for years had said his wealth would be pledged to philanthropies after his death. more... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bottomfeeder 244 Posted June 25, 2006 Share Posted June 25, 2006 You can only take the blessings with you. That's it. How we help others in this life is what we take with us. I heard someone say one time that, not only does one experience the emotions of the interaction (blessing) again, but after this life, the blessing allows one to experience other's emotions as well from that same blessing. Pretty kewl, huh. Agape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DKW 86 7,438 Posted June 26, 2006 Author Share Posted June 26, 2006 The only things you have in heaven is what you sent on before you left the earth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasTiger 12,990 Posted June 26, 2006 Share Posted June 26, 2006 This is the best way for the ultra rich to avoid the estate tax. Interesting that he gives almost all of it the Gates Foundation and much smaller amounts to his kids foundations. The Gates Foundation is supposed to work very well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DKW 86 7,438 Posted June 26, 2006 Author Share Posted June 26, 2006 I claim setup Tex. See Tex, the estate tax is being avoided with little effort by Buffett. It is just a scam to ripoff middle class successful folks. The death tax is so much Liberal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasTiger 12,990 Posted June 26, 2006 Share Posted June 26, 2006 I claim setup Tex. See Tex, the estate tax is being avoided with little effort by Buffett. It is just a scam to ripoff middle class successful folks. The death tax is so much Liberal 243271[/snapback] How are you defining middle class in terms of net assets? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DKW 86 7,438 Posted June 26, 2006 Author Share Posted June 26, 2006 I am not, I am just telling you that the Estate Tax is a scam to tax those that either dont hire tax attorneys or are just lazy or stupid. Buffett just avoided it basically. Didnt even try hard either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AURaptor 1,126 Posted June 26, 2006 Share Posted June 26, 2006 For all the praise being heaped onto Mr Buffett for this, I've yet to see anyone explain exactly why this is such a good thing. I can't say, either way, other than it's noteworthy that one man is 'giving away' so many billions. So, that only leaves him w/ a few billion when he dies ? Not sure how any of this affects me in the least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasTiger 12,990 Posted June 26, 2006 Share Posted June 26, 2006 For all the praise being heaped onto Mr Buffett for this, I've yet to see anyone explain exactly why this is such a good thing. I can't say, either way, other than it's noteworthy that one man is 'giving away' so many billions. So, that only leaves him w/ a few billion when he dies ? Not sure how any of this affects me in the least. 243295[/snapback] And like a true Republican, its all about how it effects you, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sogaaufan 27 Posted June 26, 2006 Share Posted June 26, 2006 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Buffett Scroll down to the section on Buffetts views. The first one will be his views on the Estate Tax. For years Buffett has called the repeal of the Estate Tax a generational welfare system. If Buffett did this to AVOID paying the tax, he has completely changed his philosophy. He has been pretty brutal on the tax repeal for as long as I can remember. He HAS taken a lot of flak over the years for not being a very big giver. Maybe he is trying to repair his image. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigermike 3,046 Posted June 26, 2006 Share Posted June 26, 2006 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_BuffettHe HAS taken a lot of flak over the years for not being a very big giver. Maybe he is trying to repair his image. 243341[/snapback] Kind of like Presidents working on and being more concerned with their legacy than doing the job they were elected to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DKW 86 7,438 Posted June 26, 2006 Author Share Posted June 26, 2006 Saying and Doing are two totally different things. He just used the usual tax dodge and cloaked it in a huge give away to the charities. Estate just got boonda'd and he did in full view of the public And almost nobody noticed....Or wants to admit it. WTG Buffett! Death Tax is just a scam. It is just like Hollywood types claiming we need to screw the rich, hell, they are the rich. Tom Hanks, Susan Sarandon, Tim Wahtever his name is, Mr. Conductor, Robin Williams, Whoopi Goldberg, etc make $20M working 3 months. They employ maybe 2-3 folks. They are worth more and make more than any CEO out there and like the rest of Hollywood will openly complain about what CEO's make. Give a speech or two about it and then go hire a good tax lawyer, just like the CEOs do and get out of paying the same taxes they just gave a speech about. Be wary of any man telling you how much he just gave away or how much he supports the poor, or the working man. He is very likely just trying to distract you from what he is really upto. This struck me from the first time I read it as being a smoke screen. Just like the Gore's making $345K in 1999 and only contributing $300+ to charity. Liberals get "warm and fuzzies" from spending other people's money. Just like Rosie O'Donnell's story asking 6-7 of her Hollywood friends about giving to a charity on 9-11-01 she was setting up. She called 6-7 of her best friends in Hollyweird and got bumpkiss. We are talking folks with net worths of $200-300M and they didnt give one penny, not one penny. She told that story on Bill O'Reilly's show with a tear on her eyes. She realized then that Bill was partially right about some of her best friends. It is all just hype. Just for fun, her friends in Hollywood? a few names to consider: Madonna, Tom Hanks, Barbara Streisand, Penny Marshall, Tom Cruise. I bet these were five of the 6-7 she called. All are wannabe big time liberals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BamaGrad03 0 Posted June 26, 2006 Share Posted June 26, 2006 TexasTiger...the guy is giving away 85% of his fortune. How in the world do you find fault with that? Damned if you do or dont I guess. If he doesnt give it away he's a greedy so and so...if he does...he's just dodging taxes. Estate tax isnt 85%. I dont care how much you have...giving away 85% of it is noteworthy. And you should be happy. The estate tax exists to keep kids from inheriting a ton of money and not paying for it...in this case, they dont get hardly any of the money. Then again you are a lib...so that means you think the federal government cand spend those billions better than privately run charities and foundations. Edit: I have since been told that you may have been giving kudos to Buffet...if thats the case please disregard my rant and accept my apology for the quick trigger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AURaptor 1,126 Posted June 26, 2006 Share Posted June 26, 2006 For all the praise being heaped onto Mr Buffett for this, I've yet to see anyone explain exactly why this is such a good thing. I can't say, either way, other than it's noteworthy that one man is 'giving away' so many billions. So, that only leaves him w/ a few billion when he dies ? Not sure how any of this affects me in the least. 243295[/snapback] And like a true Republican, its all about how it effects you, right? 243301[/snapback] Correction, that's me speaking like a true LIBERTARIAN. And I'd submit that everyone ask themselves honestly what's in it for them, more often. After a while, you might not like the answers you find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quietfan 233 Posted June 26, 2006 Share Posted June 26, 2006 Personally, I think ALL income--wages, tips, dividends, capital gains, inheritance, gambling winnings, criminal profits, whatever--should be taxed exactly the same way. If it's money that came into your possession that you didn't have last year, it's income. If I work for wages, tax those as income. If I find change in the gutter, tax me on it as income. If I buy a product and turn around and sell it for a profit, tax the profit as income. If I buy stock and make money on it, tax me for that income. If I inherit $100 million from a rich uncle (I wish!), tax it as income to me. I don't see any logic in applying different rates to different sources of money, or exempting some sources and not others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrueBlue72 0 Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 How many of those $$$ will actually go to things that will make the world better rather than simply feeding the hungry bureaucracy of various "charities" or simply providing a source of income for private welfare groups. I hope he has the foresight to give his fortune for purposes somewhat outside the box such as medical research for diseases that have no current treatment, teaching job skills and even basics to those who WANT TO learn and earn. Many of the charities, even some well known, pay out a very small percentage of their contributions to the things they claim to support. And so many have become political machines who spend many dollars on propaganda and such that they are of little value. If you take the time to check them out, I believe you will find it eye-opening where the money actually goes, how much and to what ends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BamaGrad03 0 Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 First of all...wouldnt ANY money to charity instead of rich kids be good? Secondly, the Gates' charitable foundations are very good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasTiger 12,990 Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 TexasTiger...the guy is giving away 85% of his fortune. How in the world do you find fault with that?Damned if you do or dont I guess. If he doesnt give it away he's a greedy so and so...if he does...he's just dodging taxes. Estate tax isnt 85%. I dont care how much you have...giving away 85% of it is noteworthy. And you should be happy. The estate tax exists to keep kids from inheriting a ton of money and not paying for it...in this case, they dont get hardly any of the money. Then again you are a lib...so that means you think the federal government cand spend those billions better than privately run charities and foundations. Edit: I have since been told that you may have been giving kudos to Buffet...if thats the case please disregard my rant and accept my apology for the quick trigger. 243361[/snapback] Thanks for the edit. I was wondering what the heck you were talking about. It sounded like you were responding to David's post above. "Best" is a qualitative judgement, obviously. If your goal is to pass on most of your wealth, giving 85% of your holdings to charity doesn't help you one bit. His kids are still very well taken care of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.