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2006-06-26 Home Front Economy

Buffett to begin giving fortune away to charities

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Posted by ed 2006-06-26 08:13|| || Front Page|| [1 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 I am also just getting into charities.
The Blue Whale Foundation, or how about the Seniors Outlook Improvement Fund ?

Posted by wxjames 2006-06-26 08:19|| 2006-06-26 08:19|| Front Page Top

#2 As big as that fortune sounds, it is still just a drop in the bucket of the national debt. The feds could take every cent of it and it would just be invisibly absorbed into the gaping maw of the DC bureaucracy.

Posted by glenmore">glenmore 2006-06-26 08:41|| 2006-06-26 08:41|| Front Page Top

#3 Will he be paying the Estate Tax he so dearly loves on these bequests first? Or is he planning on cheating the tax man so he can give it to institutions even more liberal than the government?

Posted by Nimble Spemble 2006-06-26 08:57|| 2006-06-26 08:57|| Front Page Top

#4 His contributions to the expansion of industry and business thus creating new jobs and opportunities, and the creation of new capital for further investment are charity enough. How many of the guilt mongers who know better than Warren, on how to spend his monies, can make that claim of literally enriching society to the extent he has simply by the capitalist model?

Posted by Flomoling Snineque4791 2006-06-26 09:06|| 2006-06-26 09:06|| Front Page Top

#5 Giving to charity, so no estate tax. Between Gates and Warren, the leftist trustafarian leeches will be deep in patchouli for generations.

Posted by ed 2006-06-26 09:07|| 2006-06-26 09:07|| Front Page Top

#6 Like Gates, Buffett's donation is far less charitable than an economic decision. That is, most of Gates' fortune is tied up in Microsoft. He has vast amounts of money until he tries to have it, by selling Microsoft stock. As soon as he does, its price will plummet.

He has his cake, but can't eat it. He would get screwed by the lower sale price *and* by capital gains taxes.

Foundations are under strict federal rules that they must use 10% of their principal each and every year. But they can be limited to giving away no *more* than 10%.

This means that if Bill gives his charity a huge amount of stock, he not only gets a huge tax deduction, out of his capital gains taxes; but protects any stock sales he makes from crashing MS stock, because investers are insured that his foundation *won't* sell.

The same trick applies to Berkshire-Hathaway, Buffett's organization, which I suspect may be heading towards some very rough times in which its stock could plummet. Thus Buffett is protecting his stock value, spending a billion to save ten billion and get a major capital gain tax deduction.

But now the $64 question. Since there is very little you can do with more than a hundred million dollars than invest it, why does both Gates and Buffett want to be that liquid? Are they expecting there to be some huge investment opportunity in the near future?

Posted by Anonymoose 2006-06-26 11:55|| 2006-06-26 11:55|| Front Page Top

#7 I really admire the generosity that Gates and Buffett are displaying. I'm just depressed that so much of their wealth will go towards "family planning" in the third world. In other words their generosity, will result in a lot of aborted children. Sad to see such a bitter result from such a generous gesture.

Posted by WhitecollarRedneck 2006-06-26 12:08|| 2006-06-26 12:08|| Front Page Top

#8 How convenient, avoiding the taxes he supports.

Posted by anonymous2u 2006-06-26 12:23|| 2006-06-26 12:23|| Front Page Top

#9 The way I understand it is that Buffett doesn't pay taxes on that portion of his estate that went into a charitable trust.

However, he also can't pass that trust on to his heirs (it is possible, even likely, that some of his heirs will be employees of the charitable trust but their salaries will be little compared to the value of the trust itself).

Posted by mhw 2006-06-26 14:01|| http://hypocrisy-incorporated.blogspot.com/]">[http://hypocrisy-incorporated.blogspot.com/] 2006-06-26 14:01|| Front Page Top

#10
I think that he should give everyone in the world $1.

Posted by Master of Obvious 2006-06-26 17:55|| 2006-06-26 17:55|| Front Page Top

#11 Warren, next dance you have with Melinda, kindly whisper to her that when she's finished with the geek you know a nice old Dutchman that she'll simply adore.

Posted by Besoeker 2006-06-26 20:51|| 2006-06-26 20:51|| Front Page Top

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