My 1st Million At 33 – yes, you can do it too

I saw this video from prudentinvestor.blogspot.com which was also posted by PaskPeak and KtKuda at YouTube (if you don’t see the picture below, you can click on KtKuda to see the entire video). I don’t know about you, but I’m very moved by the video (especially the last part on the hungry baby). I hope you could take the time and watch it yourself.

There was a time when I ate a $5 burger, I would occasionally sink into deep thoughts on whether I was spending too much money. Knowing how much $5 can do for the poors in the third world country (supporting an entire family for about 5 days), I treasure every cents and dimes that are available to me. After much thinking, I concluded that it is not really the amount of money that I spend, but rather the amount of things or resources that I consume that matter. By living frugally, I try to morally justify the fact that I have not shared most of my wealth with the poor.

I was going to post this video earlier, but I wanted to donate some money to make this video more meaningful. Took a little longer than I expected because most of my cash is in brokerage accounts. Using one million dollars as the number, I only donated a petty amount of 0.2% of my networth. Shame on me indeed. A coward who cannot give up money for fear of not be able to buy a bigger home, or retiring comfortably. I am disclosing my donation, only because of the anonymity and also in the hope that you would make some donation too, to share a little wealth with the needy people. I don’t want any defamation or praise from you. Just doing what I have not been doing enough.

My money went to the following two charities. ChildReach has a Malaria program in Africa, and currently has a matching grant from US government, tripling all the amount of your donation. The deadline is August 31st. Call them fast at 1-800-556-7918. I have been a ChildReach sponsor for the last 12 years. The other charity which is my current favorite is World Emergency Relief (WER). It’s my favorite because the President is paid one of the least among all the charities that I can find. You call call WER at 1-888-HUG-4-KID or 1-888-484-4543.

When my close families tell me not to donate, I always tell them, “by the time, when I have a lot more money, the hungry may have gone dead already.” Truly, God knows that $100 donated at youth means more than the amount of $100 compounded for inflation, but donated at later ages when you know you don’t need it.