October 29, 2009 | Read Time: 1 minute
Giving away money to good causes helps the wealthy get richer — and live happier lives, new research finds.
Thomas J. Stanley, an author who specializes in writing about rich people, based his latest findings on a survey of 944 millionaires with net investment assets of $1-million or more (in addition to the value of their homes.)
He compared their net worth, spending habits, giving patterns, and their own reports of how happy they were.
Those who gave the most to charity — 10 percent or more of their incomes — spent less on what the author calls “the impediments to building wealth.”
Those “impediments” to the creation of lasting assets, he says, include income taxes, expensive homes, clothing and accessories, motor vehicles, mortgages, interest on personal loans, club dues, and vacations.
Small House, Big Heart
Among millionaires whose homes were worth $200,000 to $300,000, for example, about a quarter gave 10 percent or more to charity.
Among those whose homes were worth $1-million to $1.2-million, only 17 percent gave as much.
In fact, Mr. Stanley found, only 10 percent of millionaires live in houses worth at least $1-million.
Wealthy donors who give the biggest share of their incomes, said Mr. Stanley, “are the least enamored with status. They have a small house and a big heart.”
The most-generous millionaires built their wealth by allocating more money to investments, pensions, or annuities and to financial-advice and asset-management services.
And these most philanthropic millionaires have greater levels of overall personal satisfaction, Mr. Stanley writes in his new book Stop Acting Rich … and Start Living Like a Real Millionaire.
“These people feel that giving is a substitute for spending more on products and pleasure-related services,” the author writes. “They seem to get more satisfaction from accumulating wealth and giving than from consuming more.”
