There are five money activities in life to master:
- Earning
- Saving
- Investing
- Spending
- Giving
Long-time readers of this blog are well aware that Katie and I give away money. Once or twice a year, I write or republish a blog post about it. I'm not sure we've ever had a guest post about it submitted, though. The blog posts I write are not always packed with details either. And sometimes when we include a few, we're derided by members of the WCI community who disagree with our giving choices.
For instance, a secular liberal might not like a donation to a church, and a religious conservative might not like that we donated to a charity that supports “woke” policies. However, the main reason I have never included a lot of details is a religious one. This reason is outlined by Jesus Christ in the Sermon on the Mount, as recorded in the King James translation of Matthew:
“Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.”
Basically, the point of giving for us isn't to show off. We're not exactly trying to get our name on a college building or something. In fact, a good chunk of our giving is completely anonymous (well, at least until this blog post was published). Not only does that help us avoid the “doing alms before men” problem, but it also eliminates the “charity porn” problem.
Those who have donated non-anonymously know what I'm talking about. As soon as you donate to a charity and give them your address (even if only to get a receipt for a potential tax deduction), they start sending you glossy pamphlets in the mail soliciting additional donations. Then, they sell your name and address to other charities to raise money, and those other charities also start sending you glossy pamphlets in the mail. We do not like killing trees and having our mailbox full, and we want the money we donate to charity to be used for something better than raising money from other donors. The best way to give to charity anonymously is to use a Donor Advised Fund (DAF). While you need to be cognizant of the “jerk move” problem with a DAF (where you get your tax deduction but the charity never actually gets the money), going through a DAF makes giving way more convenient and dramatically more anonymous.
However, a presentation I watched recently convinced me that we need to be a little more open about our giving habits. This speech was given by Arthur Brooks, who we're both fans of, years ago at our alma mater. Brooks, a Harvard professor and author, researches and writes on happiness, so I was a little surprised to see him presenting about giving. But you'll quickly see the connection.
The entire speech is 34 minutes long, and I highly recommend the whole thing. Its main point is that giving makes you happier, healthier, and wealthier. That's right, even if it's counterintuitive. If you give more money away, you'll probably end up with even more. Plus, you're healthier. And happier. Who doesn't want that?
So, if giving makes people happier, healthier, and wealthier and you really want to help people, you shouldn't just give. You should also help other people to give. That's what I'm attempting to do today.
The part of this speech I really want you to watch can be seen from 28:13 to 31:35. Here's the transcript of that part for those of you who, like me, prefer to just read:
“How else . . . can you help other people give more today? First, you can help to dispel some myths about charitable giving.
Myth No. 1: Giving makes us poorer. You hear this all the time. This is what the economist like me thinks. It’s wrong; you have to fight thinking that way. And there are arguments that say the way it works is not just the hand of God—at least not directly the hand of God. Instead, maybe it’s the hand of God through our neurochemistry, having to do with the structure of our brains. But there are good explanations for why this is not true.
Myth No. 2: People are naturally selfish. I hear this constantly: ‘They are not going to give. People are just selfish.' People are selfish, it’s true, but they’re not naturally selfish; people are unnaturally selfish. When we are our best selves, when we are in equilibrium, when we are where we’re supposed to be cognitively, neurochemically, and spiritually, then we are giving people.
Myth No. 3: Giving is a luxury. It’s not. It’s a necessity—the first 10%, not the last 10%. And the reason is that if we want to be better, we have to give.
Myth No. 4: This is not a public policy lecture, but I’m a public policy professional, so I’m going to make one public policy point here today. You will hear in the coming days and weeks and months that if our country were doing what it should be doing for people in need, then we wouldn’t need private giving, that the government would be taking care of people who need it, and that we would not need you to step in to provide needs. Having looked at the data, I am here to tell you today that the day the government takes over for you in your private charity is the day we get poorer, unhappier, and unhealthier. The process starts right now on the day the government crowds us out. We must demand to take our place as givers and to support our communities of need and people who need the services that we can provide.
Second, how else can we help others give more? Well, by teaching. We’re teachers. I’m a teacher. You’re a teacher. We’re leaders in our communities. Everything we do demonstrates what we believe. People mimic those who are successful, happy, and well adjusted. You’ve heard many times throughout your training in church and in school that you’re never really alone. Somebody is always watching you. You’re always creating an example, and, as such, you’re a teacher. What you do today people will see. Make sure that it’s clear that you’re a charitable giver—and they will emulate you.
And third, how can we bring our creativity to bear more in our families, in our churches? How can we create a curriculum where giving is a core competency? We’re very good at teaching reading and writing—well, we’re not that good at that either, but in theory we’re pretty good at teaching reading and writing. We’re not very good at taking teaching giving seriously, yet this is a core competency for successful citizenship and a happy life. We need to be better about teaching this.
What I charge you with today is what I charge myself with, which is to discover more creative solutions to working these concepts into our everyday lives. You can tell this has changed my life a lot. I hope you can tell that it really has.”
Despite my general disinclination to “sound a trumpet before me” on my way to give alms, I hope this post inspires you to become more of a giver. Not because I want the wealthy to spread their money around (although I agree with Pulitzer Prize winner Thornton Wilder that money is a bit like manure: if piled up too high, it just stinks, but spread around, it causes lots of wonderful things to grow). Not because I want charities to succeed and accomplish wonderful things, although I'm certainly a fan of charity in general. But it's because I want YOU to be happier, healthier, and wealthier, and giving has been proven to do that. (Watch the rest of the speech if you're not convinced.)
While we won't get too much into the dollar amounts of our giving, we are going to talk about the different ways we gave money in 2025. Before doing so, it's reasonable to point out that we hit financial independence many years ago, and yet we are continuing to earn at about the highest level we ever have. We can certainly afford to give substantial amounts without depriving ourselves or our children of any of the wonderful things available in life.
I recognize that not everybody is in that fortunate position. But we were givers long before we were FI, and maybe that's one of the reasons we are now FI. Hopefully, by talking about the ways we gave in 2025, it'll inspire you to be a bit more of a giver than you are now, and it'll do both you and others good. Hopefully, one or more of the ideas below will connect with you.
2025 Giving
2025 was our best giving year ever. Not only in terms of the number of organizations and people we gave to but also in the total amount given. We've been giving away more than we spend on ourselves for a number of years already, but 2025 was a record for us. These are all the different ways we gave in 2025.
#1 Provided a Computer
We became aware of a young refugee with a terrible backstory who was trying to improve his life with a college education. We provided a computer and software.
#2 Increased a Scholarship
We doubled the money for a scholarship we had previously endowed at our alma mater. This scholarship supports education majors by paying their tuition.
#3 Paid an Unexpected Bonus
We paid each of our employees an unexpected bonus.
More information here:
Charity — How to Give, Why to Give, and the Tax Benefits You Can Receive
#4 Funded The White Coat Investor Scholarship
The White Coat Investor Scholarship that regular readers are aware of is funded primarily by WCI profits.
#5 Donated to the School District Foundation
We're big fans of our local public schools, and Katie is an elected district school board member. We made a substantial donation to the district foundation—which supports students, teachers, and schools with otherwise unavailable resources ranging from classroom teaching aids to college scholarships.
#6 Tithing
We tithe to our church to support its religious and charitable mission.
#7 Sub for Santa
We became aware of a program in our local community where a well-to-do family can adopt a destitute refugee family for Christmas. We signed up, expecting to bring a little tree and a few gifts. After going over and discovering five borderline malnourished children, one disabled adult, and one barely bilingual working adult in the household, we made a few extra visits—including a house call (where we also went to pick up and deliver a prescription) and repairs of the children's bicycle tires, all of which were flat. While the younger kids asked for go-karts and designer sneakers, mom and the oldest child humbly asked for things like socks, underwear, deodorant, pillows, and a mattress. It was humbling to see that in your own community, and hopefully, it's a lesson our children will remember for many years.
#8 Helped Fund a Founder's Scholarship
Our alma mater is starting a new medical school and trying to come up with a fund to reduce tuition for students who are “taking a chance” on the school in its first and second years. We made a substantial donation to it.
More information here:
How to Endow a Scholarship and How Much Does It Cost?
#9 Sibling Gifts
The Christian apostle Paul wrote in his letter to Timothy that “if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.” We decided to provide substantial “no questions asked” monetary gifts to our 10 siblings this year. We're sure they'll all use them in different ways depending on their economic circumstances, but it sure was fun to see some of them have an experience we've enjoyed a few times over the years: trying to determine the best thing to do with a windfall.
#10 Niece and Nephew 529s
Long-time readers are also aware that we fund 529 college savings accounts for our 32 nieces and nephews. Not only did we make another direct contribution this year to each of their accounts, but we still provide a 200% match on their contributed earnings.
#11 Gave to a Neighbor
We made a substantial gift to a neighbor with a terminal illness to use for uncovered medical care, a family trip, or anything else they wanted.
#12 The WCI Champions Program
While our annual WCI Champions program always overlaps into two years, we provided free copies of The White Coat Investors Guide for Students to approximately 70% of the first-year medical students in the country and many others.
#13 The WCI Educators Award
WCI also provides a small cash award to encourage doctors to educate each other and their trainees about finances.
#14 Work
Some of our work is volunteer work. We lead youth trips. We teach Sunday school. We coach soccer and three hockey teams. We suture neighbors and bring meals over to them. Katie serves on the school board. Some of our work is technically paid. I still practice medicine, for instance. Sure, about 20% of those patients never pay me, but if we give away more than the other 80% paid, does that mean it's all volunteer work?
More information here:
Intentional vs. Unintentional Giving
#15 Small Fundraiser Donations
We made small donations throughout the year to various fundraisers at the school and elsewhere.
#16 Annual Charity Meeting
Our 2025 family charity meeting ran nearly three hours this year (partially because we started by watching the entire video above). This is one of our primary ways to teach, model, and train in one of our important family values: generosity. As the kids get older, their arguments for one charity over another become more and more sophisticated. We had a sibling's family visiting for Christmas this year when we did it, so we let them participate, too. We ended up selecting quite a few charities in their state as well. Money was donated to the DAF and then subsequently distributed to 22 different charities. These ranged from homeless and domestic abuse shelters to food banks; from specialty hospitals, clinics, and medical research organizations to soup kitchens, anti-trafficking organizations, and charities that just pass cash out to poor people.
We truly believe that, as that great physician Luke recorded, “Unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required.” We've certainly been given enough and to spare. We'll only be stewards of these resources for a few more decades, and we want to do as much good as we can with them. We feel it's better to give with warm hands than cold ones. But we also now believe that giving makes us happier, healthier, and maybe even wealthier. We want the same for you, so we encourage you to also become a giver.
Skeptical about the wealthier part? Go back to that video above and watch from 8:20 to 9:15 or read it below:
“I charted it up and did the statistical analysis. I worked for months with my computer in my darkened office to get my conclusion. The conclusion was, sure enough, that when people get richer, they tend to give more money away. But I also came up with the following counterintuitive finding: when people give more money away, they tend to prosper.
Specifically, here’s what I found. If you have two families that are exactly identical—in other words, same religion, same race, same number of kids, same town, same level of education, and everything’s the same—except that one family gives $100 more to charity than the second family, then the giving family will earn on average $375 more in income than the nongiving family. And that’s statistically attributable to the gift.”
What do you think? How did you give this year and why? Do you think your giving habits help you build wealth? Why or why not?