How Much Money Is Enough?

The Forbes Richest People edition recently came out and it was the richest issue yet. Back in the 1980s, you only had to have a measley $275 million to make the list. Now, even a billion might not get you on the list.

There are 40 plus billionaires in the San Francisco Bay Area alone.

The bigger question becomes, what do all of these rich people do with their money?

When Warren Buffett announced he was giving away his billions to his charitable foundation, leaving “only” $5 million or so each to his adult children, many people were appalled. They believed he should have left more to his children. Much more.

After all, why else are you making all of that money if you’re not going to leave it to your kids?

It’s not like he’s leaving them with nothing. They will get several million.

But how much is enough?

How much do YOU need to live on?

The New York Times wrote about inherited wealth and 20-somethings who were giving it away in an article called “Easy Come, Easy Go for Idealistic Heirs.”

ANNE GLICKMAN, 34, inherited several million dollars in stock on her 18th birthday. She preferred not to think or talk about the money into her 20s because, she said, as a political activist, her wealth was a bit inconvenient.

“I felt like I was in hiding,” she said.

A dozen years later, the trust fund had grown to eight figures. “Here I was, an activist thinking about class and race, but I wasn’t really factoring in my own personal wealth,” she said. “I decided to give away a large number. It was scary, but I just had to do it.”

So far, Ms. Glickman said, she has given away $1.2 million, and she plans to give away more.

Her mother was not thrilled. “I was shocked,” Francie Glickman said. “I had never heard of such a thing. My response was, ‘That’s a lot of money!’ ”

Her stocks grew to $12 million. So the $1.2 million was about 10% of her total networth. If the principal is invested conservatively, she should have more than enough to live well. Or would she?

For Anne Glickman, the decision was not about trying to live an ascetic life. “I’m not an antimaterialist,” she said. “I don’t believe you shouldn’t have a nice TV. But people said, ‘What about your unborn children?’ And at the time I think I was sitting on $12 million. I mean, how much do you need to raise children?”

At a time when people are in competition to see who can get the latest Viking Stove first, when some “designer” flip-flops made of plastic can cost $100, when a cotton shirt from Armani can be $150, it seems that everyone is rich, rich, rich.

Does anyone in the major metropolitan areas know anyone who doesn’t have an iPod?

Interestingly, some of the 20-somethings seem to realize that not everyone grows up with parents who work on Wall Street.

Tyrone Boucher, 25, said he told his father he wanted to donate his six-figure trust fund to groups that work for racial equality. As part of his argument, he pointed to the growing gap between the rich and the poor.

His father, he said, responded: “ ‘Tyrone, we’re not really rich. There are people who have multiple homes and private jets.’

“And I’d say, ‘But the thing is, you’re talking about your friends who are in the top 1 percent, and we’re in the top 5 percent.’

“The point isn’t to dis my dad,” he added. “The point is, what’s enough?”

The financial advisors can’t seem to grasp that some want to give to charities. Charitable donations, it seems, should be the $1000 a plate donation to the breast cancer foundation annual dinner. Not helping those less fortunate in others ways.

“You have these young people gazing upon an event like Katrina, on the tide of human suffering, and they say, ‘I have a million dollars, how can I watch this?’ ” said Ron Gallen, a financial adviser on the Upper East Side whose clients include young heirs. “And the answer is, because you have to. You have to be able to watch these things and go on with your life, otherwise you’ll be broke.”

These young rich should take a cue from 76-year old Chuck Feeney. He made billions in operating duty free shops in airports. He’s trying to give it all away. From the New York Times:

Last year, the foundation Mr. Feeney created, the Atlantic Philanthropies, gave $458 million in grants around the world, more than any United States charity except two, the Ford and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundations. Atlantic, and small predecessors also started by Mr. Feeney, have given $4 billion since 1982; the plan is to give away the remaining assets — now $4 billion, but growing every day — by 2017.

He kept $5 million for himself to pay for any needed medical care. His wife got $60 million in a divorce settlement years ago. His children got nothing- except what they may inherit from the ex-wife if she leaves anything to them.

“A lot of wealthy people, they don’t realize they have the alternatives of spending the money for good,” he said. “If they knew it gives so much satisfaction, I wouldn’t have to persuade them. The press says someone’s ‘one of the wealthiest persons in the world,’ but he hasn’t figured out how many grilled-cheese-and-tomato sandwiches that comes to. How many can you eat?”

That’s the question.

How much money is enough?