Page 123 - Ray Dalio - Principles

strong. I wanted the same for the people I loved. So, when I
had earned a lot of money, I felt I had plenty of money to give
away to others.

Over time, as we gained experience in trying to help in a

number of areas, I learned how fast money goes and that we
didn’t have nearly enough to take care of everything we cared
about. Additionally, when my first grandchild was born, it
prompted me to wonder how many generations I should
budget to protect. Speaking to others in comparable positions,
I discovered that even the richest people feel short of the

money they need to do the things they want to do. So I studied
how other families approach the question of how much to set
aside for family and how much to give away at what pace.
While our family still has not answered these questions
definitely, I know that I personally will give more than half of
my money to those beyond my family.

Which causes we should donate to was another big

question. Barbara’s biggest passion has been helping students
in the most stressed public school districts in Connecticut,
especially those students who are called “disengaged and
disconnected.” A study she funded showed that 22 percent of
12
high school students fall into one of these two categories,
which was shocking because most will probably become
adults who will suffer and be burdens on society rather than

flourishing contributors to it. Because she has a lot of direct
contact with these children and their teachers, she understands
their needs. When she learned that 10,000 of them didn’t have
winter coats, she felt compelled to provide them. What she
showed me opened my eyes. How can clothing and nutrition

be so severely deficient in this “land of opportunity”?
Everyone in our family believes that equal opportunity, which
is one of the most fundamental human rights, requires equal
educational opportunity—and that educational opportunities
are terribly unequal. The economic costs—in the forms of
crime and incarceration—as well as the social costs of not
investing in improving these conditions are immense. While
we have felt compelled to help, we’ve discovered it is very

difficult to have a significant impact relative to the size of the
problem.