First of all, I'm not anti- trust fund or wealth. I do find it ridiculous that someone is spending $25,000+ on high school education, but it is a parent's right to decide where their children attend school. I would also imagine if I were a young heir to a hefty fortune enrolling in public high school wouldn't feel like a welcome environment. I was picked on in school for being poor. I can imagine kids would be just as cruel to someone with an immense fortune awaiting them.
What really intrigued me about the article was the following:
The bank requires extensive documentation of every request.
And some of those requests have been extreme. In 2010, Daisha asked for $50,000 for Christmas gifts, including a trip around the world for the twins. She also wanted $6,000 for a Halloween party. She says she spends $1,000 per month for her children to eat out, especially at Starbucks.
Records show that she receives more than $16,000 per month for living expenses, plus tuition, medical insurance, and more.
A $50,000 Christmas?! A $6,000 Halloween party?! $1,000 a month at Starbucks?! $16,000 a month for living expenses?!
I was shocked to read those numbers for two reasons. First, I have always been under the impression that while wealthy people do tend to spend a lot more than the "average" person, they don't typically spend so lavishly on frivolous things like parties and fast food. I have yet to run into Steve Wynn at Starbucks, and I'm guessing if he spends $6,000 on a Halloween party he throws that party at one of the nightclubs in his resorts and recoups his expenses with door fees and sales. My understanding of how wealthy people view the world is that everything is an opportunity to make more money (maybe I've just watched too many episodes of "Shark Tank" though).
Second, and most disturbing to me was the $16,000 a month for living expenses. I was floored to see that someone needs to spend in one month what Alicia and I will be scraping by on for this entire year. That's $192,000 for the year. Not including the Starbucks budget of course (+$12,000 for the year). All tallied up, but not including school bills (because I'm guessing the $25,000 isn't the whole tuition), these annual expenses add up to the total poverty level income of 17 couples. Honestly, if 17 couples have no choice but to live on roughly $15,000 a year, I don't know how someone can feel like being denied a $6,000 Halloween party is an outrage!!
I would love to see a billionaire (or even millionaire) try to live at the poverty line. If anyone personally knows any millionaires or billionaires who are philanthropically inclined, share this blog with them and see if they'd be willing to accept the challenge.
No comments:
Post a Comment