Book

Book Description

Fund Your $100,000: A Novel Initiative to Reduce Wealth Inequality introduces a concept that has the potential to positively change not only individual American lives, but the whole of society. Despite decades of policy support, existing programs that aim to encourage saving and reduce wealth inequality have proven ineffective for most Americans. As wealth inequality in America continues to grow, it’s clear that a new paradigm is needed.

Fund Your $100,000 outlines a straightforward new initiative for every American. It describes the initiative in detail, including an implementation plan and specific participant roles. Through a combination of case examples and innovative ideas on how to fund everyone’s FY100 account, readers will discover a practical plan for reducing wealth inequality in America.

In addition, the book examines the impacts of the FY100 initiative, evaluates wealth and why wealth inequality persists, and shows how the program fits into a variety of economic and political perspectives. Through thoughtful examination of the program from different points of view, the book demonstrates a considered approach to its development that honors differences of thought.

Table of Contents

In nine engaging chapters Fund Your $100,000 brings readers into a novel idea to address wealth inequality. Readers should start with Chapter 1, where the Big Idea is introduced in just three paragraphs. Chapters 2-8 are not linear, so readers can jump into any section that interests them. As each chapter is read, a full picture for FY100 is revealed, and is shown in the light of numerous perspectives. The conclusion in Chapter 9 brings it all together.

Chapter 1 – Big Idea – No waiting. No Hiding. This quick two page chapter lays out the Fund Your $100,000 initiative to quickly get the reader on board for what it takes to reduce wealth inequality.

Chapter 2 – Cases – Want to explore what it would be like for different people living their own unique life to get $100,000 into their FY100 account? These 5 sample case studies get personal and contemplate how FY100 can work for them. Share your own case example back with us.

Chapter 3 – Implementation – Let’s not kid ourselves, this initiative is going to take some work and several groups working together to make it happen. This chapter begins the look into who needs to be involved and what needs to get done.

Chapter 4 – Creative Distribution – One of the best parts about FY100 is that anyone can give to anyone else. With the incentive of tax benefits, there are lots of unique ways in which contributing to FY100 accounts can happen. Here are 12 easy ideas. What new ways can you identify?

Chapter 5 – Impacts – The FY100 initiative is not meant to be just a new way to save money, it is designed to be a transformative means to reduce wealth inequality. This chapter looks at what can happen with taxes, the flow of money through the economy, how FY100 beneficiaries are impacted, positive benefits to the overall economy, and more.

Chapter 6 – Wealth – What would a book about reducing wealth inequality be without an examination of wealth. Taking a look at what wealth is, and what it is not, this chapter explores the topic and several of the common misunderstandings about wealth.

Chapter 7 – Lenses – Aside from the mechanics of reducing wealth inequality, people want to know how something new would be viewed by people who think like them. Whether through an economic or political lens, this chapter shows how FY100 successfully works with many different perspectives. It was built with these in mind after all.

Chapter 8 – How About a Wealth Tax? – A wealth tax is a popular rhetorical answer to addressing wealth inequality. This chapter does the work of describing five of the main challenges to that concept.

Chapter 9 – Conclusion – For those that read the rest of this book, is this chapter necessary? It exists and tries to bring all of these new ideas together. Thank you for reading Fund Your $100,000.

Book Excerpt

1

FY100 – Big Idea

 To effectively communicate the central premise of this book, I considered various ways to introduce the paradigm-shifting concepts it encompasses. One approach that came to mind was to begin with problem identification, in order to clearly illustrate the need for this novel way of thinking. Another option was to provide a history of systems, in order to give context and background information on how these concepts have evolved over time. A third possibility was to present a case study, which would demonstrate the interplay of these concepts in a relatable scenario.

After consideration, I have decided to present the main idea upfront, without any delays or hints. This approach allows the reader to fully understand and engage with the concept immediately, and to use this understanding to explore how it can impact themselves and society as a whole. The remainder of the book includes case examples, thoughts on implementation, how Fund Your Hundred relates to economic and political thought, impacts, and some thoughts on wealth inequality. I hope that you will find this journey engaging, informative, and ultimately worth enacting.

The Big Idea – Fund Your Hundred

Any person, company, organization, or government may give up to $100,000 to any American without having to pay any tax on those funds. The person receives the money in their Fund Your 100 account without any tax liability. Once $100,000 has been deposited by any combination of payers, no more funds may ever be deposited into the person’s FY100 account.

The funds remain locked in the FY100 account until the account owner turns 65, at which time the funds become unlocked and may be withdrawn tax free and be used in any manner. The funds are not required to be withdrawn and may continue to grow tax free until the account holder chooses, or it is bequeathed to an heir into their FY100 account. An heir may receive any amount of bequeathed funds in excess of their own $100,000 contribution limit.

Any money deposited in FY100 accounts is invested in publicly traded domestic securities as determined to qualify by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The invested Class FY shares would be non-voting with dividends which are reinvested. All participants in the FY100 accounts will share equally in the dividend proceeds of the aggregate investment. No account holder earns more per share than any other account holder.

These three paragraphs largely cover this idea, which, when implemented, will begin to change the landscape of wealth inequality, retirement income, domestic public equity markets, and more. At this point, you may want to take time to contemplate what this policy framework would mean for you and those around you. Or, if you like, explore the other sections of this book to go into more depth of how this can be implemented, creating positive benefits on the American economy, and most importantly, on American lives.