Hi Simon,

Thanks, you gave some great info. :)

What I had in mind for myself is contained in some of what you said....

> The private fund, does NOT accept grant
> applications.

What I had in mind was something like this.... A private fund.

Which has most of its assets in investments. (Like owning company stocks or property.)

Then the profits from the investments could be distributed to good causes....

What I like about this idea is that, in a sense, the foundation's money can be a "gift that keeps on giving." Since it has a source of income, it can continue to distribute that income, hopefully for a long time, even after I pass away....

(I think this is how the Nobel Prizes are funded, at least originally. Alfred Nobel set up a fund to invest the royalties from his invention of dynamite.)

I like the idea of helping humanity, even after you're gone.

Money and donations is not the only way to do that though. Spreading knowledge is also a "gift that keeps on giving."

Probably the easiest examples to think of about this comes from the spiritual path, where the wisdom we find may have been written thousands of years ago. But even in the financial path, there is knowledge which works like this too....

A whole new generation of people are benefiting from Napoleon Hill's writings, for example, even though he passed away in 1970.

Going further back, there's also a lot of useful knowledge on controlling your finances which you can find in some of Benjamin Franklin's writings from the 18th century.

I guess that's where my ideas for a scientific research institute and a private university would fit in.... It's the gift of knowledge.

But it takes a lot of money to make these things happen. However, I find this vision a powerful motivating force for me.

The possibility to help humanity, even after you're gone, is a compelling vision. :)

- Dien