On December 10th, Michael Dell and his wife announced a $6.25 billion gift to the nation’s children. The money, divided into $250 contributions, will be deposited into “Trump Accounts” for 25 million young children.
The White House trumpeted the event, but it was quickly lost in the daily news flood.
But it was important. Think of it as “proof of concept” for a bigger idea. That idea is the Century Fund. It will end the employment tax.
Here’s how: Increase the Estate Tax. Encourage wealthy estates to make contributions to a national wealth fund. The fund would become large enough to eliminate the need for workers to pay the employment tax, the largest tax most Americans ever pay.
The idea isn’t as far-fetched as it seems. The retirement of a newborn could be funded with a relatively modest one-time investment — as little as $2,000 to not more than $8,000. To fund every birth in 2022, that would require $7.2 billion to $29 billion. Compare that to the gift of $6.25 billion from Michael Dell. Or to the $24 billion raised by the federal estate tax in the same year.
More important, the estate tax is tiny compared to the amount we collectively give to charity each year. How tiny? Consider the $592.5 billion of charitable giving in 2024 according to Giving USA.
We have the resources to solve our nation’s problems. Here are links to two posts providing more detail:
https://couchpotatoman.substack.com/p/go-supreme-grand-poohbah (Sept 7, 2025)
https://couchpotatoman.substack.com/p/the-supreme-grand-poohbah-saves-social (May 4, 2025)
I’ve read and appreciated your columns for years.
Thank you!
I’m hoping to continue!
Scott, I am a longtime reader. Started 25 or 30 years ago, reading your newspaper columns. I’ve always enjoyed them. This column on the Michael Dell charitable contribution is very interesting. I didn’t quite follow all of your conclusions however. I’d be interested in learning more about your thoughts in this area if you have time for such a column sometime in the future.
A variation of the couch potato portfolio has been my guide for these many years. I thank you for your thoughtful financial insights.
Twp earlier columns will be helpful in providing a broader context for the column on the Dell gift.
These 2 columns are also on my Substack page. Copy and paste the link below to read. While we can have a long discussion about the funding estimates, it’s very clear that having compound growth work for us over a long period of time will do better than continuing to have compound growth work against us.
https://couchpotatoman.substack.com/p/the-supreme-grand-poohbah-saves-social
https://couchpotatoman.substack.com/p/go-supreme-grand-poohbah