Billionaires and multimillionaires give advice that seems to be in their best interests, not yours and mine. That is why I, a mere  “multi-Thousandaire,” feel compelled to offer you some financial advice. Here are five tips:

1. Carry a stash of $5 and $10 dollar bills  to give away to deserving people.
2. Tip generously, 25% if you can, and in cash whenever possible.
3. Contribute to the ACLU, the strongest firewall against fascism we have.
4. Do NOT give to the Democratic National Committee or any of the other top-down, top-heavy political groups.
5. Decide NOW how much you are willing to spend on political candidates this year…..and start contributing NOW

Here are the details: 

1. Reach into your stash whenever you come across someone in need who is making an effort and give them $5 or $10.  Here’s one example: In New York City, quite a few women and men (generally non-white and foreign-born) go through garbage bags and pull out the recyclable bottles and cans.  Each is worth 5 cents, but—here’s the kick in the head–those men and women are lucky if they get half that. Simply put, they are at the bottom of the chain, and someone else picks up the bags of bottles and cans and takes them to the recycling center. Unless that “someone” is a family member, at least half of the gain disappears. That “someone” is essentially picking the pockets of the pickers.  

But your $5 or $10 donation goes immediately into the picker’s pocket.  

While they will thank you graciously, we should be thanking them for helping save the environment.

2. Tipping: Never feel guilty about hitting the ‘no tip’ button when the cash register screen asks how much you want to tip the worker who did nothing more than hand you your coffee. However, I think you should tip cabbies and Uber drivers 25%, and waiters at least 20%.  You can’t take it with you, and odds are those workers are living paycheck to paycheck. 

Dip into your stash and tip in cash, and any concern about tips being taxed disappears, poof!

3. The American Civil Liberties Union is the firewall and the beating heart of our defense against Donald Trump and his greedy attempts to destroy this country.  The ACLU isn’t the only worthy organization, of course, but it does get a 99% rating from Charity Navigator, which evaluates those groups. 

Among the other worthy groups are The Brennan Center at NYU, The Voter Participation Center, the Common Cause Education Fund, and two smaller groups, FairVote and VoteRiders.    Here’s their rating list.

Please consider making automatic monthly donations so the groups don’t have to spend unnecessary energy and resources coming back to you again and again.

(Take note: “Protect the Vote” is a right-wing group whose purpose is to keep as many people from voting as possible!)

4. Do not contribute to big dogs like the Democratic National Committee, because those established national political organizations are likely to spend money unimaginatively through their establishment cronies.  I’m borrowing this political/financial wisdom from Ted Dintersmith, Robert Reich, Heather Cox Richardson, and a few others.  

Give directly to candidates, or perhaps to state organizations known to be effective. No race is too insignificant; even school board races matter.

5. Decide NOW how much you can afford to spend on political contributions this election cycle (leading up to the November midterms) and start spending it NOW. A gift of $100 or $250 to a candidate for the House, a judgeship, or a State House or Senate seat will be far more if you make it now than if you send a check for ten times that amount in October. 

Why? Because small gifts now can be spent strategically and because NOW is when those candidates are finding their path and hitting their stride. In October, the money is likely to go to TV ads, which means it will get lost among all the other TV ads.

That’s the advice from this “multi-Thousandaire.”  Thanks for reading to the end.