fetchface wrote:I think that $100B is sufficient to run the church without tithing if the investments are doing well. I imagine that they are trying to save up a sum that will insulate them from the need for tithing and the condition of the markets entirely. How much is that? $500B? $1 trillion? How much does it take to guarantee $6B+ per year at very low risk?
With members paying 10% the church has been able to run itself and also sock away $100B. So it seems as if the church could cut tithes to 5% and still bring in at least half of that $6B+ per year. That must leave them needing no more than $3B more from investment income. On a $100B endowment that's only 3% p.a. yield, which doesn't take a very good year. Maybe the church's fund could offer mortgages for that amount of interest, for example.
If the church is worried about catastrophic situations then it's not clear that hoarding money in any form is going to help with those, anyway. A famous financial advisor once urged his clients, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures on Earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt." Perhaps the LDS church could consider taking advice from that guy. He's fairly popular among their members.
Sure, makes sense, but I think these old guys want a pile of money that would guarantee them solvency through a major stock market crash type of scenario. In other words, I think they are looking back more than 90 years for scenarios they want to survive.
Also, I think they know that having a huge pile of money will get them a seat at tables that they otherwise wouldn't be invited to. The huger the better for that purpose.
The wife and I have had discussions about the evolving understanding of tithing in the past and I think she understands how things evolved. Right now, though, she's okay with paying zero to the church which is a step past the philosophy of paying on surplus.
Physics Guy wrote:With members paying 10% the church has been able to run itself and also sock away $100B. So it seems as if the church could cut tithes to 5% and still bring in at least half of that $6B+ per year. That must leave them needing no more than $3B more from investment income. On a $100B endowment that's only 3% p.a. yield, which doesn't take a very good year. Maybe the church's fund could offer mortgages for that amount of interest, for example.
If the church is worried about catastrophic situations then it's not clear that hoarding money in any form is going to help with those, anyway. A famous financial advisor once urged his clients, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures on Earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt." Perhaps the LDS church could consider taking advice from that guy. He's fairly popular among their members.
They could do that, except this church isn't in the business of making life easier for its members.
I agree with your second paragraph but I also think it is very likely that these old men will try to plan for the end of the world with a pile of money anyway...
Imagine the money the Church would have accumulated if it wasn't constantly blowing hundreds of millions of dollars on temples and reinvested all that money instead. Talk about a complete waste of money.
Imagine what good they could do with that money for the poor, sick, and afflicted! You would almost think that someone might inspire them to do things like that.
I wonder who that might be . . . .
"Petition wasn’t meant to start a witch hunt as I’ve said 6000 times." ~ Hanna Seariac, LDS apologist
Kevin Graham wrote:Imagine the money the Church would have accumulated if it wasn't constantly blowing hundreds of millions of dollars on temples and reinvested all that money instead. Talk about a complete waste of money.
I agree that temple work is a complete waste of money as far as actually doing any necessary good for dead people. But in the end, temples are the stick leadership uses to threaten members with so they pay their tithing. I absolutely believe the church knows how much tithing revenues increase when they build temples in areas where the members did not have easy access to temples and that figure exceeds the cost of building and maintaining the new temple.
If temple recommends did not depend on being a full tithe payer I do not believe most members would even pay tithing.
Temples = LDS sacred cash cows.
"Any over-ritualized religion since the dawn of time can make its priests say yes, we know, it is rotten, and hard luck, but just do as we say, keep at the ritual, stick it out, give us your money and you'll end up with the angels in heaven for evermore."
Kishkumen wrote:Imagine what good they could do with that money for the poor, sick, and afflicted! You would almost think that someone might inspire them to do things like that.
Kishkumen wrote:Imagine what good they could do with that money for the poor, sick, and afflicted! You would almost think that someone might inspire them to do things like that.
I wonder who that might be . . . .
Well they do support Trump so perhaps they can follow his wonderful Christian example...... I mean who doesn't recognize that his tweets are new scripture for the world?
Dr CamNC4Me
"Dr. Peterson and his Callithumpian cabal of BYU idiots have been marginalized by their own inevitable irrelevancy defending a fraud."
They could do that, except this church isn't in the business of making life easier for its members. 
I mean who doesn't recognize that his tweets are new scripture for the world?