One tradition Christy and I have with the kids is the 1-on-1 trip. Every couple of years, we schedule short weekend getaways—just a parent and one kid, somewhere new, no siblings. We rotate: I'll take Cate one year, Christy takes her the next, and so on.
Last month, Jack and I went to Pittsburgh. We did all the things—zoo, Children's Museum, a Pirates game, the Incline. We even did a double-decker bus tour of the city.
One thing I learned on the bus: the Pittsburgh public library system doesn't charge late fees (a system recently emulated in many other cities, including Raleigh). Andrew Carnegie—the library's original benefactor—wanted education to be free to everyone. He believed in it so strongly that the words, "Free to the People," are still inscribed above Carnegie libraries throughout the city.
Libraries weren't the only thing the Gilded Age left behind in Pittsburgh. Banker brothers Andrew and Richard Mellon co-founded what became Carnegie Mellon University (together with Carnegie). Industrialist Henry Clay Frick gave 150 acres and a trust fund to establish a public park and a world-class art collection in the city.
Carnegie, Frick, and their contemporaries were called "robber barons" for how they made their money—but they also gave it away on a remarkable scale. Vanderbilt, Stanford, Duke, Johns Hopkins, the University of Chicago, the Met, Carnegie Hall, and the National Gallery all trace back to these men.
But the bigger gift, maybe, was the example they set.
Warren Buffett recently announced that he'll give away $150 billion in Berkshire Hathaway stock to a charitable trust managed by his own children, who have 10 years to give it all away. At that pace, Buffett's dollars alone would represent roughly 4% of all U.S. charitable giving in a single year. It will be one of the largest charitable trusts of all time.
And it's not just billionaires giving money away. In 2024, Americans gave $392 billion to charity—that's the equivalent of every adult 18+ in the country giving away $1,500. Americans give more than the next twenty countries combined, by a factor of three.
With the country's 250th anniversary approaching, I've been thinking about what makes America exceptional. This is one answer: we are a generous people.
And I'm proud that PieCapital gets to play a small role in it. We help our clients give money away to the causes they care about—to their churches, their communities, the arts, schools, orphans, veterans, missionaries—the list goes on. Through Charles Schwab, we can gift appreciated stock to charities and sidestep the capital gains that would otherwise come due. We can arrange qualified charitable distributions from IRAs, which lowers taxable income instead of triggering it. And we can set up donor-advised funds or charitable trusts to help offset the tax hit from a business sale.
All while doing something good. Carnegie would be proud, too, I think.
Here's what you need to know.
Markets
News & Notes
- State of AI [Video]: Semiconductor stocks are up 80% since the end of March, but that doesn't necessarily mean we're in a bubble, according to hedge fund manager Gavin Baker: "Ten basis points of the world's population are using these models the way they should probably be used, and we're in an insane shortage, despite spending, cumulatively, trillions of dollars. What happens when 5% of the world's population [starts using these models]?" (Sohn)
- SpaceX IPO: When SpaceX goes public this month, it's expected to be valued near $2 trillion—and could raise a record $75 billion in the process. Historical data show the largest U.S. IPOs tend to underperform the market, with a not-insignificant share of those stocks delivering negative returns. (Barron's)
- Plus: SpaceX IPO's Impact on Index Funds (BBG(opens in new tab)
- Inflation: Core inflation rose to 3.3% in April, but after factoring in food and energy, prices rose 3.8%. New Fed Chair Kevin Warsh wants the Fed to think about inflation differently. (WSJ)
- Fighting Over the Family Business: As baby boomers begin passing down trillions in assets, advisers who specialize in navigating conflict within families have never been busier. (NYT)
- 6 Ways Leaders Harness Stress: Under pressure, leaders tend to fall into one of six patterns. Each is shaped by two things: how they read the situation, and how well they manage themselves in the moment. (HBR)
- Tips for Starting Your First Job: Your first job holds promise and peril. Here’s how to protect your future self. (WSJ)
- Travel & Spend:
36 Hours: Dallas (NYT)
36 Hours: Providence (NYT)
36 Hours: Amalfi Coast (NYT)
(Pie)Chart of the Month
And you thought eggs were bad...
Firm News
Q&A: How do I [serve as an Executor]?
Most people have no idea what they're agreeing to when they say yes to serving as someone's executor. To find out what it's really like—and in honor of Father's Day—I went straight to the source: my dad.
Rick Revels is a retired oil & gas attorney in Lafayette, Louisiana, who has served as both executor and attorney for the succession. He's also an all-around pretty good dad. Here's what he wanted you to know.
Dad, let's start with the basics. When someone agrees to serve as executor, what are they actually signing up for?
The main job of an executor is to manage a deceased person's final affairs, including paying outstanding debts and taxes, and distributing remaining assets to beneficiaries. They have a legal, fiduciary duty to act in the estate's best interest. The tasks can be substantial (selling property, filing tax returns, etc.), and it can take many months before the succession is closed.
You don't always know what's written in someone's documents. I once discovered—through a succession attorney—that a senior partner had named me as successor executor in his will. He'd never mentioned it. When his surviving spouse was deemed unable to discharge the duties of the office, it fell to me.
The lesson: ask before you name someone. It's both advisable and courteous.
What does the executor do versus the attorney?
The legal work is done by the attorney on behalf of the estate, which is represented by the executor. The executor will not be the party preparing and filing pleadings—they will be verifying the accuracy of the representations made in the pleadings, signing the pleadings on behalf of the estate, helping gather descriptions of the assets, paying succession debts, etc. As a fiduciary, it will be important for the executor to exhibit impartiality and professionalism in discharging these duties and to maintain proper records upon which to base a final accounting.
But it's up to the testator (the person who writes and executes a last will and testament that is in effect at the time of their death) to make sure that all the designations on bank accounts, brokerage accounts, and insurance policies are up to date and in accordance with their wishes. The executor just plays the cards they are dealt.
Are executors paid?
They can be. Depending on the size and complexity of the estate, some compensation may be appropriate—ideally, agreed upon in advance. A family member serving as executor may feel pressure to waive it, or at least their co-heirs may expect them to.
More broadly: the same energy you've put into planning for retirement should go into planning for what happens afterward. A letter of wishes—sometimes called a letter of instruction—is a good place to make those intentions clear, minimize ambiguity, and reduce the potential for conflict among the people you leave behind. Each person has an obligation to not leave their estate in a mess, to give beneficiaries some idea of how they want their assets to devolve, and to attempt to minimize conflicts among the heirs.
Thanks, Dad.
Fee-Only Network.
PieCapital is now a member of Fee-Only Network, a leading professional association of Fee-Only, fiduciary financial advisors—highly trained professionals who are committed to working in the best interests of those they serve.
Birthdays
Lily turned 9 and had a Harry Potter-themed party with lots of lego sets.
I turned...older than 9!
O Sole Mio
Cate landed a solo in her spring chorus concert and was pitch perfect.
Last Day of School...Happy Summer!
