Rick Steves in Italy
Buffett Rule in Action: Rick Steves Donated His $1 Million in Bush Tax Cuts to Edmonds Arts Center
Trinity Place: A Hand Up
Mr. Steves has been equally thoughtful in providing shelter for women via his strategic partnership with the YWCA’s Pathways for Women. On his website, he explained why he has opted to invest his money in women and children rather than on a rich man’s toy or his own nest egg:
For me, Pathways/YWCA is not a charity. It’s a service. I pay them to translate my excess productivity into fighting this problem. Since I’ve already consumed all I really need, this gives me the treat of vicarious consumption. It’s a fun way to consume beyond my capacity. . .
I believe our current government is motivated primarily by the greed of its corporate and wealthy patrons. President Bush’s passions need to be understood in economic terms — how each initiative enriches the groups whose financial support put him and his party in power. . .
Think of my rewards. Put a $1.4 million in a CD and you earn maybe $80,000 in taxable interest (which would be about $50,000 after taxes). With this investment, my taxable income is zero. But I know that I am providing 24 moms and probably 46 children a home. That’s housing for about 70 people at a cost to me of $800 a year (less than $3 a day) each. In my work of finding budget travel places to eat and sleep, this is a real turn-on. So, that’s my selfish little pleasure: I stow my money in a safe place and as a return, rather than taxable income, I know I’m housing all these people. What would I do consuming an extra $50,000 a year? How much joy would that car, condo at Whistler, yacht, or whatever bring me? About one percent of the joy that the 70 people I’m helping (indirectly through the work of Pathways/YWCA). That’s my kind of investment. And, by partnering with hard working charities whose passions are the same as yours, you don’t need a million dollars to get these royal returns. This isn’t altruism, it’s just awake.
It absolutely boggles my mind the difference one modestly wealthy man can make. Mr. Steves’ probably isn’t the richest guy in Edmonds, WA. He’s certainly not the richest guy in Washington State. What would happen if the Allen/Ballmer/Bezos trio kicked in their fair share?
Why is it that Warren Buffett’s secretary’s pays a significantly higher tax rater than her billionaire boss? She’s making peanuts while he’s reaping the benefits of fiscal and economic policies that favor Wall Street over Main Street.
If those Bush tax cuts actually did produce jobs, we wouldn’t be in a recession. This is the first time in history that we’ve had a recession while the banks and corporations have piles of cash. If we don’t vote to end greed run amok, we will be sentencing ourselves to a return to a feudal economy.
It’s time for the Democrats to find their spines and push back.
Anne Caroline Drake 
Mr. Steves does not live his faith. In fact, he left his wife of 25 years and two children for a 20+ years younger woman named Trish. Do I admire that he gave his money away? Yes. Do I admire his morals? No, absolutely not. As a matter of fact, I had preordered his Germany 2014 book. When it arrived from Amazon, I didn’t even open it. He’s lost his credibility with me. Perhaps one day I will be able to respect him again, when he can keep his zipper closed. Until then, he can zip his lip. I’m so surprised that he did this. Typical middle aged man falls for a much younger, beautiful, tanned woman. Pfft.
Mayne,
Thank you for your comment. I had heard that Mr. Steves’ marriage had ended, but you provided information that I did not know which is indeed disappointing. While all the world’s religions call on us to be compassionate, I fully appreciate that this kind of betrayal is very painful. It takes most of us time to digest and come to a place of peace and forgiveness. I do hope that you will in time find a way to continue to enjoy your travels. If you know the former Mrs. Steves, I hope you will give her a hug from me and wish her the very best. It is unbelievably hard when our private pain becomes public knowledge.
May you be blessed abundantly,
Anne Caroline
While I don’t know any of the personal details that led to this divorce or his choosing a much-younger woman, I can’t help but be disappointed. I would argue with “handsome” too, but that’s not important really. We all have our “down side,” but I do feel very let down and sad that Rick’s life took this turn. It happened 3-4 years ago, but I just became aware of it.
We certainly don’t know the full story, but being apart so much of the time can open up “opportunities” that may not be conducive for a marriage. I think that Rick Steves has a side we may not know. Still I enjoy his show, but wish there were more recent episodes.
oh please…. women initiate the vast majority of divorces (77%-90%) and don’t tell me men cheat more because women cheat just as often as men but are less likely to get caught because sex is easier to get for women then for men. I am so sick of traditionalists and feminists alike seeing women as perpetual victims. How many women would run into a burning building and risk their life for a man? How many women would divorce their guy if she found a better option or her man lost status in some way whether loosing a high paying job or becoming disabled. Women are far less loyal then men are yet men get all the blame by the 2 great gynocentrisms of our time, traditionalism and feminism. Both are wealth extraction measures that work to transfer money from producing men to consuming women, they just differ in their extraction methods. Any man that gets married today is an abolsute fool because there is no such thing as marriage in the USA anymore. Just because something is called marriage does not mean it is marriage. Marriage today (Marriage 2.0) is a unilateral one sided contract that is inherently corrupt and not at all the same as marriage in the past so should not even be called the same. Today only one side of the “marriage” contract is enforced (the mans side) and there is no reciprocal enforcement of the other side. A man is expected to be a provider for a woman even if she cheats on him and gets pregnant from the other man because she was “accustomed to a certain lifestyle”. Could you imagine a judge order a woman to sleep with her cheating ex-husband for life because he was “accustomed to having sex with her”.
Mr. Bennett,
At this site, we treat each other with dignity and respect. I’m going to humbly suggest that you might want to work on your anger issues and adjust your attitude if you want to experience the joy and happiness which flow from a healthy relationship between equal partners.
Anne Caroline
I think Mayne is extremely bitter about men in general, based on how she posted. She assumes that all (or most) middle-aged men fall for a younger woman. These insecurities are not unreasonable. My issue with her is that he somehow is supposed to represent a perfect human being, even though he is a tour guide and an adventurer. How does his broken marriage affect his ‘credibility’ as a person? Better yet, how is he an ‘immoral’ person based on the fact that he’s with a younger woman now? A divorce is completely legal – the same that alimony is too.
What Steve does/doesn’t do in his personal life is none of Mayne’s business and she has no right to go on some holier-than-thou tirade when she is making judgemental comments based on the fact that he had a divorce with a wife from a long marriage.
A.L.,
Because this post was all about Mr. Steves’ generous philanthropy and support for the cause of preventing domestic violence, I am deeply disappointed that the comment section has degenerated into a highly inappropriate debate over issues in his private life.
Therefore, I am making what for me is an exceedingly rare decision to cut off comments on this post.
I continue to applaud Mr. Steves’ abundant generosity, and I think we all need to respect the privacy of all the members of the Steves family ~ especially his wife who has never chosen to be a public figure or to have the pain in her private life discussed and debated in a public forum. It is inordinately disrespectful, and I won’t tolerate disrespect on this site. I wish all of them the very best as they move forward with their lives.
Anne Caroline