Tzedaka if you have savings?

amother

Mon, Feb 03 2020, 9:40 pm

Do people take tzedaka if they have a bit in savings? Is it wrong? Like if you put away savings for retirement etc and cannot afford basic expenses currently Or is tzedaka only taken if not a penny to your name and no assets anywhere

hodeez

Mon, Feb 03 2020, 9:48 pm

I feel like if you can't afford the day to day life you should be dipping into savings. With that said, hope you get on your feet soon and are in a place to give tzedakah.

amother

Seagreen

Mon, Feb 03 2020, 9:51 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

If you take tzedaka and have saving or take tzedaka and save your money, you are stealing. Plain and simple. If you need to take tzedaka, first use your savings and then take tzedaka. Tzedaka is for the poor that really don't have money. Not for selfish people that don't want to touch their savings.

amother

Vermilion

Mon, Feb 03 2020, 10:18 pm

Ask a shaila. Every situation is different. We have some savings, but we were told for our specific situation we should take tzedakah. It's not our first choice, and I'm not so comfortable with it, but that's what we were told to do. Always worth asking if you feel you need it.

amother

Seagreen

Mon, Feb 03 2020, 10:24 pm

Sebastian wrote:

If the savings wont get you too far, I think it's ok to ask for help.

It's not okay to save for retirement if you cant cover your basic expenses

Even if savings won't get you too far, use that up before taking tzedaka.

amother

Purple

Mon, Feb 03 2020, 10:29 pm

a new family moved in to my area and put in a brand new kitchen the kids all have full scholorships
when they went to disney they pretended the kids were ill and pushed in wheel chairs to cut the lines this was many years ago

ddmom

Tue, Feb 04 2020, 2:49 am

amother [ Purple ] wrote:

Those people are sick and have nothing to do with the discussion!!! Banging head

amother

Honeydew

Tue, Feb 04 2020, 2:55 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

There is no general rule, it depends on the size of the family, the size of the saving account....
A few thousand dollars for a big family is a must! If for example, boiler brakes they can't be expected to manage without hot water until they save enough to afford a new one! (no tzedakka organization afaik will give out money on the spot for such expenses!)
If someone's takes tzedakka but saves $100 thousands for retirement, that's a different scenario (not acceptable!)
That's why a rav that knows your family can help you decide what's the best way to act in your case.

ora_43

Tue, Feb 04 2020, 4:47 am

I think it's a question for a rav.

I'm surprised how many people are saying a definite no. If someone uses up their retirement savings, they could "save" a couple years of tzedaka now only to need to rely on tzedaka for 10 years down the line. I don't think it's so clear-cut.

Similarly, if the savings are for a down payment on a house, they might end up needing way more help in the long run if they use even a bit of the saved amount.

And if they're saving for a necessary expense, eg to redo the plumbing in an old breaking-down house, I wouldn't expect them to use that money to pay for daily needs because that's also an immediate day-to-day need.

But yeah, if it's savings for something like a vacation or a child's wedding that isn't expected to happen for years, then I'd expect people to use their own saved money rather than ask for money. And even what I said about retirement savings or down-payment savings only applies to minimal savings, not to, say, saving to buy a big house in great condition in a nice part of town.

amother

Pearl

Tue, Feb 04 2020, 5:30 am

Definitely ask a rav. When I asked regarding the need to pay maaser when I was dipping in savings a lot just to get through the month, the rav said I was exempt from giving maaser even though we had retirement savings. He said we need not deplete them and it was better to not give maaser or use money put away for maaser for some of our expenses. He knew we were already getting discounts and family help as well as occasional community help.

notshanarishona

Tue, Feb 04 2020, 7:30 am

It depends on the amounts of savings and the situation . If a family has an child and parents won't be able to work for a year I don't think it's wrong to take tzedakah if they have 5-10 K in savings . If they have $100,000 it would be different . If a family generally makes it and one month they can't pay a bill then I think they should use their savings and not ask for tzedakah.

Metukah

Tue, Feb 04 2020, 7:32 am

I don't know how much savings you are talking about, but if I was asked to give tzedaka to someone who had 10-20k of savings, I would gladly give them money so they don't have to dip into their savings.

Otoh if your talking about 50-100k, even though it may not seem that much I wouldn't be so happy to give. (although if it was earmarked for a deposit for a house, that would be completely differenr; not considered savings IMHO)

amother

Teal

Tue, Feb 04 2020, 7:52 am

Metukah wrote:

I think it also depends on the giver's position. I wouldn't be so happy to give to someone in a better financial position than me.

amother

Salmon

Tue, Feb 04 2020, 8:03 am

I think it completely depends on the situation. If someone loses their income which included putting x amount in savings a month, I don't think they have to deplete those savings to get help until they find a new job. If they have hundreds of thousands in savings I'd think they should dip into that, not deplete it, but dip into it for starters (I see many saying 50-100k, but being as I make 100k and see how little it gets me, I don't think I'd necessarily hold that against them). Obviously it's best to ask a rav because it's hard to be objective in ones own situation. Also, I think many people would rather go without than ask so I'm not that worried about most people taking advantage.

amother

Black

Tue, Feb 04 2020, 8:08 am

IIRC, this is pretty much clear cut halacha. I don't remember the exact details, but it's something about an amount of money that will last X amount of time, so I guess in contemporary terms a few thousand would be ok, 100,000 would not.

amother

Teal

Tue, Feb 04 2020, 8:16 am

amother [ Salmon ] wrote:

Most people would ask than go without. You should see how large the parent body of my kids' school lives, yet 75% are on scholarship. Scholarship is tzedukah that other people are forced to give. Luxuries are often bought with tzedukah money.