Frank Hanna on the Love of Money

We have heard a lot about how people such as Warren Buffett and Bill Gates have given the majority of their fortunes away to charity. While many people with fortunes not so vast as theirs may see this philanthropy as a good thing, what has not really been explained are the reasons behind such philanthropy.

Frank J. Hanna III is a philanthropist in his own right, who belongs to the Philanthropy Roundtable, a group of individuals, corporate representatives, and members of foundations who gather each year to discuss their objectives for charitable donations. He writes in his book "What Your Money Means" about the importance of using your money to make the world a better place. In his book he discusses what it means to have money and the responsibilities inherent in possessing wealth.

Frank J. Hanna has had ample experience in creating wealth, having started Hanna Capital LLC, of which he is CEO, with his brother David Hanna in 1989. The company invests in other businesses and by 2007, it had over $4 billion dollars in assets. Much like Warren Buffet, Frank Hanna and his brother base their decisions on the real worth of a company before investing in it.

In an interview with Deal Hudson for InsideCatholic.com, Hanna rejects greed as the motivator of those who helped bring about the current economic crisis, but rather puts forth the idea that the West's culture of materialism led to the meltdown. He explains how credit, the flip side of debt, can be used to create wealth through investment in business and education, and that credit has been used instead to allow people to live beyond their means.

Hanna believes that the market economy is the best way to create wealth, and the reliance on the government to put things right is perhaps not the best policy. With the wealth created from the market economy comes prosperity, which creates jobs and other business opportunities. He quotes an ancient Jewish philosopher who stated that the best form of charity is to help people help themselves. He believes government cannot solve the problem alone, and that all of us are part of the solution.

"This is a crisis, but embedded within any crisis is opportunity," states Hanna.

Hanna does not see wealth as independent of the community, but sees it as a tool that can be used to better the lives of people in the community. As an entrepreneur and philanthropist he has invested much time, energy, and money into education. Much of his philanthropic giving goes towards improving education. Frank J. Hanna's book offers ample advice to those who have made money and wonder what to do with it.

The book is a moral guide to today's billionaires as well as the wealthy of the future, providing a moral compass that many of those who chase wealth in these times have forgotten.