The May 2008 issue on “Putting Your Money Where Your Heart Is” suggests many fine ways of doing just that. However, investing in tax-free municipal bonds was not mentioned. Our latest purchase was to help finance a school in Lewiston, Maine, where there is a burgeoning community of refugees from Somalia.
Growing weary of “praying for peace and paying for war,” we quit our jobs in the Philadelphia area and moved to northern Maine in 1982. A fellow Quaker showed us the ropes about investing in life-enhancing municipal projects that help Americans. The interest on these bonds is not taxable by the federal government.
Instead of paying federal taxes—which most years we do not owe or, if so, owe very little—we have our own foreign and domestic giving programs. High on our list are local food banks, the Salvation Army fuel fund, Vietnamese humanitarian aid projects, and peace and justice organizations. Meanwhile, for more than 20 years we have had time to be active volunteers in our community at long-term elderly and child care centers. We sleep better at night, too.
Harrison and Marilyn Roper
Houlton, Maine
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