Benjamin Franklin’s Funds
Benjamin Franklin left a fund of $5,000 to the city of Boston in 1791. His will provided that interest from this fund be allowed to accumulate for 300 years. By 1891, the $5,000 had grown to $92,000, and the balance was invested for a second century. By 1959, the market value of the Boston trust fund was $1.5 million, and the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has reaffirmed that the fund should continue until 1991. Apparently Benjamin Franklin knew what he was talking about when he said: “Money begets money and its offspring begets more.” (Encyclopedia of Illustrations #5791).