FORTE

FORTE (which stands for Financing Of Return To Employment) is a way to finance education and healthcare, at no cost to individuals or governments, and without relying on philanthropy. The FORTE approach was invented by Dr Nat Ware as part of his Oxford PhD on a Rhodes Scholarship. With the FORTE approach, the cost of high-quality education (such as retraining) and healthcare (such as cataract eye surgery) is paid for by investors. Individuals who receive these services pay nothing - either now o... r in the future. Instead, investors receive a portion of any increase in future taxation revenue caused by those services. Think of it as "Future Lydia's taxes paying for Present Lydia's training". In a nutshell, it works in three steps: 1. Via Forte, investors can pay for the services of individuals who would otherwise be paying no or negligible tax. 2. These services (such as vocational retraining), by their nature, increase expected employment, incomes, and therefore government income tax revenue. 3. Governments, as part of the contractual arrangement, pass back to investors (via Forte) an agreed portion of the tax revenue attributable to the training recipients, for a set period of time. This arrangement is mutually beneficial. Individuals receive training at no cost and with no risk. They just pay the usual tax rate. They’re effectively paying for their own training with their future tax. Governments pay nothing upfront. They can increase the skilled modern workforce, overcome skill gaps, and help those in need, without worsening the budget. Importantly, there are easy mathematical ways of structuring the contract so they only pass on in the future what they otherwise would not have had. In other words, the FORTE model pays for itself in a guaranteed way. Investors get low-risk, short-term returns. They can do well while doing good. There is perfect alignment of social impact and financial returns. A true win-win.More