My temporary solution is to max out my employer’s annual match. That the maximum match is somewhere between 10 and 15 percent of my income is very convenient, as that makes me feel like I’m contributing the “expected” amount for an EA (this feeling is only important for fuzzies) but still leaves me with what seems to be a good amount to save and spend. It also allows me to avoid committing an answer to the question of whether to donate now or invest and donate later. The guaranteed, almost-immediate, soon-to-expire 100% return provided by the match wins pretty clearly over the EV of investing and donating later, and since I feel like I’m donating enough for now, I can evaluate what to do with what’s being invested later on, based on my wants and needs.
Another interesting kink in your utility function: you can deduct up to half of your income from your taxes through charitable giving. As far as I know, this represents an opportunity cost: each year I have the option to donate half of my income for that year to charity and only pay taxes on the remaining half, and that opportunity goes away if I don’t take it.
My temporary solution is to max out my employer’s annual match. That the maximum match is somewhere between 10 and 15 percent of my income is very convenient, as that makes me feel like I’m contributing the “expected” amount for an EA (this feeling is only important for fuzzies) but still leaves me with what seems to be a good amount to save and spend. It also allows me to avoid committing an answer to the question of whether to donate now or invest and donate later. The guaranteed, almost-immediate, soon-to-expire 100% return provided by the match wins pretty clearly over the EV of investing and donating later, and since I feel like I’m donating enough for now, I can evaluate what to do with what’s being invested later on, based on my wants and needs.
Another interesting kink in your utility function: you can deduct up to half of your income from your taxes through charitable giving. As far as I know, this represents an opportunity cost: each year I have the option to donate half of my income for that year to charity and only pay taxes on the remaining half, and that opportunity goes away if I don’t take it.
That’s a very useful point. I do have employer match and it is likely to be an inflection point for effectiveness of any money I give.