So if Uncle Sam lets me give away 50% of my income each year before taxes, isn’t this a powerful argument against Robin Hanson’s idea of letting money earn interest and donating it right before one dies? Let’s say I’ve got a great job where I’m making $200K per year, and once state and federal taxes are considered, I’m being taxed at 40% of my income from $100K to $200K. Let’s say that I want to keep whatever’s left after taxes of the first $100K for myself and give away all the money I make beyond that. I could give away the additional $100K now, and have it stay entirely untaxed, or I could keep it, have it taxed at 40%, and put the remaining $60K in a bank account to give away right before I die (which doesn’t seem that attractive, especially in light of other arguments against Hanson’s idea).
I guess if I put the money in a donor-advised fund then that would make it tax-deductible while (possibly) still allowing it to earn interest? So Hanson’s idea would translate in to “put 50% of your income in a donor-advised fund each year that you advise to donate to charity right before you die”.
Does anyone know stuff about this? I did some quick research and it seems like it would work (and might even offer improved growth: “Assets invested in a philanthropic account at Vanguard Charitable grow tax-free, meaning your contributions may be worth more accruing for charity than they would be if you personally invested them in the market.” (source)).
Yeah, you can donate to a charity that will then donate it to other charities. But I find the idea of waiting until you are dead to donate to be quiet preposterous to be honest. Given any reasonable time discounting factor, you best impact is to donate right now, unless there are no semi-efficient charities doing what you want.
So if Uncle Sam lets me give away 50% of my income each year before taxes, isn’t this a powerful argument against Robin Hanson’s idea of letting money earn interest and donating it right before one dies? Let’s say I’ve got a great job where I’m making $200K per year, and once state and federal taxes are considered, I’m being taxed at 40% of my income from $100K to $200K. Let’s say that I want to keep whatever’s left after taxes of the first $100K for myself and give away all the money I make beyond that. I could give away the additional $100K now, and have it stay entirely untaxed, or I could keep it, have it taxed at 40%, and put the remaining $60K in a bank account to give away right before I die (which doesn’t seem that attractive, especially in light of other arguments against Hanson’s idea).
I guess if I put the money in a donor-advised fund then that would make it tax-deductible while (possibly) still allowing it to earn interest? So Hanson’s idea would translate in to “put 50% of your income in a donor-advised fund each year that you advise to donate to charity right before you die”.
Does anyone know stuff about this? I did some quick research and it seems like it would work (and might even offer improved growth: “Assets invested in a philanthropic account at Vanguard Charitable grow tax-free, meaning your contributions may be worth more accruing for charity than they would be if you personally invested them in the market.” (source)).
Yeah, you can donate to a charity that will then donate it to other charities. But I find the idea of waiting until you are dead to donate to be quiet preposterous to be honest. Given any reasonable time discounting factor, you best impact is to donate right now, unless there are no semi-efficient charities doing what you want.