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Notes on Giving Away my First $100,000

For my 42nd birthday, Mrs. MM let me give away all this money

For my 42nd birthday, Mrs. MM let me give away all this money.

Here’s a little quiz:

Suppose you are living an extremely happy life  – all your material needs and wants are met, and there is still money to spare. Then suddenly, you get even more money. Do you:

a) Try to think of even more stuff you could buy for yourself with that extra money?

b) Try to find more efficient things to do with the surplus?

 

For many people, this might seem like a trick question. After all, needs are cheap but how could you ever have all your wants met?

I mean sure, you might already have a Honda, but you obviously still want a Tesla, right? And if you could afford it, why would you not forego ground transportation altogether and have a private helicopter on call, with a Gulfstream G6 waiting on the airstrip? Perhaps at that point you could be satisfied – you’re sensible and not one of those greedy people who needs a yacht. But that still leaves a long, long climb to full life satisfaction.

For me, the point of full satisfaction is also pretty high – not just basic food but fancy stuff from around the world. A glorious modernist house on a park in one of the country’s most expensive counties, and unlimited, bikes, music, computers, and whatever else happens to appeal. Hell, I even have a brand new electric car just to see what the buzz is about. The tab for this lifestyle – a little over $25,000 per year – is not quite at Gulfstream elevation but it still puts my family in the top 2% of the Global Rich List.

Since I hit my consumption ceiling a little earlier than a proper rich person, I have been thinking about option (b) above for a number of years now. And if you care about trying to be logical when dealing with surplus money, your research will very quickly lead you to the Effective Altruism movement, and indeed I wrote about it as far back as 2012 with a review of Peter Singer’s The Life You Can Save.  As with most useful things I’ve learned in the last five years, it was readers of this blog who clued me in to the idea.

Effective Altruism is an attempt to answer one simple question: where can our surplus money do the largest amount of good? When buying something for yourself has only a neutral or small positive effect, funding charitable causes in a relatively rich country can be a way of getting more happiness for your dollar. But meeting even bigger needs in a much poorer country can measurably outperform either of those options by a huge margin.

Taking an example from the video below, $40,000 can raise and train one beautiful golden retriever to help a blind person in the US – undeniably a good thing. Or it can pay for simple trachoma operations to permanently cure about 2000 people from preventable blindness in Africa – quite a strong argument to allocate at least some of your generosity there.

Watch: Peter Singer’s moving TED Talk explaining the ideas behind Effective Altruism in about 17 minutes. Or you can read the same ideas on his The Life You Can Save website. 

Even way back in 2012 I knew the idea was solid, and yet somehow the MMM family has managed to give away only relatively small amounts of money each year relative to our income, and thus other money has continued to accumulate.

I have been stuck in an analysis paralysis, wondering if I should give individually to conventional charities, or use wider reach of this blog to do something cooler that would make news headlines and thus create a multiplier effect. For example, what if I could:

  • Personally fund some critical bike path in my town, drawing attention to the highest-returning investment any city can make?
  • How about hiring some creative geniuses with an appropriately bizarre sense of humour to help me run a brilliant and educational YouTube channel?
  • Could we collectively buy up a few blocks of a neighborhood and permanently shut down the roads to cars, keeping a few shared vehicles in a lot at the periphery and tearing up the pavement to become a little woodland/garden for our kids, and our utopian living space? Imagine how much the US would change if this became the new model for town planning?

These are great ideas, but they all take work, and my power to get stuff done is quite finite. So by holding out for them, I am falling in to the classic trap of Perfection is the Enemy of the Good. Why not try something I know is good, right now?

So I resolved to start with a donation amount that feels big enough to be meaningful to me, but not so big I am afraid to do it, and just do it. For me, that number was $100,000.

It sounds big if you think of it as “Four years of the family’s spending!”, or “An entire University education for a kid!” but only medium if you consider it’s only a mid-range Tesla. And downright small at less than a quarter of what this blog earned last year (before tax at least), which I managed via only the occasional typing of shit into the computer.

By keeping our lifestyle* at the previous already-glorious level we set at retirement, we have found that 100% of the extra income and windfalls we’ve encountered in these subsequent 11 years has been a pure surplus.

Effective Altruism is based on the principle that All Human Lives have Equal Value. Thus, they suggest that you simply give to the charity has the largest effect on improving and saving human lives, per dollar. The intellectual headquarters for the movement is a website called Givewell.org

According to them, the most effective charity per dollar is currently the Against Malaria Foundation – a very minimalist organization that distributes protective Mosquito nets in Africa – efficiently and with a focus on measurement.

But being a flawed human, I wasn’t quite satisfied with such pure logic and decided to spread out my first donation just a bit, according to some of my values. What I came up with is this:

Health and Poverty: 

Environment:

American and Local Causes:

  • Planned Parenthood: (helps people control when they have kids, but often under political attack) $5,000
  • The American Civil Liberties Union: (uses the law as a watchdog to prevent powerful established groups (whether corporations or religions) from overriding individual rights): $5000
  • Khan Academy: (amazing, always-growing great education, free for millions of kids and adults) $9000
  • Wikipedia: (via WikiMedia foundation – an independent, hard-to-suppress open source of information for the world) $1000
  • Bicycle Colorado: $5000 (works to push bold new bike laws and infrastructure into the fertile ground of Colorado, which are then copied by other states).
  • My local Elementary School (just a bunch of good people doing good work for kids): $5000

These are pretty arbitrary numbers, adjusted just to prioritize the Effective Altruism stuff most and still have it all add up to the right amount. My list is not meant to be expertly allocated, just to start putting some money to work, highlight a few causes, and give me a wide range of different things to start feeling good about.

What Does This Feel Like, and Should You Do it Yourself?

In summary, deeply satisfying and happy. I have known for years that I wanted to start doing this, but on the day that I actually dropped all those checks into the mailbox, I felt a great lightness. That night, I fell asleep with the happy peace that comes from letting go of just a bit of selfishness and fear. After noticing not even the slightest regret, I can see that it will become even easier as time goes on.

I get quite a few emails from readers asking if I think charitable giving should be prioritized early in life, or if it’s more efficient to wait until you reach financial independence. After all, certain religions come with the concept of tithing and suggest that people do it even if they are in personal debt.

For anyone with my personality type, this would not work – obligations imposed by others are counterproductive and you must decide for yourself what feels right. Getting out from a stressful situation – whether it is debt or an unsatisfying career, is a good use of your time and may even allow you to be more generous over your remaining lifetime.

On the other hand, if you’re a beginner and are curious, there’s no harm in just trying out the idea on yourself. You might try giving just $100 or so to a few favorite causes and noting the effect on your feeling. If you are financially stable and that amount is too small to cause a thrill, try $500 or $1000. If the practice proves satisfying, you’ll automatically decide to do more.

The thing about money is that even in a country like the US where almost everybody is rich by world standards, the top 10% of us own over 75% of the wealth. As a member of that lucky little slice, I won’t waste time complaining about the system. But I will suggest this: Since we obviously have all the money, and yet building a happy lifestyle for ourselves should not be particularly expensive, we might as well put the bulk of our money to efficient use improving the world – if we happen to enjoy that sort of thing. Meanwhile, since the bottom 90% is sharing the remaining quarter of the earnings, I’d expect a lower rate of philanthropy.  How’s that for hardcore capitalist libertarian socialism?

What Other Causes are Worth Supporting?

Since this is just my one round of donations, all the doors are wide open.

If you were assigned to do the most good for the human race with each dollar you had available, what would you spend it on? Please share your ideas in the comments and we’ll keep getting better at this stuff together.

* Actually this part about completely resisting lifestyle inflation is a lie. Since becoming richer than expected I have dropped all restraint in the area of buying myself fancy burritos. Especially on trips. I even pay for my friends’ burritos frequently. Man, have we had some good ones.

—-

Other Helpful Stuff:

Unsure about the value of giving away your hard-earned money? Apathy towards giving ususally comes from believing in various Myths about charity.

Tax Strategy: A further bit of great news is that this $100k round of donations will actually save me about $30,000 in income tax. Contributions like these come off of your taxable income as “itemized deductions”. The limit is 50% of your Adjusted Gross Income, and the deductibility also starts to phase out slowly in certain cases if you make more than $311,000. A few details on my Accountant’s blog (The Wealthy Accountant), and on this Fidelity page.

During research, I wondered about  Charity Navigator, which ranks a larger number of charities based on administrative overhead and other stuff. How do they relate to GiveWell?

Freakonomics says the Givewell method is better, because there is much more to effectiveness than this ratio, and the ratio itself can be manipulated. When I saw this Angry Rebuttal by Charity Navigator founder Ken Berger, which resorted to name-calling and based his argument on, “Yeah, but who are YOU to say it’s better to donate overseas than in rich countries? If everybody did that, we’d never help anyone locally!” I felt even more confident about Givewell and Effective Altruism.

  • Laura October 27, 2016, 6:12 am

    You know what I’d love to do?? A personal version of microloans, helping people in poverty get started in mini businesses to make a living for their families. But then have the loan payback to fund community schools for skills and literacy. But first, I would love to live in that community for awhile, helping out and getting to know the people as individuals.

    Reply
  • DH October 27, 2016, 6:51 am

    One of my favorite non-profits is the Southeastern Climbers Coalition (http://seclimbers.org/). They purchase rock climbing land and put it in trust to ensure future generations have access to beautiful rock for climbing. They partner with the Access Fund (https://www.accessfund.org/) on many of their projects. They also work with landowners that do not want to sell to lease or safely provide access for climbers without concerns about any legal liability issues.

    Reply
  • Thumb5UP October 27, 2016, 6:59 am

    Mr. Mustache,

    You’re doing great things. Thank you for all your education and donation to make our planet a better place for our children and their children!

    Reply
  • Brad Vosburg October 27, 2016, 6:59 am

    Thanks for the post I liked it. Though I had a bad experience with protestant style Christianity I always liked the tale of the widow’s mite. This post made me think of it. I am one of those folks working at a job that makes me miserable. I still plan on giving $100 to my local library here shortly because they are AWESOME. After tax I make about $120 every time I go to work. So it is about a days pay. It makes me smile. I am very selfish because I like things that make me smile (right up there with bota box merlot and free celtic music on pandora:). If you can’t part with money try donating time. I love chopping firewood so sometimes I help people out with that. Always for free, though, I will accept a beer if offered.

    Reply
  • Joe (arebelspy) October 27, 2016, 7:06 am

    Glad to see the ACLU on there. I donate to them annually.

    Given that you support their mission to protect people’s rights, and given your IT background, another one you should look into is the Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF). They are all about defending people’s digital rights–privacy, etc.

    (Disclaimer: I donate to the EFF annually, and am a big fan of their work.)

    Reply
    • Mr. Money Mustache October 27, 2016, 9:09 am

      Nice to hear, thanks Joe. Yours is the second recommendation for the Electronic Freedom Foundation from a highly credible source, so it is definitely on my list now.

      Reply
  • Elyse October 27, 2016, 7:09 am

    Thanks for this post. It helped to remind me to make it a priority to give! Too often I get caught up in the day-to-day hustle and bustle and forget to live intentionally. Although I am early on in my journey to FI, and I cannot give in large amounts, a monthly donation to a worthy organization always left me with the warm fuzzies and I want to get back on that track.

    Also, as a suggestion to others who do not want to give up any portion of their money before they reach their financial goals, a good option is to find a local organization and volunteer. I live in Florida and for the past 6ish years I have volunteered weekly at a local marine-life animal hospital (Clearwater Marine Aquarium) in their sea turtle rehabilitation department. It is incredibly rewarding to be involved with curbing the human impacts on our local sea turtle populations, not to mention I get some pretty good stories out of it. There are tons of opportunities to volunteer , if you spend some time looking, and it should be easy to find something that speaks to your own passions.

    Reply
  • Alix Weldon October 27, 2016, 7:34 am

    Dear Mr MM,

    Please accept my sincerest thanks on behalf of the entire team at the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative (SCI) for your incredible generosity and for highlighting the fight against neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) as a cause worth supporting on your blog!

    We will indeed be putting your money to work! Your donation of US$10,000 will enable the SCI to reach, treat and protect at least 20,000 children against the life destroying effects of the parasitic diseases of poverty schistosomiasis and intestinal worms. It’s impossible that helping that many children doesn’t may you feel good!

    Please check up on us and find out more about how your support is having maximum impact, addressing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and improving the lives and prospects of the poorest of the poor (www.schisto.org).

    You can contact me directly (schisto@imperial.ac.uk) with any questions or queries you have. We hope to hear from you.

    Many, many thanks,

    Alix

    Reply
  • Anthony October 27, 2016, 7:34 am

    MMM: This is such an outstanding post! Like many of the other commenters, I’ve been a devoted reader and have found your refreshing perspective to be extremely useful in our family’s approach to career planning and financial independence. But for me, this post and your family’s concrete attempt to spread the wealth and contribute to worthy causes sets an example that I hope is followed widely by your fans and supporters. Even if we all just donated 1% of our income, and raised that each year, it would be impressive. I agree with others that judging others’ choice of donations doesn’t exactly seem fair given the level of transparency exhibited by MMM.

    Reply
  • Spitfire October 27, 2016, 8:00 am

    This is awesome, I plan to do the same thing once I “make it.” Whatever I earn through hobbies and part time work that I don’t need will go to charity.

    If you’re taking suggestions, I am involved with an organization called Haiti’s Hope, who does a lot of charitable work in Haiti. It’s an all volunteer organization with zero overhead, everything goes to help out the country. Right now they are having food and supplies delivered to people in the wake of Hurricane Matthew.

    http://www.haitishope.org/

    Reply
  • Jess October 27, 2016, 8:10 am

    Hey MMM,

    I applaud your frugality, your self-lessness, and your thoughtfulness. If more people would stop consuming silly nonsense and think about how their money could be put to better use, both for their own financial independence and the good of others, the world would be a better place.

    On giving to charities, I am surprised that you chose to spread things out as much as you did, and wanted to encourage you to consider one more factor. (I’m a non-profit fundraising consultant, so I see some “insider” stuff few people are aware of.)

    Anytime you make a gift of $1,000-$5,000 (0r more) most charities will sit up and pay attention. They want to know how to get more money from you, and will work hard to encourage you to repeat and upgrade your giving. (Most charities closely evaluate the cost-effectiveness of their efforts, so it is not negative behavior by any means).

    However, if you are able to be very direct and clear about your intentions regarding future giving (to the extent you know them), and also clear about how you would prefer to be communicated with, you will do yourself and the charities a big favor. The charity will not waste your dollars on mail and phone calls, and you will not receive vast quantities of marketing material in the mail box.

    Also, to reinforce a poster above–give appreciated stock! It’s very tax efficient.

    Reply
  • Welsh well-wisher October 27, 2016, 8:25 am

    Interesting post and comments as usual. A quirky sounding charity I like is Toilet Twinning. It’s based in the UK – such a simple but effective and life-transforming idea for a whole community. Local people are trained to visit neighbouring villages to explain why defecating upstream and drinking downstream, for example, isn’t a good idea and how the germs/bacteria thus ingested are causing illness. No materials are given to the villagers and so they decide for themselves what kind of toilet they wish to build. It leads to better health, especially amongst the most vulnerable, children having better schools when a toilet block is built on site and females not being attacked when they have to go to the bush for personal reasons. You, as the donor, are then sent co-ordinates for a rural loo to which your donation has contributed and a photo of it. It’s a nice idea for a present for someone who has everything and a whole community benefits(£60 or about $90(?) dollars). Win win!

    Reply
  • Ellen October 27, 2016, 8:26 am

    Great article. Here’s an additional perspective to add about questions that help in choosing charities. These questions have helped my family with a set of annual decisions on charities to fund. We finalize our list right around Thanksgiving, which also helps us keep grounded.

    For which charities would I be willing to volunteer? — Habitat for Humanity comes to mind. Working side-by-side with families earning sweat equity helps me stay linked to my community. And, volunteering for your local Habitat can empower you as well as your community. In my local chapter, almost all of the regular weekly volunteers have accumulated the skills to do significant renovations or even additions after a few years of dedicated work.

    Of the charities that I support, which charities are worthy of regular, annual donations since we know those help them deliver stable, consistent programs and keep talented staff in the long-term? — The American Chestnut Foundation is enabling reclamation of land — even entire watersheds — terribly damaged by mining. They use a scientific approach to breeding to aid in the recovery of the once dominant and iconic east-coast tree species, the American Chestnut tree.

    What non-profits do you want to encourage to keep their in current business model? — Our local rescue squad is a great example of an organization with a mission and structure that we support and want to see continue.

    Reply
  • Ben October 27, 2016, 8:36 am

    Fellow Longmontonian here (we’ve met a few times), and I’ve actually had a slightly different version of this idea you briefly mentioned of buying up a few blocks and tearing out the roads, putting parking on the perimeter. I live in a subdivision and I can’t understand why we put these fucking deathways in front of every house where people operate heavy machinery at high speeds 24 hours a day. You can’t even let your kids play in the front yard lest they wander out into the deathway, and if they do and get hit and killed well they shouldn’t have been in the “street”, what kind of parent are you? It makes no fucking sense. Rip those out – still allowing some method for ambulances and delivery trucks, presumably (I’ve seen such solutions in Europe). We could even put in a covered walkway to get to the parking that hopefully isn’t much used. But even if every house had multiple cars in the common lots, at least our kids could fucking play in front of their own houses!

    Reply
    • Mr. Money Mustache October 27, 2016, 9:01 am

      Awesome Ben – by your fiery rhetoric I’m sure we would get along well. People (including me until about 10 years ago) get so accustomed to car-access-to-every-house, they forget that it’s not the only model and it’s among the least rational.

      To combat our ingrained assumption, I like to use the same crazy-but-accurate descriptions as you do. Like, why would you EVER drive your kid one mile to school, right through the front yards of a hundred other fellow parents, in a 5000-pound gas-powered racing wheelchair? How could this not be considered an irrational tradeoff between your minor convenience versus the risk of crushing everyone else’s bones and organs beneath your wheels?

      Reply
  • Dan Grunig October 27, 2016, 8:41 am

    MMM- Thank you so much for your generous gift to Bicycle Colorado.

    You showed up on my feed a few years ago following your posts on the value of bicycling. Since that time many of the Bicycle Colorado team follow your blog and have regular conversations about Mustachioism and bikes. Thanks for frequently promoting the financial and health benefits of bicycling.

    Every gift helps Bicycle Colorado make it easier and safer to ride a bike to where you want to go. Your donation means so much to our mission and I just wanted to write and say thanks.

    Let’s go for a ride sometime?
    Dan Grunig
    Executive Director
    Bicycle Colorado

    Reply
    • Mr. Money Mustache October 27, 2016, 8:55 am

      Excellent, thanks Dan!

      My donation to Bicycle Colorado is actually still in process at the moment as I have a pending question with one of your staff about check vs. credit card. But you should see it soon – and meanwhile thanks for the advance-thanks :-)

      Reply
  • Christina October 27, 2016, 9:07 am

    In college, I led a chapter of Building Tomorrow (http://www.buildingtomorrow.org/about-us/#model). The organization raises money to build primary school buildings in Uganda. They build only the physical building and supply desks and initial infrastructure, but they have a contract with the Ugandan Ministry of Education to fund teachers salaries and ongoing school supplies. This makes their mission and these schools very sustainable. They build schools in communities without another school within walking distance, to they ensure to never duplicate existing services meaning they are always impacting children without access. They also only build these schools in communities that are invested – the community must donate the land for the school and participate in the actual building of the schools. The community forms a Parents Association for every school to help direct the building process and promote the school in the local community – this ensures local buy-in and dedication to having their children attend. The schools (in addition to being free to attend) also provide lunch to the children, which provides a financial incentive for families to send their children to school. The organization also supports jobs locally in Uganda and started an education fellowship (http://www.buildingtomorrow.org/fellows/) for upcoming Ugandan educators to participate in ongoing assessment and improvement projects at the schools, in order to foster the schools and pupils ongoing success. As the donor – When I started BT had only 1 single school built. They now have 50 schools built (10 years). During college, we raised enough to build a school for Davidson College. I was able to follow the building process of that school and then its opening. I visited Uganda recently (I’m now 5 years out of college) and was able to visit the school and meet with the students and parents association. The Uganda BT staff met with us, updated us on local developments/new schools being built and drove us to the school. Basically, BT is a truly lovely organization and deserves to be looked into.

    We also donate to Watsi (crowdsourcing surgeries and medical care in the developing world) and Charity Water (building wells) on a regular basis.

    Reply
    • Marla October 27, 2016, 11:33 am

      I just discovered Watsi and would like to add my vote. I found it when looking for a child gift alternative and my nephew loved choosing a patient and helping to crowdfund a surgery. They send update emails so kids get a good feeling again when they see how “their patient” is responding to treatment. They offer and promote a great way to do a group donation (eg. Child birthday party gift alternative).

      Reply
  • Amber October 27, 2016, 9:13 am

    Thank you (as always) for writing such a thoughtful and thorough post. My husband and I talk regularly about this – that our biggest goal in financial independence is being able to be generous and helpful to others. I’m a-bookmarkin’ this one for future reference!

    Currently, we focus our efforts on actively participating in our local Buy Nothing Project group (which I am an admin for) and giving regularly to local organizations we believe in.

    Reply
  • JessieG October 27, 2016, 9:31 am

    I am an avid MMM reader and born again Christian. Some organizations I support which I highly recommend:
    -Thru The Bible, ttb.org
    -Justice For All, jfaweb.org
    -Family Life, familylife.com
    -Navigators, navigators.org
    -World Vision, worldvision.org
    -Union Rescue Mission, urm.org
    -Habitat for Humanity, habitat.org

    Reply
  • Scott October 27, 2016, 10:03 am

    Thanks, MMM! Great post. Here is a quick suggestion for thinking outside the box regarding charity. People typically limit their concept of charitable contributions to official “charitable organizations” as defined by the IRS for the purpose of determining tax deductions and tax exempt status. If writing a check to a charity or volunteering with an organization is level 1 and level 2 (in some order), then level 3 of charity could be taking on the charitable work yourself.
    There is an interesting quote from Dostoyevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov, “The more I love humanity in general the less I love man in particular.” So the level 3 idea is to find a particular person to care for. Ideas like adopting a child or serving as a foster parent. If you like planned parenthood, you could go one step further and allow a pregnant teen in dire straits to live in a spare room of your home. If you have a successful business you could take the risk of hiring an ex convict to provide them with meaningful work and valuable training and experience. These things are not for everyone because they typically require a higher level of sacrifice but because of the human interaction involved they potentially offer a much higher intrinsic reward than simply donating money.
    Finally. Most of us think charity=non-profit. But profitable ventures such as this blog have a great potential to increase human flourishing. MMM provides inspiration and information that can take us from a path towards destruction to a path towards sustainability and flourishing. Another example would MMM’s accountant that he mentions above. Keith is FI but loves tax and continues to operate a tax practice even though he does not need the income. From what I’ve read he provides quite a few employees with meaningful work and a paycheck that allows them to support their families. In my opinion his business provides an incredible contribution to society as it allows more humans to flourish.

    Reply
  • Nathan Henkel October 27, 2016, 10:27 am

    I would like to point out that the strongest (philosophically) objections to Planned Parenthood’s abortion activities are not really religious in nature, though it can be a confusing distinction, since it IS a moral objection, and morality and religion (or the lack thereof) do become intertwined. The critical difference between the two sides is this: which humans lives do we value enough to grant the protection of the law. Generally speaking, the broader a net you cast in valuing human lives, the more pro-life you are. The narrower, the more pro-choice you are…and there’s no doubt that there’s a tradeoff between rights and liberty. Of course, a tradeoff between rights and liberty is exactly what the “law” is.

    Reply
    • Mr. Money Mustache October 27, 2016, 10:38 am

      Well said! If people are going to debate abortion rights, this is the way to do it – not with emotional talk of blood, lives, and precious babies.

      And since all life on Earth is objectively a gradual spectrum from sperm/egg all the way up to the hypothetical fully actualized adult, rather than a binary bit of supernatural magic, we need to apply an arbitrary human judgement (aka law) over when to give a developing human legal rights.

      These rights by definition take away some of the rights of the very person who created that human, so it would make sense to be pretty careful in the balance. If you give ALL rights to the fertilized egg at the moment of fertilization, none go to the mother. If you give ALL to the mother, she could legally decide to kill her adult children for any reason.

      To me, setting the legal limit at either of those extremes is equally bizarre. Currently they are set very close to the fertilized egg’s advantage, which seems like a nice cautious compromise. But even more importantly, I don’t see why those of us not in the process of planning families even care about other people’s choices. It’s moderately interesting, but given the numbers we’d get much further deciding on stuff like road safety policies or humanitarian aid overseas.

      And if care more about ideology than looking at the numbers, you will not get much joy out of reading an engineer’s blog :-)

      Reply
      • Jwheeland October 27, 2016, 12:09 pm

        It’s really a shame that “pro-life” is narrowly construed to just mean anti-abortion. When there are so many areas of our society that allow (statistically speaking) lots of deaths. Roads, guns, poverty, etc.

        If we value life as a society, then really it should a process of limiting all preventable deaths.

        It seems like the GiveWell folks are dialed into this idea. Cool.

        Reply
      • Ms Blaise November 8, 2016, 5:48 pm

        Wow, some people certainly get fired up about belief, family planning and donations. Here in New Zealand we are pretty liberal ( including the churches) and even if we don’t agree, it’s pretty understated. I’m still laughing about the post that said that you hadn’t given enough! Too too funny. You are so calm MMM, especially as there must be pretty vicious posts we don’t see. I really love this blog, and look forward to new posts. Good to hear the site is making a healthy profit. I hope you can provoke even more outrage next time you give money away.
        I am not yet FI, instead I have amalgamated learning from you and Tim Ferris and I work about 10 hours a week from home to bring in a six-figure income. This works well with a toddler, and my partner works 4 days a week in an office by choice as he loves his field. We will review in 3 years when the mortgage is gone.
        There is a book your readers might enjoy called the 100 year life (Bloomsbury)which argues that the average (first world) child born now can reasonably expect to live to 100 – so what does that mean for the traditional work/retire paradigm? It has great chapters about investing in relationships with friends and building hobbies and networks. Having read the outraged comments when you wrote your post about having one child (ditto here) I hesitate to mention that the book looks at how if you live to be 100, having a family is no longer the main event in your life. Its written by two professors so is full of data and research and debunks most of the current “beliefs” about work.

        Reply
  • Freedom35 October 27, 2016, 11:27 am

    In terms of charities I have and will support. I’m personally interested in donating to charities which purchase land and keep them free of development. I still have more research to do before deciding the best way to support that, so I’m posting this here hoping others are interested, or have ideas.

    In the past, we’ve supported Children’s Eternal Rainforest: http://www.earthtimes.org/conservation/school-children-saved-rainforest/457/
    and CPAWS which aims to keep half of Canada “wild forever”: http://www.cpaws.org/

    As mentioned, the research has been light, so I don’t know if those are the best or even good uses, but it is a starting point for me.

    I also like to use my charitable giving “budget” to replace giving people gifts (I’m not a fan of giving or receiving most gifts). For a gift giving occasion, I try to think of a charity that the person/couple would support, and make a donation to it in their honor. If I can’t think of a charity they would support, I don’t know them well enough to attend the event :)

    All of that is through a donor advised fund of course ;)

    Reply
  • Bikeguy October 27, 2016, 12:00 pm

    I love givewell.org. I currently am researching the feasibility of setting up an orphanage in Bangladesh for girls about to enter a life of prostitution. Their families sell them for around $250 and they make less than $1 per sex act. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/in-sight/wp/2016/06/13/heartbreaking-photos-show-what-its-like-living-in-a-walled-city-of-a-brothel/

    The idea for the charity would be to buy the girls before they make it to the houses of prostitution by outbidding the madams, and then having them live in an orphanage. Not sure of effectiveness versus dollars spent, but believe saving someone from having a horrible life figures into the equation.

    Reply
    • matt October 27, 2016, 12:25 pm

      Bikeguy,

      While your intentions are very noble, as somebody who has worked in the anti- human trafficking space, I have to point out that method is generally seen as a poor approach and is likely illegal. In fact, it many cases it has been condemned by organizations such as UNICEF. By “buying” the victims, even for altruistic reasons, you would be creating more of a market – incentivizing the traffickers to find more to sell. One model that does see legit success is orphanages that partner with the local government, who has the authority to rescue the victims. Governments are often able to rescue victims, but many times do not have the resources to house, protect, and rehabilitate the victims. That’s where an orphanage/safe place your idea comes in.

      Reply
      • Bikeguy October 28, 2016, 8:16 am

        Thank you for the feedback. I was hoping to avoid the damage done by becoming a prostitute in the first place. But you raise very valid points. My friend from Bangladesh says more than likely the government is involved and my idea, even if it had been sound, would have been way harder to implement due to those in power having their share of the money jeopardized.

        Reply
  • Laurie October 27, 2016, 12:24 pm

    I want to promote a giving as you go attitude. Even when it was a sacrifice to give $5 as a poor college student, I experienced the joy of doing something for others. Getting through college, paying off debt, or whatever consuming focus we have that requires very close attention to finances (which is GREAT), can make us very self-centered. If we deliberately choose to give X (amount or percentage) every X (time frame), it serves to open our eyes to the people around us, and hopefully helps us develop compassion. We start developing our “giving muscles” early so that we hopefully don’t get stuck in the analysis paralysis for so long. We are able to do good all along (and change ourselves in the process ) instead of waiting for a large enough donation amount that it feels like a “game-changer”.

    Reply
  • Victoria October 27, 2016, 1:26 pm

    Thank you for Planned Parenthood. Whilst it shouldn’t, what American does in relation to women’s rights, reproductive health (and yes abortion) affects the entire world and it scares the crap out of me that imbeciles who think a body can decide on its own whether to get pregnant after rape can control my life in another country. Rant over.

    I also wanted to suggest people considering ugly, boring charities. I think people give to something that personally appeals to them, especially when they only have a small amount to give. It increases the warm feels if you donate to puppies or cancer. No disrespect to those charities at all, but they are more popular. If you have more money to give and can get your warm feels through half a donation, maybe consider For the other half some of the boring, yet vitally important stuff that won’t get its own telethon. I realise I’m quoting a West Wing episode here and I’m not telling you what to do with your money. Just food for thought.

    Reply
  • DLcygnet October 27, 2016, 2:07 pm

    I don’t know why I’m surprised. This seems absolutely like the natural consequence of using/wasting fewer resources: we have more to share with everybody. The last article I read on the subject indicated, “the personal drive to accumulate wealth may be inconsistent with the idea of communal support.” Read: Keep money to buy more crap. Are you sure you don’t want to hoard all that money and buy your own Spaceship? Or posthumously donate a building to some college? Just kidding. I’m glad to see you going in a different direction than the rest of the crowd.

    http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/04/why-the-rich-dont-give/309254/

    Reply
  • Allison October 27, 2016, 2:26 pm

    Congratulations!! I find giving to be one of the most satisfying things I do in life and I hope you’ll find that to be true as well.

    As a former fundraiser and non-profitista, yes, the Charity Navigator ratings are able to be manipulated somewhat by the organization. They are a good starting point (some charities don’t even pretend to try and keep costs down–run as far as you can) but shouldn’t be your be all end all.

    As for me, if I had unlimited money to give away, I’d be looking into Rainforest preservation, some sort of carbon-sink project I could work on in the US and advocacy around improving our grid/lobbying against coal and utility companies. Possibly some sort of investing in for profit companies that are bringing clean energy to scale in a cost-effective manner.

    And working to overturn Citizens United.

    Reply
    • Allison October 27, 2016, 8:33 pm

      Also, would you consider giving a matching donation to a (semi)local school that serves children from poor families? Donations like that can be used for wrap around services that help pull these children up out of poverty but their PTA’s don’t have the donor base to raise $ the way schools in wealthier areas do.

      Reply
  • Strick October 27, 2016, 2:44 pm

    Impressive! I wrote a single $25k check to charity last year and felt exhilarated and nauseous at the same time…

    Reply
  • Bee October 27, 2016, 2:52 pm

    That is fantastic! I hope your post inspires more people to donate where they can.
    I sponsor a child, a girl from India, with Plan International. The money goes to the child’s family and community. They update me regularly with ways that I have helped their community or contributed to the sponsor child’s school. It’s very rewarding to know that I have helped the school with stationary supplies or helped to improve their access to water in the area. Also, in writing to her I think it brings me back down to earth, as we only talk about things that are really important, like family, future goals and learning. I hope I can give more in the future.

    Reply
  • 9 O'Clock Shadow October 27, 2016, 4:19 pm

    “That night, I fell asleep with the happy peace that comes from letting go of just a bit of selfishness and fear”. Beautiful. I have that feeling too and never read it described that way. It happens when I forgive someone or do something unusually kind.

    Reply
  • Ginger October 27, 2016, 4:28 pm

    Thank you for donating to planned parenthood and the ACLU.

    Reply
  • Pam October 27, 2016, 4:46 pm

    Way to go! You invited your readers to reply what else can be given away for the humans. My question to you, what about the animal world – both local, regional, and in other countries? For example, in Africa, lands are being taken away from fighting, population growth, and animals such as giraffes, lions, etc are being poached at an alarming rate with their populations being decimated.

    Our children may not get to see certain species and it is cyclical, there needs to be ratio of predator to prey

    So I say to you, what about supporting animals and also the humans that need to live in these lands but also protect the natural environment?

    Reply
  • Vangogh232 October 27, 2016, 5:06 pm

    I think you should consider the https://www.parsemusfoundation.org as a charitable donation. I think there is little we can do for the planet that has more impact then having less children in the developed world. Effective male contraceptives, that are non-hormonal, I think would go a long way.

    Reply
  • Alex October 27, 2016, 5:55 pm

    The Natural Resource Defense Council fights to shut down nuclear power plants that produce reliable power with no carbon emissions. Look at what they’ve been doing against Diablo Canyon. When these plants shut down, the utilities must burn more natural gas and coal in order to make up the difference.

    $5,000 to them negates any benefit of your Nissan Leaf.

    Reply
    • Mr. Money Mustache October 28, 2016, 9:16 am

      Alex, as an engineer I am of course fascinated by nuclear power and think it is amazing and plenty safe, statistically speaking. Most of the campaign against nuclear power since the 1970s has been ill-informed by people more concerned about fear (or spreading fear to support fossil fuel power) than the actual math behind it. I’d buy a nuclear powered flying car if they sold ’em and a nuke generator for my house if they were affordable.

      However, in this case I think the NRDC is doing the math correctly – they are supporting a slow decade+ phaseout to allow solar power (not coal or natural gas) to replace even more of CA’s energy production: https://www.nrdc.org/experts/ralph-cavanagh/story-behind-todays-diablo-canyon-announcement

      I also waste about an hour a day reading about solar energy developments and put stuff into spreadsheets that are pointless because my own electricity consumption is only about $25/month. The thing most people don’t realize is that solar is already passing nuclear power in cost-efficiency (although you’ll still see debates that line up suspiciously with the writer’s personal ideology until it becomes more obvious), and its cost path is going nowhere but down. Imagine the situation in another 9 years when the Diablo reactor starts to be shut down.

      Reply
  • carlo319 October 27, 2016, 7:13 pm

    Dear MMM, and all those who are happy to give,

    Poor people from 3rd world countries are the most vulnerable to climate change.
    Please support any organization working for:
    1. “reforestation” using native trees
    2. sustainable agriculture for rural people
    3. sustainable fishing

    Let us be proactive, not just reacting on sensationalized news on media
    that only focus on relief aid. We need long term and more efficient solutions.

    Thank you to MMM and for all those who are fighting against overconsumption.

    – carlo319, Quezon Province, Philippines

    Reply
  • Markola October 27, 2016, 7:45 pm

    Bravo, MMM, just Bravo. Any money I’ve ever given away comes right back to me many-fold. There seems to be some hidden law of nature at work. I wish the same experience for you.

    Reply
  • SwordGuy October 27, 2016, 8:44 pm

    MMM,

    Thanks for taking the time to research these organizations and making such a large charitable donation. It is very kind of you.

    It’s a shame – and a sad commentary on the state of the USA today – that such a kind, thoughtful act should get so much grief simply because someone doesn’t like a group you gave money to.

    It’s your money, you worked hard for it, you certainly didn’t harm anyone making it (in fact, you helped lots of us (thanks!)), so why folks think they should get a say in where you distribute your largesse is beyond me.

    Thanks again for all the good that you’ve done for so many of us.

    I’ll be able to retire next spring – 12 years earlier than I thought I would be able to. Thank you so very much!

    Not only that, but my wife and I are in the position to spend $200k to $250k to buy and fix up an architectural gem of a home and put it on the historical register so it doesn’t get demolished in the future. How cool is that There is no way we could ever, in our wildest dreams short of winning the lottery, have thought we could do such a thing 4 years ago when we found your site.

    Thanks again!

    Reply
  • Michael October 27, 2016, 9:24 pm

    Wow, this blog is just the best! Seriously, it inspires me to push myself to try to learn new things constantly (try more to be one of THOSE PEOPLE, that are constantly learning and multiskilled), reminds me to have gratitude, and I love the overall world view. I would hope, if I ever were wealthy, I would still keep my head on straight, donate more and give back, definately leaving the world a much better place for having existed. Kudos Pete! Your definitely in my pantheon of super cool people.

    Reply
  • Carolina on My Mind October 27, 2016, 10:44 pm

    In addition to traditional charities and almost-charities (organizations that do great work but for which donations aren’t tax deductible), I am a fan of two other kinds of “giving.”

    First, I think it’s really important to contribute money to political candidates who best represent your values. It’s especially important if you are left leaning, because there’s so much less corporate money rolling in on that side. It would be great if money played a smaller role in American politics, but for now it plays a huge role, and even small individual contributions can help people you respect get elected.

    Second, I think it’s important to support journalism and commentary that you value, rather than freeload. Another commenter mentioned NPR, for example. I happily subscribe to the New York Times, Talking Points Memo, and Wonkette, even though I could read them for free, because I find great value in the reporting and commentary they provide.

    Great article, MMM — lots of food for thought.

    Reply
  • Adam October 28, 2016, 5:50 am

    I think that not only the top 1 percent of the population by wealth should enjoy the best feeling in world : giving. I think even young, vigorously saving moustachions should enjoy this honour as well! Work it in to the annual spending routine.

    A great way to find quality overseas charities is to go visit some on your travels. Then you can give directly, with peace of mind as to how your donations are being used.

    Reply
  • Kermit October 28, 2016, 6:00 am

    Nice job MMM!

    Thank you for sharing your thoughts on giving, and taking action. Absolutely wonderful programs. Like your income portfolio, I like the diversity in giving, local, international, enviromental and social. Keep up the outstanding work!

    Live long Learn often,
    Kermit

    Reply
  • Kermit October 28, 2016, 6:09 am

    PS, If you ever decided to buy land to make a bicycle Eden, we are in! Currently reside in Fort Collins. We often dream of a community that is only accessible by bike via trail. No cars attached to houses, only studios to explore the arts. Wonderful idea!

    Live long Ride often,
    Kermit

    Reply
  • Anne October 28, 2016, 6:10 am

    I donate to four organizations every year. I don’t have a lot to donate but I try to give each of them something.
    Public library – mine is incredible and very, very well managed. I use it all the time.
    ARC – my son has disabilities and this is a great organization. I used the lawyer on staff at the local branch to set up a special needs trust for my son. I have attended many of their education presentations.
    Salvation Army
    local humane organization

    My husband used to work for a company that matched donations up to a certain amount so it might be a good idea to check whether your company does this.

    Reply
  • Kevin Coleman October 28, 2016, 7:37 am

    If you ever need someone to throw your money at as a business investment, I’m working toward my cocktail bar for Longmont. In the preliminary business plan stage at the moment, so it’s a long way off.

    :D

    Kidding not kidding, right?

    This town really needs decent drinks though, seriously. Food and drink need to step it up in Longmont.

    Reply
  • SmartFamilyMoney October 28, 2016, 8:06 am

    I love this! Good for you on the $100,000 donation! What a way to celebrate your birthday.

    I didn’t know the term “effective altruism” and I can’t wait to check out all the links! The Ted Talk was fantastic. I love nerdy solutions to non-nerdy problems. :)

    I am definitely an advocate for giving something at all levels of finance, because no matter how dire your current situation is, there is always someone who is worse off, and that’s a good thing to remember. Personally, I found that including giving as a planned line item in my budget made the experience easier and more joy-filled. We have a budget line called “other giving” that I leave there until something pops up that I want to give to (like a gofundme or local Christmas toy drive, etc). That money is for the less “effective” charities, but I get a lot of joy out of those expenditures.

    Reply
  • La Tejana October 28, 2016, 9:04 am

    Great stuff! LOVEEEEEEE this and wish that “others-mindedness” and the “it takes a village” attitude was much more a staple in our culture and mindset.

    THANK YOU MMM for donating to your local school. If you are contemplating where to donate your money, PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEE consider donating to your local public school (directly and not generally to the district, if possible). As a former public school teacher in a Title 1 (a low SES school) money is SCARCE and it is frustrating because there is often very little/no money to buy needed materials and supplies. Teachers almost always spend their own money (or beg their friends and families to donate) to invest back in their classrooms and on their kiddos, by buying books, supplies, materials, food (for real- not all kids have access to breakfast) and other necessities that kiddos might not get at home.

    Schools produce the next generation of citizens and whether or not you like pubic education (or see all the ways it needs to be improved), there are still real kiddos with real suffering in each school and real teachers who spend their real hard earned money on their students because they want them to have the best that they can provide.

    End rant. Please consider donating to your local public schools. K? Thanks.

    Reply
  • Prairie Stash October 28, 2016, 9:54 am

    MMM’s first large donation gets downplayed often, you vacated your job so that someone else could make a living.

    Go into your old workplace sometime and see the new person making a living, lets hope they pave the way soon for another person. Its the old adage; give a man a fish or teach him to fish; giving someone a job opportunity (by vacating yours) is definitely teaching him to fish.

    Reply
    • Mr. Money Mustache October 28, 2016, 6:14 pm

      Thanks for your support, Prairie Stash. But to accept it I have to point out that quitting my old job did NOT on balance help other people get jobs. Your assumption is based on something called the “Lump of Labor Fallacy”, which most economists believe is a misunderstanding. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lump_of_labour_fallacy)

      The reason is that workers (especially higher-level ones like engineers who are creating new products) don’t just consume jobs, they also expand the entire economy. They invent new products and processes which increase all of supply, demand, and productivity, creating even more jobs.

      The best thing you can do to lower unemployment (from a work perspective) is to start and expand a company. The second best thing is to work hard and efficiently at your current job, which will cause your company and its partners to expand.

      But I didn’t care about any of that – I wanted to retire to have more time to be a Dad.

      Reply
  • Cynthia M. October 28, 2016, 10:34 am

    Bravo MMM! I am impressed that you made such generous contributions in celebration of your birthday and received immense satisfaction and peace in return. I also liked that you looked to other countries to donate in order have the greatest positive impact. I think sometimes we limit ourselves unnecessarily in giving to organizations that are in our own “backyard” without realizing how much greater need there is all around the world. My concern has been donating to umbrella organizations who seem to pick and choose the local organizations that receive their funding while leaving others out. This is the reason why I hesitate to donate to United Way for example.

    Reply
  • Jeff October 28, 2016, 10:47 am

    You are great at making money – why not build an investment portfolio or nonprofit business? A charitable engine could feed all your charities much longer and further than a onetime donation. Similar to the likes of your personal portfolio or charitable engines like Paul Newman’s – I love his lemonade. Nice work, congrats!

    Reply
  • Krislyn October 28, 2016, 12:14 pm

    Hi! I’m new to your blog. What a great article. Thank you for sharing your experience in giving.
    I just watched a documentary about Dean Kamen and his quest to get clean water to everyone on the planet. I mention this because you said you wanted to impact the most people. In Kamen’s documentary he mentions that clean water could clear %50 of the hospital beds in the world. He gave other numbers that were pretty staggering too. Maybe something you’d like to contribute to in the future?
    I also really love that you gave to several local needs. Right on!

    Reply
  • Primal Prosperity October 28, 2016, 1:26 pm

    I donate, but I can’t stress enough what I call ‘sustainable philanthropy’. This is a concept that living simply and making socially and environmentally friendly conscious consumer choices first, then donate second. For example, to save money by supporting companies that have destructive policies, just to donate later, doesn’t make sense. Or, to make money by selling products that are bad for people and the planet, and then donate later also doesn’t make sense. I know you, MMM, are living the true meaning of sustainable philanthropy, but with all the promoting of tithing in our society, it is easy for many people to miss this point.

    Reply
  • b October 28, 2016, 5:13 pm

    Respect. It is hard to know sometimes what enough is. Thanks for teaching us.

    Reply

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