I don’t disparage donating to charities. I think everyone should do what makes them “feel” the best in this regard. For some, it’s the innocence project, for others the local animal shelter.
Personally, I think the single largest contribution people can make is investing in R&D. Incremental improvements now can help generations later, and it grows exponentially. As such some things that are “good” are (which may be counter intuitive):
- investing in companies
- creating scholarships
- donating directly to research labs of interest
- contributing to open source
- filing patents
- donating time or body to research
I’ve given dramatically more than 10% of my life to advance research. Yet I don’t technically donate any income. I think it’s important people understand it’s not a zero sum game.
Example, I put tons of money into AMD when it was a company on the verge of bankruptcy. Why? Because we needed competition in the CPU space and I thought they could be viable. Those returns have gone into my kids college funds and donated to the EFF. I donated none of my earnings
How did you put money into AMD? Investing in their stock doesn’t meaningfully impact their likelihood of bankruptcy, as that capital isn’t going to the firm. Even buying bonds doesn’t mean much if you’re not part of the initial bond issuance.
I purchased stock, it’s Not entirely true stocks don’t meaningfully impact the company. Increasing the stock price means they can issue more and increase revenue. They can also take loans more easily as they could issue stock.
Personally, I think the single largest contribution people can make is investing in R&D. Incremental improvements now can help generations later, and it grows exponentially. As such some things that are “good” are (which may be counter intuitive):
- investing in companies
- creating scholarships
- donating directly to research labs of interest
- contributing to open source
- filing patents
- donating time or body to research
I’ve given dramatically more than 10% of my life to advance research. Yet I don’t technically donate any income. I think it’s important people understand it’s not a zero sum game.
Example, I put tons of money into AMD when it was a company on the verge of bankruptcy. Why? Because we needed competition in the CPU space and I thought they could be viable. Those returns have gone into my kids college funds and donated to the EFF. I donated none of my earnings