Thank you, Lucius. I've added Giving Multiplier to my list of charities to donate each year.
GiveDirectly - lifting people out of poverty, 2.6X economic multiplier/RCT research into UBI
Helen Keller International - lowest cost way to save a young child
Clean Air Task Force- lowest cost way to offset carbon emissions ($1.26 per ton)
Giving Multiplier - 1.5X effective multiplier to most effective charity/multiply the number of effective altruists
Local Food Bank meal donations (my personal passion project since I went hungry for three months).
This year will be a record year of income for me, so I'm making it a record year for giving.
Exponentially giving more each year until I not just surpass 50% of my income but hit 5% of my net worth, which, thanks to my family's hedge fund, will take me many times above my income.
My two greatest passions and skills in life are making and giving away lots of money;) EA has given my quest for billions an actual meaning. Thank you to you, GiveWell, Founders Pledge, Peter Singer, William MacAskill, and all the other people who have made it easy for people like me to earn, invest, and give with meaning and maximum effect.
I now have a spreadsheet that counts my annual and cumulative inflation-adjusted donations, meals donated, lives saved, people lifted out of poverty, and economic impact.
For math and evidence-based spreadsheet nerds like me, EA combined with patient philanthropy is a match made in heaven:)
My dream is to beat Andrew Carnegie's philanthropy record of $438 billion in inflation-adjusted giving.
My hedge fund will turn into a permanent philanthropic trust which will let me eventually donate $1 trillion (adjusted for inflation) over the next few centuries.
Give thousands and you can make a difference to some.
I should note the goal is to donate 5% of the portfolio each year.
That will let me donate far more than my entire annual income which is currently over $500,000 per year.
I love Will McCaskill's "earn to give" strategy but I tweak it to "earn to invest and give."
In an upcoming article on Seeking Alpha I'll show how donating 50% of your income is great.
But donating 25% of your income to the most effective charities and investing 25% into a low risk ETF based portfolio can result in up to 100x more donations than just donations alone.
Donate today, donate even more tomorrow, and donate staggering amounts over your life time.
And then turn your portfolio into a perpetual charitable trust in your will.
That ensures the effective altruism never stops.
For an example of how powerful this can be consider the example of Ben Franklin.
Franklin left $1,000 in his will to Philadelphia and Boston with one important proviso.
The money had to be invested and half donated to charity after 100 years.
Then the other half after 200 years.
The second donation to each city, was $13 million each.
From $2000 over $26 million donated to charity.
That is the power of patient philanthropy.
Help those most in need today.
Help tens of thousands over your life time.
And help millions or billions over centuries.
Give thousands and you can help lots of people.
Give millions and you can help millions.
Give billions and you can change the world.
But give trillions over centuries and millennia and you can change everything.
My family hedge fund, which is the basis for our effective altruistic donations to Givedirectly, the Helen Keller International, and the Clean Air Task Force looks like this:
16.67% EDV (long term US treasuries)
16.67% SCHD (high yield blue chips)
8.4% DBMF (managed futures)
8.4% KMLM (managed futures)
5.2% VIG (dividend aristocrats and future aristocrats)
5.2% SCHG (50% fastest growing S&P 500 companies)
5.2% SPGP (deep value growth blue chips)
4.2% Amazon
4.2% MasterCard
4.2% Lowe's
4.2% ASML Holdings (world leader in advanced chip manufacturing tech)
3.33% British American Tobacco
3.33% Altria
3.33% Enbridge
3.33% NextEra Energy Partners
3.33% Brookfield Asset Management
4.1% yield
8.9% growth
13.0% long term return potential and historical returns.
11% to 15% annual income growth.
And as a nice bonus the average peak decline during every bear market in the last 16 years is 10% and the median peak decline is also 10%.
Peak decline in the 2022 bear market -14% vs 35% nasdaq -28% S&P, and -21% 60/40.
This portfolio is called the ZEUS ( Zen Extraordinary Ultra Sleep well at night) Income Growth portfolio.
It consists of stocks, bonds, cash, ETFs and individual blue chips.
605 of the world's best companies or the top 0.1% of all companies in the world according to Vanguard and MSCI.
I've spent 8 years in the financial industry as a financial analyst perfecting this family hedge fund which is where I'm investing all my life savings. Or at least that which isn't invested in the most effective charities.
Right now I'm funding the donations out of pocket.
Eventually 5% if this portfolio will be donated to the most effective charities focused on saving young children, lifting people out of poverty and promoting economic development and figuring climate change.
My two greatest passions and skills are making lots of money and giving it away to the most effective charities who together bring us ever closer to Star Trek utopia.
$550K raised in 36 hours. I'm very impressed with GD's ability to get so many people involved so quickly.
From $20 donations to $20,000, we're over 360 people on a mission to donate $2 million to lift 9,000 people out of poverty and make a $5.2 million economic impact.
For context, this single campaign, if used in a single area, could boost local GDP by 3%.
They set a goal of 5 days but are on track to finish in half that time.
What if you miss it?
The Life You Can Save matching campaign has no time limit and is available once this is over.
I'll post the Life You Can Save Campaign again in a separate post once the Million Dollar match campaign ends.
And when that runs out, I'll talk with Tyler, Director of Communications at GiveDirectly to make sure they update the fundraising match campaign.
In other words, there should always be a way to match your donations to GiveDirectly, and I'll do my best to help the people on these forums find it.
If you give $1 it's matched and actually $2.
And that's $5.2 in economic impact, a multiplier of 5.2.
According to Moody's, most domestic programs the government funds have a multiplier of 1.36 to 1.73.
Or, to put it another way, by matching donations to GiveDirectly, your money can make 3X more of a difference in people's lives than our most effective government spending programs (SNAP benefits).
Reminds me of a saying. Aim for the moon, because even if you miss you'll be among the stars.
Human progress has always be try steps forward, one step back.
As one book put it, "slouching towards utopia."
The goal of life is to constantly be striving for improvement and to improve our relationships and how we impact others.
The value isn't in actually achieving a perfect world, but in making the would better, bit by bit, forever.
Together humanity can compound improvement.
Imagine if we can make the world 1% better every year.
That's improving life 2x every 72 years.
If we can achieve 2% improvement each year, on average, it's a 2x better world every 36 years.
And if you're an optimist then maybe we can improve the world 3% per year, doubling our global standard of living every 24 years, or 8x every century, and 64x every 200 years.
But as long as we all work together, and do our part to make forward progress, we're always striving, and succeeding, on the path to utopia.
Every bit helps.
Thank you for giving what you can.
Humanity moves forward because everyone does what they can to contribute.
That's good we continue slouching towards utopia, but by bit😉
Thank you, Lucius. I've added Giving Multiplier to my list of charities to donate each year.
GiveDirectly - lifting people out of poverty, 2.6X economic multiplier/RCT research into UBI
Helen Keller International - lowest cost way to save a young child
Clean Air Task Force- lowest cost way to offset carbon emissions ($1.26 per ton)
Giving Multiplier - 1.5X effective multiplier to most effective charity/multiply the number of effective altruists
Local Food Bank meal donations (my personal passion project since I went hungry for three months).
This year will be a record year of income for me, so I'm making it a record year for giving.
Exponentially giving more each year until I not just surpass 50% of my income but hit 5% of my net worth, which, thanks to my family's hedge fund, will take me many times above my income.
My two greatest passions and skills in life are making and giving away lots of money;) EA has given my quest for billions an actual meaning. Thank you to you, GiveWell, Founders Pledge, Peter Singer, William MacAskill, and all the other people who have made it easy for people like me to earn, invest, and give with meaning and maximum effect.
I now have a spreadsheet that counts my annual and cumulative inflation-adjusted donations, meals donated, lives saved, people lifted out of poverty, and economic impact.
For math and evidence-based spreadsheet nerds like me, EA combined with patient philanthropy is a match made in heaven:)
My dream is to beat Andrew Carnegie's philanthropy record of $438 billion in inflation-adjusted giving.
My hedge fund will turn into a permanent philanthropic trust which will let me eventually donate $1 trillion (adjusted for inflation) over the next few centuries.
Give thousands and you can make a difference to some.
Give millions and you can change a lot of lives.
Give billions and you can change the world.
Give trillions and you can change everything.
I should note the goal is to donate 5% of the portfolio each year.
That will let me donate far more than my entire annual income which is currently over $500,000 per year.
I love Will McCaskill's "earn to give" strategy but I tweak it to "earn to invest and give."
In an upcoming article on Seeking Alpha I'll show how donating 50% of your income is great.
But donating 25% of your income to the most effective charities and investing 25% into a low risk ETF based portfolio can result in up to 100x more donations than just donations alone.
Donate today, donate even more tomorrow, and donate staggering amounts over your life time.
And then turn your portfolio into a perpetual charitable trust in your will.
That ensures the effective altruism never stops.
For an example of how powerful this can be consider the example of Ben Franklin.
Franklin left $1,000 in his will to Philadelphia and Boston with one important proviso.
The money had to be invested and half donated to charity after 100 years.
Then the other half after 200 years.
The second donation to each city, was $13 million each.
From $2000 over $26 million donated to charity.
That is the power of patient philanthropy.
Help those most in need today.
Help tens of thousands over your life time.
And help millions or billions over centuries.
Give thousands and you can help lots of people.
Give millions and you can help millions.
Give billions and you can change the world.
But give trillions over centuries and millennia and you can change everything.
My family hedge fund, which is the basis for our effective altruistic donations to Givedirectly, the Helen Keller International, and the Clean Air Task Force looks like this:
16.67% EDV (long term US treasuries) 16.67% SCHD (high yield blue chips) 8.4% DBMF (managed futures) 8.4% KMLM (managed futures) 5.2% VIG (dividend aristocrats and future aristocrats) 5.2% SCHG (50% fastest growing S&P 500 companies) 5.2% SPGP (deep value growth blue chips) 4.2% Amazon 4.2% MasterCard 4.2% Lowe's 4.2% ASML Holdings (world leader in advanced chip manufacturing tech) 3.33% British American Tobacco 3.33% Altria 3.33% Enbridge 3.33% NextEra Energy Partners 3.33% Brookfield Asset Management
4.1% yield 8.9% growth 13.0% long term return potential and historical returns. 11% to 15% annual income growth.
And as a nice bonus the average peak decline during every bear market in the last 16 years is 10% and the median peak decline is also 10%.
Peak decline in the 2022 bear market -14% vs 35% nasdaq -28% S&P, and -21% 60/40.
This portfolio is called the ZEUS ( Zen Extraordinary Ultra Sleep well at night) Income Growth portfolio.
It consists of stocks, bonds, cash, ETFs and individual blue chips.
605 of the world's best companies or the top 0.1% of all companies in the world according to Vanguard and MSCI.
I've spent 8 years in the financial industry as a financial analyst perfecting this family hedge fund which is where I'm investing all my life savings. Or at least that which isn't invested in the most effective charities.
Right now I'm funding the donations out of pocket.
Eventually 5% if this portfolio will be donated to the most effective charities focused on saving young children, lifting people out of poverty and promoting economic development and figuring climate change.
My two greatest passions and skills are making lots of money and giving it away to the most effective charities who together bring us ever closer to Star Trek utopia.
I spent 3 hours answering questions on the Dividend Kings forums about Givedirectly, including numerous studies and video interviews.
One of of members posted a screenshot of a $10k donation he just made.
$20k effective donation.
42 people lifted out of poverty.
$52,000 economic impact.
51 hours left in the campaign.
$850,000 raised from 542 donations and 150,000 to go.
I donated an extra $2k myself after my best friend tipped me off to PayPal MasterCard which offers 3% unlimited cash back for PayPal purchases.
Givedirectly takes PayPal.
I was approved today and they offered 2k limit before I get the card.
So I donated it all to bring my total donation for the year to $5k.
What a wonderful way to end an amazing year.
Next year will be even better.
https://fundraisers.givedirectly.org/campaigns/2022match
$550K raised in 36 hours. I'm very impressed with GD's ability to get so many people involved so quickly.
From $20 donations to $20,000, we're over 360 people on a mission to donate $2 million to lift 9,000 people out of poverty and make a $5.2 million economic impact.
For context, this single campaign, if used in a single area, could boost local GDP by 3%.
They set a goal of 5 days but are on track to finish in half that time.
What if you miss it?
The Life You Can Save matching campaign has no time limit and is available once this is over.
For US donors.
https://tlycs.networkforgood.com/projects/54784-the-life-you-can-save-givedirectly-match-campaign?_ga=2.38624291.1872895852.1672273982-455330969.1671672791
$4,500 out of $33,000 goal reached.
For Australian donors.
https://donorbox.org/new-donor-givedirectly-match?_ga=2.38624291.1872895852.1672273982-455330969.1671672791
$20,100 AUD out of $50,000 raised.
I'll post the Life You Can Save Campaign again in a separate post once the Million Dollar match campaign ends.
And when that runs out, I'll talk with Tyler, Director of Communications at GiveDirectly to make sure they update the fundraising match campaign.
In other words, there should always be a way to match your donations to GiveDirectly, and I'll do my best to help the people on these forums find it.
If you give $1 it's matched and actually $2.
And that's $5.2 in economic impact, a multiplier of 5.2.
According to Moody's, most domestic programs the government funds have a multiplier of 1.36 to 1.73.
Or, to put it another way, by matching donations to GiveDirectly, your money can make 3X more of a difference in people's lives than our most effective government spending programs (SNAP benefits).
Life is about balance.
Should we care about the long-term future? Of course.
But as Keynes said "In the long term we're all dead."
We can't ignore the plight of 711 million people living in extreme poverty.
My life mission is turning my portfolio into a long -term donation machine to eliminate extreme poverty and then poverty in general.
Each year I give more to Givedirectly and my local food bank.
I started with what I could afford, two years ago, starting with $1000.
This year I was able to give $4,000.
Next year around $7,000.
And within a few years over $100,000 per year including donating 6 meals to my local food bank for every meal I eat all year.
I'm helping people in my local community right away.
I'm helping dozens of people in Africa rise out of poverty right away.
And long term I'll be able to help millions and then billions.
Why turn EA into a political like fight?
Charity today vs. longtermism?
Do both.
The problems are big enough that all EAs can make a difference.
I'm new to EA. I'm sure there are critics of the philosophy.
And I'm sure some of those are valid.
I don't have time to get bogged down into symantic debates about what is or isn't EA. What is or isn't longtermism.
Should altruism be effective? Of course. I don't think many people disagree with that basic principle.
Should we help people suffering today? Of course, I don't think many disagree.
Should we ignore the long term future? I don't believe many sane people think this.
In other words, just like a humans want similar things, all altruists want basically the same thing.
No philosopher is perfect. No one is a saint, or a prophet.
Peter Singer is an inspirational philosopher but not perfect.
Gene Roddenberry was an inspirational guy who created a vision for the utopia that has inspired millions.
But people who knew him also know he often failed to live up to his own vision in his personal life.
Let's not get bogged down in tearing down the cheerleaders for various kinds of altruism or visions for a better future.
Let's all just celebrate our common humanity and small part in traveling the long and winding road towards utopia together.
Reminds me of a saying. Aim for the moon, because even if you miss you'll be among the stars.
Human progress has always be try steps forward, one step back.
As one book put it, "slouching towards utopia."
The goal of life is to constantly be striving for improvement and to improve our relationships and how we impact others.
The value isn't in actually achieving a perfect world, but in making the would better, bit by bit, forever.
Together humanity can compound improvement.
Imagine if we can make the world 1% better every year.
That's improving life 2x every 72 years.
If we can achieve 2% improvement each year, on average, it's a 2x better world every 36 years.
And if you're an optimist then maybe we can improve the world 3% per year, doubling our global standard of living every 24 years, or 8x every century, and 64x every 200 years.
But as long as we all work together, and do our part to make forward progress, we're always striving, and succeeding, on the path to utopia.
On Tuesday GD will announce this and post the link. I'll post it here as soon as Tyler sends it to me.
Givedirectly Twitter feed retweets any charitable matching offers and I'll post that too if one becomes available.
2 weeks ago a woman named Catherine offered a $10k match if you sent screen shot of GD donation receipt.
A man named Peter offered to match her 10k donation.
And Givedirectly fundraiser page has a link to Julie's matching campaign.
So I donated $1k to max out Julie's campaign, sent screen shot to Catherine and Peter on the Twitter campaign.
3:1 match so $4k effective donation.
8 people lifted out of poverty and over $10k economic impact.
An example of how you can leverage several match together to get the max impact for your giving.
This time we have 2:1 guaranteed from GD campaign.
Tyler told me that GD does a big annual $1 million match campaign at the end of each year.
Not sure if it's as generous as 2:1 each year but at the least it's 1:1.
So at the end of each year it should be possible to get 2:1 match and possibly 3:1.
Something to consider when planning your charity giving for the year.
It's great to give all year if you can find a 1:1 match, which Givedirectly usually has available via their fundraising page.
But consider keeping the majority of your giving budget in reserve to get that 2:1 or even 3:1 match at the end of the year.