I agree it makes sense to wait in your position. If you are filing taxes, you’ll probably be taking the standard deduction this year. So you wouldn’t save on taxes by donating now, but you would save on taxes if you postponed the donations for a year when you itemize.
I also agree with the general sentiment of figuring out more what the landscape looks like. As an analogy, some people begin college thinking they know what they’ll major in; many of them end up changing their minds by the middle of sophomore year. Same thing with donations. Even after many years thinking about this topic, I’m still making significant updates to my assessments as I learn more.
That said, I don’t think it’s likely that one charity differs from another by more than 1000 times, except in rare cases (http://utilitarian-essays.com/robustness-against-uncertainty.html#why-even-out). That said, they can probably differ by 10-100 times, and this still makes it really important to think more about where to give.
I agree it makes sense to wait in your position. If you are filing taxes, you’ll probably be taking the standard deduction this year. So you wouldn’t save on taxes by donating now, but you would save on taxes if you postponed the donations for a year when you itemize.
I also agree with the general sentiment of figuring out more what the landscape looks like. As an analogy, some people begin college thinking they know what they’ll major in; many of them end up changing their minds by the middle of sophomore year. Same thing with donations. Even after many years thinking about this topic, I’m still making significant updates to my assessments as I learn more.
That said, I don’t think it’s likely that one charity differs from another by more than 1000 times, except in rare cases (http://utilitarian-essays.com/robustness-against-uncertainty.html#why-even-out). That said, they can probably differ by 10-100 times, and this still makes it really important to think more about where to give.
Great post, Peter. :)