I took the 10% Pledge earlier this year, but was contemplating it a lot for a while before. After taking the pledge, I noticed a couple of insights that I think would have probably made me pledge earlier. I think these insights most directly apply to people who were in a similar situation as I was[1]- but they might be useful for others as well:
You donât have to donate 10% right away. Today (!) I learned that âwhile studying or unemployed, it is within the spirit of the Pledge to give 1% of spending money instead of the income-based pledge amountâ and the 10% kicks in once you start earning a stable income. When I first learned about the pledge, I was still at uni and thought I should wait until I had a full-time job and some comfortable savings. However, even if I were already full-time employed at the time and wouldnât donate at all for the next 4 years, Iâd only have to donate ~11%[2] for the rest of my career to compensate for the lack of donations over my lifetime. As someone having a ~median income in a high-income country, I believe that 11% is very doable. In fact (hot take!) I believe that 15-20% should be the norm for people in my situation.
10% is not as much as you might think. I think for me, there was a strong anchoring effect hereâin my city, most people I know donate something like 30-50⏠a month, so 10% (100+ âŹ/âmonth at the time I learned about the pledge) felt like a huge step. Instead of pledging, I decided to just donate what I could âeasily missâ. This included instances in which I surprisingly saved money, birthday and Christmas gifts and occasionally deliberate decisions to not purchase âluxuriesâ. Tracking all of these was a bit tedious, but it showed me how I could easily donate more than 10%, by reframing my donations around what I could genuinely âeasilyâ give away, instead of seeing it in relation to what other people give.
Nowadays Iâd recommend people to take the trial pledge, but doing so at 10% for say 6-12 months. My impression (out of my social bubble) is that many people take the trial pledge for 1%; which isnât bad, but it doesnât really give you a âtrialâ of what the 10% pledge would practically look like.
Probably, the earlier you pledge the better. I have always been a bit of a nerd for social psychology and social norm-setting; and I think there is a plausible case to be made that the earlier you can help cultivate a norm, the more important it becomes to do so. I think Misconception #4 in this post (strongly recommended read!) summarizes the case quite well. Relatedly, as you move through life, youâll probably always find a reason not to pledge yetâwhether you are waiting to enter your first full-time career, building up your safety net, facing a career transition, saving for your first own house, etc.
My tentative conclusion from all of this is that, assuming you expect to have a ~normal salary for the majority of your career and live in a high-income country, it is probably not too early to pledge.
Part-time student in a high-income country, no real financial risk, because parents are sufficiently well off, expected to earn at least a median income over my lifetime.
I took the 10% Pledge earlier this year, but was contemplating it a lot for a while before. After taking the pledge, I noticed a couple of insights that I think would have probably made me pledge earlier. I think these insights most directly apply to people who were in a similar situation as I was[1]- but they might be useful for others as well:
You donât have to donate 10% right away. Today (!) I learned that âwhile studying or unemployed, it is within the spirit of the Pledge to give 1% of spending money instead of the income-based pledge amountâ and the 10% kicks in once you start earning a stable income. When I first learned about the pledge, I was still at uni and thought I should wait until I had a full-time job and some comfortable savings. However, even if I were already full-time employed at the time and wouldnât donate at all for the next 4 years, Iâd only have to donate ~11%[2] for the rest of my career to compensate for the lack of donations over my lifetime. As someone having a ~median income in a high-income country, I believe that 11% is very doable. In fact (hot take!) I believe that 15-20% should be the norm for people in my situation.
10% is not as much as you might think. I think for me, there was a strong anchoring effect hereâin my city, most people I know donate something like 30-50⏠a month, so 10% (100+ âŹ/âmonth at the time I learned about the pledge) felt like a huge step. Instead of pledging, I decided to just donate what I could âeasily missâ. This included instances in which I surprisingly saved money, birthday and Christmas gifts and occasionally deliberate decisions to not purchase âluxuriesâ. Tracking all of these was a bit tedious, but it showed me how I could easily donate more than 10%, by reframing my donations around what I could genuinely âeasilyâ give away, instead of seeing it in relation to what other people give.
Nowadays Iâd recommend people to take the trial pledge, but doing so at 10% for say 6-12 months. My impression (out of my social bubble) is that many people take the trial pledge for 1%; which isnât bad, but it doesnât really give you a âtrialâ of what the 10% pledge would practically look like.
Probably, the earlier you pledge the better. I have always been a bit of a nerd for social psychology and social norm-setting; and I think there is a plausible case to be made that the earlier you can help cultivate a norm, the more important it becomes to do so. I think Misconception #4 in this post (strongly recommended read!) summarizes the case quite well. Relatedly, as you move through life, youâll probably always find a reason not to pledge yetâwhether you are waiting to enter your first full-time career, building up your safety net, facing a career transition, saving for your first own house, etc.
My tentative conclusion from all of this is that, assuming you expect to have a ~normal salary for the majority of your career and live in a high-income country, it is probably not too early to pledge.
Part-time student in a high-income country, no real financial risk, because parents are sufficiently well off, expected to earn at least a median income over my lifetime.
Assuming a forty-year career with the same incomeâbut likely, your income would increase throughout your career and it would be less than 11%.