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John_Maxwell_IV comments on Why is it rational to invest in retirement? I don't get it. - Less Wrong Discussion

20 Post author: diegocaleiro 16 May 2013 01:28AM

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Comment author: John_Maxwell_IV 16 May 2013 06:22:54AM *  4 points [-]

Robin Hanson thinks an optimal donation policy looks like saving up and investing as much money as you can and then making a large donation at the end of your life. So retirement accounts seem sensible from this point of view ("tax advantaged" seems like an important keyword here).

From a tax perspective, my understanding is that you can deduct up to 50% of your income from your taxes if you give it to charity. Are retirement account tax incentives that good? If not, you might want to put your money in a donor-advised fund instead of a retirement account. (See this comment for more relatively clueless speculation from me.)

Comment author: Alsadius 17 May 2013 08:27:20AM 2 points [-]

In Canada, investments made in a retirement fund and donations made to charity both work identically - no taxes are charged on that dollar amount(there's some caps, but they rarely come up for most people). It will obviously depend on where you live, though.