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Why I'm donating $150/month (10% of my income) to the musl Libc project (2019)

andrewkelley.me

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Re: Why I'm donating $150/month (10% of my income) to the musl Libc project (2019)

#31

Post by TAForObvReasons »

3pt14159 wrote: post #23
AndyKelley wrote: post #10

2021 update: * The Zig Software Foundation now exists * My total income including ZSF Salary, GitHub Sponsors, Patreon is now about 4000 USD per month. Legally, my ZSF salary is 160K per year, but I have been consistently donating it back to the org since frankly we just don't have that much revenue at this point in time, and I've been prioritizing getting that money to other Zig contributors. * The $150/month to Ric…

Sorry, I'm not American so this may be a dumb question, but why set your salary to $160k instead of what it actually is? Does it have to do with US tax law or non-profit org law?

There are two benefits to showing a higher income on paper:

1) Some situations like mortgage applications and child adoption will require some sort of income verification. It's a lot harder when you aren't showing as much top-line income.

2) If the project goes south and the author has to find another job, showing a "market rate" salary is better than the true rate (sadly many people and companies still talk in terms of percentage increases)

Re: Why I'm donating $150/month (10% of my income) to the musl Libc project (2019)

#32

Post by spywaregorilla »

yboris wrote: post #16

Consider joining Giving What We Can - an international community of people who have pledged to give at least 10% of their income to causes that they think are most effective at eliminating what they think are the world's biggest problems. (I'm a proud member for 10 years). https://www.givingwhatwecan.org/

This seems like a really funny name for the org. Some people can give a whole lot more than 10%. Others cannot give nearly that much. Seems... contrary to the idea of "what you can"

Re: Why I'm donating $150/month (10% of my income) to the musl Libc project (2019)

#33

Post by vorpalhex »

TAForObvReasons wrote: post #29
pixelmonkey wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is just me taking a guess, but one benefit to him setting a real salary and donating the money back is that for the purpose of credit checks and consumer loans (e.g. a home mortgage for a primary residence), he can qualify for appropriate amounts. It also appropriately models what's happening: he's paying himself a "market salary" (in quotes because his market value is probably much higher than that, but I'm spe…

He is definitely paying extra taxes. Donations don't reduce social security and medicare tax liability, and depending on the arrangement either he or the foundation is paying for the "other half" of the tax

But he will also qualify for a higher SS payout since his income is higher, if my understanding is correct.

Re: Why I'm donating $150/month (10% of my income) to the musl Libc project (2019)

#35

Post by mwint »

vorpalhex wrote: post #33
TAForObvReasons wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He is definitely paying extra taxes. Donations don't reduce social security and medicare tax liability, and depending on the arrangement either he or the foundation is paying for the "other half" of the tax

But he will also qualify for a higher SS payout since his income is higher, if my understanding is correct.

Never really thought about it. I’d love for someone with knowledge to weigh in on this: Does it ever make sense to pay more SS tax, based on a present-value analysis?

I guess it’s really three questions:

1) For each dollar to SS taxes, do I expect to get more than a dollar from SS in the future? 2) Same question as 1, but inflation-adjusted future dollars. 3) If the expected return is positive, does it beat reasonable market returns?

Guessing the answer depends on age, income levels, etc. I just don’t know how to do the math myself.

Re: Why I'm donating $150/month (10% of my income) to the musl Libc project (2019)

#36

Post by p_j_w »

vorpalhex wrote: post #33
TAForObvReasons wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He is definitely paying extra taxes. Donations don't reduce social security and medicare tax liability, and depending on the arrangement either he or the foundation is paying for the "other half" of the tax

But he will also qualify for a higher SS payout since his income is higher, if my understanding is correct.

It's semi-complicated and depends on what happens later in his career (SS uses the highest income from X number of years to determine your payout), but in the general case, yes it will increase his SS payout.

Re: Why I'm donating $150/month (10% of my income) to the musl Libc project (2019)

#37

Post by rStar »

nomdep wrote: post #30
RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #9

Somehow I loved this article and the response, even though it was admittedly a funding stunt. There was something very endearing about how straitforward and innocent the stunt was. Two very deserving projects got funding (musl and Zig). I have used musl, mainly through Alpine Linux. I have not used Zig, but it seems it is a very interesting answer to the question of what does a systems programming language that is no…

My ignorance is showing but, why Zig deserve to be funded?

that’s my thought. i get people having pet projects, but i’m over the hard sales pitch for why i should care

Re: Why I'm donating $150/month (10% of my income) to the musl Libc project (2019)

#38

Post by dgb23 »

AndyKelley wrote: post #10

2021 update: * The Zig Software Foundation now exists * My total income including ZSF Salary, GitHub Sponsors, Patreon is now about 4000 USD per month. Legally, my ZSF salary is 160K per year, but I have been consistently donating it back to the org since frankly we just don't have that much revenue at this point in time, and I've been prioritizing getting that money to other Zig contributors. * The $150/month to Ric…

This is inspiring and refreshing.

Re: Why I'm donating $150/month (10% of my income) to the musl Libc project (2019)

#40

Post by TAForObvReasons »

mwint wrote: post #35
vorpalhex wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But he will also qualify for a higher SS payout since his income is higher, if my understanding is correct.

Never really thought about it. I’d love for someone with knowledge to weigh in on this: Does it ever make sense to pay more SS tax, based on a present-value analysis? I guess it’s really three questions: 1) For each dollar to SS taxes, do I expect to get more than a dollar from SS in the future? 2) Same question as 1, but inflation-adjusted future dollars. 3) If the expected return is positive, does it beat reasonabl…

(not a financial professional, not advice)

You need at least 40 "credits" over your working life to be eligible for social security benefits. Each calendar year you can earn up to 4 "credits", which in 2021 corresponds to $1470 in earnings that are taxed. So it definitely makes sense to earn the credits every year e.g. $6000 in 2021. SSDI looks at the last 10 years of earnings if you're older than 30, which still incentivizes hitting that minimum target.

As for the actual income in retirement, that is a complex subject. For example, the optimal money move is to continue working to full retirement age, but you may want to take the early retirement option (even if the payout is smaller) to enjoy the extra healthy years.

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