[scarface74]

Dan Pollatta said in one if his Ted Talks that it wasn't selfish for a person to stay in the private sector where they could earn more money and then give the excess to charity over working for the charity and make less.

I haven't thought through his whole talk enough to have an informed opinion but it is interesting.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/trevor-neilson/dan-pallotta-w...

[isleyaardvark]

For completeness sake, here is best argument I've found against the idea of "Earning to Give":

http://lesswrong.com/lw/hjn/earning_to_give_vs_altruistic_ca...

It's a nuanced piece and doesn't argue against it entirely, but the arguments in it should inform these kinds of decisions.

[mathgladiator]

That's interesting. I think if you can code well and transition to leadership, then the situation is unusual and earning to give is ideal. He noted 500k as unusual.

So, for me it makes sense to stay course since I am unusual. I would further argue that you should prefer private sector until you think unusual is not your thing or just not attainable.

[mathgladiator]

Yes. I can have a greater impact by leveraging my skills in a market to donate rather than rallying to a cause.