Home Guides & Resources chevron_right Financial Planning chevron_right Charitable Giving Charitable Giving Planning Resources in ONE Location Published November 2, 2022 Charitable giving is a way to help those in need, express your values and strengthen your wealth—in the financial and emotional sense—since giving helps us feel good. Drawing upon our financial planners’ decades of experience, we’ve compiled extensive philanthropic planning resources in one location to help you make a greater impact with your donations, while optimizing your wealth using tax-smart strategies. Our resources include blog posts, podcasts and a detailed special report. Prepare Your Charitable Giving Planning When initiating end-of-year charitable giving plans, be intentional by asking yourself the following questions: What impact am I seeking to make and why? Do I want to support local or global causes (or both) and why? Are there deadlines I need to meet (e.g., employer matches, taxes, etc.)? Am I effectively tying my charitable giving with my estate legacy planning, including reducing taxable income now and in the future? Your answers tie your values to your financial planning, optimizing your donation and wealth simultaneously. Ensure Your Charity is Legitimate Scammers are active when donors have their wallets out, like during end-of-year charitable giving or after a natural disaster. Two key scam flags include pressure to donate now and requests for gift cards or wire transfers. Even if a charity is legitimate, also consider how the organization spends its donations. To quickly find the information you need, below you’ll find links to: Special Report: Making the Most of Your Charitable Giving Podcasts: “Make Sure Your Charitable Giving Adds Up” & “Charitable Giving and the New Tax Code” Blog Posts: Five posts, including: End-of-Year Charitable Giving Planning and Tax Strategies and Using Your Retirement Assets for Good: Qualified Charitable Distributions. Tip: For straightforward financial advice, click here to explore and sign up for more of our expertise on a variety of topics in various formats. Special Report Making the Most of Your Charitable Giving A charitable giving and personalized tax strategy go hand-in-hand. For example, did you know that you can donate securities like stocksA financial instrument giving the holder a proportion of the ownership and earnings of a company., bondsA financial instrument representing an IOU from the borrower to the lender. Bond issuers promise to pay bond holders a given amount of interest for a pre-determined amount of time until the loan is repaid in full (otherwise known as the maturity date). Bonds can have a fixed or floating interest rate. Fixed-rate bonds pay out a pre-determined amount of interest each year, while floating-rate bonds can pay higher or lower interest each year depending on prevailing market interest rates. or mutual funds instead of cash? You can, and giving securities that have large embedded capital gains allows you to avoid taxes while still receiving a deduction for the security’s fair market value. Depending on the size of your estate, this method may also reduce your estate taxes down the road. Our special report explains how to maximize your giving impact and build a legacy using tax-smart giving strategies. Get It Here Podcasts Make Sure Your Charitable Giving Adds Up Our portfolio executives and financial planners Charlie Toole, Kari Wolfson and Rick Winters review options you can use to maximize your philanthropic impact while making smart tax decisions. Learn how to use donor-advised funds, qualified charitable distributions, donating directly from your IRAA type of account in which funds can be saved and invested without being subject to tax until the account holder reaches retirement age. and why cash is not always king. Listen Now Charitable Giving and the New Tax Code An insightful discussion of tax codes, changes in the standard deduction and the ins and outs of donating appreciated stockA financial instrument giving the holder a proportion of the ownership and earnings of a company. shares, using detailed examples. Listen Now Blog Posts Smart Charitable Giving Strategies Some charitable giving strategies include great tax-saving moves. One in particular allows your charitable investment options to grow tax-free. Charitable giving strategies can also be valuable tools for estate planning. Learn what some of these tools are and how they complement your estate legacy planning. Read the Post End-of-Year Charitable Giving Planning and Tax Strategies Last year, Americans gave $484.85 billion to charity, a 4% increase over the year prior. Before making your donations, learn how to: prepare your charitable giving plan, itemize your tax deductions, maximize your giving impact and ensure your charity is legitimate, including using these five resources to help you evaluate the legitimacy and performance of a charitable organization. Read the Post Charitable Giving: Going Big and Paying Less Charitable giving is one of the best ways to leave a legacy or support a worthy cause. However, only if you’re itemizing deductions can you take full advantage of the ability to deduct charitable gifts. Understand what this year’s tax deduction thresholds are, and how to “bunch” deductions for when you don’t meet minimum thresholds (includes detailed “bunching” example). Read the Post Using Your Retirement Assets for Good: Qualified Charitable Distributions Many investors are unaware that you can use retirement assets to support the charities of your choice while avoiding taxes at the same time. A qualified charitable distribution (QCD) is a direct transfer of money from an individual retirement account (IRA) to an eligible charitable organization. Understand QCD rules and restrictions (including two retirement vehicles that don’t quality), like age, charity eligibility and distribution limits. Read the Post Estate Legacy Planning Resources & Strategies When coordinating your charitable giving, it’s important to consider your long-term estate and legacy plans. To make the most impact with your donations; preserve and transfer wealth, and create a lasting legacy, all financial components must be intertwined within your financial plan. Understand how to approach the process. Read the Post Tip: To learn more about creating an estate plan for high-net-worth individuals and families, visit our estate planning center. Next Steps When preparing your charitable giving plan, ask yourself two key questions: What impact am I seeking to make and why? Am I effectively tying my charitable giving to my legacy and financial plans? Keep in mind that tax laws are amended from time-to-time, so the rules are subject to change. Our team of financial planners has worked with many clients over the years to build their charitable legacies and we stand ready to help you put your personal philanthropic plan into action. Contact Adviser Investments anytime for assistance. We pride ourselves on being The Planner You Can Talk To. For more philanthropic planning tips, visit our Charitable Giving and Tax Strategies Planning Center. Tax and legal information contained herein is general in nature, is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be construed as legal or tax advice. Personalized tax advice and tax return preparation is available through a separate, written engagement agreement with Adviser Investments Tax Solutions. We do not provide legal advice. Always consult a licensed attorney or tax professional regarding your specific legal or tax situation. Our statements and opinions are subject to change without notice. All investments carry risk of loss and there is no guarantee that investment objectives will be achieved. © 2023 Adviser Investments, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Tags: charitable givingestate planningfinancial planninglegacy planning