There are five estate planning documents you may need, regardless of your age, health or wealth. By having these essential documents in place it can help you avoid probate, reduce estate taxes, avoid a mess, protect beneficiaries, and protect your assets from unforeseen creditors.Read More
I imagine that many of us have charitable interests which we would like to fund while at the same time balancing our charitable giving with assets that we wish to leave for heirs. I also imagine that we all wish to make our charitable gift giving create the greatest impact possible for the causes important to us.Read More
Major life events—even when we know they’re coming—are pivotal times in our lives. We might not have any control over their occurrence or the timing of their occurrence, but we do have control over much of what happens next.Read More
Use this attached booklet to share your legacy with family and friends. It’s a way to pass on much more than money and material possessions as you share your true legacy with those you love.Read More
At this year’s AICPA Personal Financial Planning conference, one of the general sessions was led by financial life planning pioneer Mitch Anthony, who put forth what may be the best set of terminology I’ve ever heard for articulating the true client-centric value proposition of financial planning.Read More
A Donor Advised Fund is an investment account that is specifically designed for charitable giving. It is efficient, simple, and provides flexibility and options. While not the only way to give to charity, it can be among the best ways to ensure that the charity receives the money the donor wants it to have without risk of an estate plan being misinterpreted or not created in time or correctly. Read More
There are many ways to contribute to charity. While time and talents are popular, as are donations of specific items, giving money is still the most common way that people provide options for charities to use. If you want to give money without tax concerns, or you want to leave money to charity as part of your estate or retirement plan, you have some excellent options. One of those choices is to contribute directly to a charity through your IRA, which can allow you to avoid paying taxes on that money. That helps your financial situation and also provides more money for the charity to appreciate.Read More
When you have appreciated stock or stock mutual funds and you want to gift them to charity, you can easily do so. But you also have to consider whether that is the best choice and whether you will get the kinds of tax breaks you are hoping for. In some cases you may find that the expected tax deduction is not what you can actually take, and that there may be better ways to gift money that allow for larger deductions or a better financial picture. Here are three things to consider before you gift mutual funds to charity.Read More
There are many ways to give to charity, and one of those is through your estate plan. If you decide to do this, you will want to make your wishes known clearly and distinctly, so you can have the peace of mind that comes with proper planning for the future. There are a couple of different ways you can make sure a charity is getting the donation you want them to have as you plan your estate. Adding them to your will or trust, or naming them beneficiary of an IRA or 401K account, are both options, depending on how much you plan to leave them and what investment vehicles you currently have.
Naming a Charity as a Will or Trust Beneficiary
An easy way to achieve charity goals is to name a charity or charities as part of your will or trust. You can name the charity as a beneficiary as either a fixed dollar amount or as a percent of the estate.
Naming a Charity as an IRA or 401k Beneficiary
Treat the Charity as another child?
Another option to consider is treating an important charity as a part of the family, or like a child. For example, if you have two children and you want to provide for them and also donate to charity, one of the ways to do that is through making each child and the charity equal beneficiaries. That can be done with wills, trusts, IRAs, 401k options, and a number of other great ways to give.