I was encouraged to see the Laura Saunders’ article Tax Smart Philanthropy Made Easy in the Wall Street Journal (click link here). This has been a key element of what we have been speaking to advisors, charities and individuals about in getting their estate, financial houses in order to minimize taxation on their capital gains now and in their estates. Tax planning means that advisors and their clients need to take an inventory of all assets now and over time to ensure that what is left over and taxed can be put to other uses like philanthropy.
The article talks about the increasing popularity of Donor Advised Funds such as those offered by Fidelity, Schwab and Rowe. The other option is for donors give directly to charity and see the impact of their giving. The Donor Advised Fund model is a very smart approach if you are undecided about which charities you may want to leave your money to, and the taxman is not one of your chosen beneficiaries. It is also a wise strategy for future generations who will invariably be approached to give to charity. Imagine having the luxury of helping society with pre-tax dollars.
An important element in smart tax planning is being able to see how lowering taxes can be achieved and what is required. All too often, advisors do not spend the time engaging in these types of discussions for a number of reasons including, lack of knowledge or not having the tools to educate and illustrate these concepts to their clients. Charities are equally guilty of not engaging their members with the information in a concrete manner. That is why, historically, the number of bequests to charities has remained in the 4% to 6% range. Guess who is getting the rest after the family? You got it, the taxman.
The solution to this is Giftabulator NOW, Alpha Version 2.0, an estate, financial and philanthropic planning application on a charity’s website with an easy-to-understand model for approaching donors for major gifts and planned giving. It shows individuals how much they should give to charity now or in their will to reduce their taxes on various assets. Call it Donate to Eliminate.
Link to Article: http://www.wsj.com/articles/tax-smart-philanthropy-made-easy-1408728248
Check out Giftabulator NOW https://www.giftabulator.com/giftabulator-now.php