Looking for ways to decrease your tax bill while helping charities you have a heart to help? Financial professionals Joe Anderson and Alan Clopine discuss charitable giving strategies including the benefits of donor-advised funds.
Transcript:
Joe: Now, what a donor-advised fund is it allows you to again bunch those overall deductions. So, you’re the donor, right. So, you’re going to give to this fund. This is like a little quasi, old school — like an endowment, right. But it doesn’t cost you a ton of money to set up it’s just an account. So, I’m going to put some money in this donor advised fund. Maybe I’d like to give $5,000 a year, but I’m in a big tax year, so I’m going to give $50,000 in one year I’m going to get that $50,000 tax deduction the year I put the money in the donor-advised fund. But then I will give to the charity at my leisure, whenever I want to. All right, so maybe I give that $5,000 out over the next several years so I can control this money I can invest this money how I choose it and I can dole it out to the charity when I choose to. So, I’m getting a large tax deduction the year I put the money into this donor advised fund but I still control it. I can dole it out to these charities when I wish. So, it’s another phenomenal strategy if you’re looking to create a large tax deduction and still give to the charities when you choose to.
Alan: Yeah, I think so too Joe and better than giving cash is actually giving appreciated stock. Now we’re combining strategies. Give your appreciated stock directly to the donor-advised fund, and you get the deduction for what the stock is worth, and you don’t pay any taxes.
Joe, another thing people can do, and this is when they want to have a benefit as well as giving to the charity. There’s ways to split that gift, and the first one is what’s called a charitable gift annuity. So, you can actually give money to charity, not all charities do this, but many do. And so, what happens it’s just kind of like an annuity where you give a lump sum, and you get a payment stream back. Now what happens is part of that lump sum is actually going to go for the benefit of charity, and you will get a tax deduction for that piece of that lump sum, but then money will come back to you. My parents actually did this a few years ago, and they are still enjoying income each and every year and knowing they benefited the charity of their choice.
Joe: Yeah, great point is say, all right well here I can give a nice lump sum, I get a tax deduction, and then that charity is going to give me a stream of income, and if I want some guaranteed income with a decent interest rate, hey this could be an option for you.
