Strategies We Help Families Consider

• Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs)

  A donor-advised fund lets you contribute assets, often appreciated stock, receive an immediate tax deduction in the year of contribution, and recommend grants to charities over time. DAFs may be especially beneficial in years with unusually high income (a business sale, a large bonus, a Roth conversion) when bunching multiple years of giving into one may create a meaningful deduction.

• Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs)

  If you’re 70½ or older, you can give directly from your IRA to a qualified charity, up to the annual IRS limit, without the distribution counting as taxable income. QCDs can satisfy Required Minimum Distributions and may help lower adjusted gross income, which may reduce Medicare premiums and the taxation of Social Security.

• Gifts of appreciated stock or other in-kind assets

  Giving appreciated stock instead of cash helps you avoid capital gains tax on the appreciation while still receiving a deduction for the full fair market value. For long-held positions with significant unrealized gains, this is often one of the most tax-efficient ways to give.

• Bunching multiple years of giving

  Since the standard deduction was raised, many families no longer itemize in any given year. Bunching multiple years of charitable giving into a single year, typically into a DAF, may allow you to itemize that year while taking the standard deduction in the others, potentially increasing the overall tax benefit of the same charitable giving.

• Charitable Trusts

  For families with larger gifting goals, Charitable Remainder Trusts (CRTs) and Charitable Lead Trusts (CLTs) can serve both income and legacy objectives. We help model whether a charitable trust may be appropriate for your situation and help coordinate with your attorney to implement it.