There’s a good chance that if you’ve been active with philanthropy and charitable giving, that it’s been a part of your life for as long as you can remember. But it might be time to adjust that strategy before and after retirement after speaking with a knowledgeable and experienced estate planning attorney. 

An estate planning attorney can help you to navigate this process and ensure that you have the information you need to leave a lasting impact on the charities of your choice.

Making the most of charitable gifting and giving can require some advanced strategy and the best way to give to charity in a tax intelligent way might depend on your age.

Effective tax planning can also give you peace of mind that a bigger portion of your donation has gone towards supporting the philanthropic goals and priorities that are most important to your family.

Many more families today are taking the standard deduction than ever before as a result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. This means that fewer families are eligible to qualify for tax benefits from cash donations to charity. These strategies will depend on whether or not you’re required to take distributions from an employer sponsored 401(k) or an individual retirement account.

For those donors younger than age 70 and a half, appreciated securities can be a powerful way to support the charities you care about. Once you have reached age 70 and a half, under the new standard deduction, one of the best strategies is to gift a portion of your RMD or all of it to a charitable organization as a qualified charitable distribution. QCDs cannot be greater than $100,000 but can still be very powerful strategies for gifting to a charity you care about. Schedule a consultation with an experienced estate planning attorney today to learn more.