Would You Rather Give to Charity or the IRS?

THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE

On this week's episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE, host Chris Galeski invites Wealth Advisor Mike Rudow to discuss charitable giving strategies to ensure you are optimizing your donations.

Here are some key takeaways from their conversation:

• QCDs (Qualified Charitable Distributions) allow individuals over 73 to send required minimum distribution amounts directly from their IRA to charities, avoiding taxable income.
• CRTs (Charitable Remainder Trusts) provide a way to donate assets, reduce income taxes, avoid capital gains, generate a beneficiary income stream, and benefit charities at the trust's end.
• CRTs are especially beneficial for assets like appreciated stock or real estate, allowing tax-free sale within the trust while providing lifetime income to the donor.
• DAFs (Donor-Advised Funds) are flexible charitable accounts where donors can make contributions, receive immediate tax benefits, invest the funds, and distribute them to charities over time. They can also help families pass down charitable values since the account-owner's children can have access to the account and choose which charities to donate to, but cannot use the funds for their personal needs.
• Look out for an upcoming episode on a year-end financial planning to-do list, which will also touch on charitable giving action items.