Chuck Staley

“WHERE’S THE QUALIFIED charitable distribution on Mom’s tax return?” Mom had never before executed a qualified charitable distribution, or QCD. Her tax return was 41 pages, and we weren’t sure where to find it.
There was a long pause. “I forgot your mom had made QCDs as I prepared her return,” allowed her tax preparer. “I’ll need to recalculate her taxes.”
A QCD can be a tax-efficient way to donate money for those who are charitably inclined—but only if it’s correctly documented on your tax return.

“LOOK RIGHT HERE, Charlie. If you click on the background of Windows Vista in just the right place, the script that I developed will launch and give you access to all my online passwords. You will need to know that if something were to happen to me.”
Dad was a self-taught computer nerd and paranoid about securing passwords. The year was 2007.
Dad died in 2018. I didn’t remember where to click to get his passwords.

I WAS AT WORK WHEN my daughter called. “Grandpa was taken to the hospital in an ambulance, and you need to meet Mom and Grandma there as soon as you can.”
I entered the hospital room 45 minutes later, and I saw my mom in tears standing next to my dad’s lifeless body. Dad’s hair and face were spotted with wood chips and dirt, and he was wearing a torn flannel shirt and old blue jeans.