Ed, It's wonderful that your great-grandmother was able to enjoy peaches from the tree that she planted, and I admire her determination! I just want to mention that the story is at least 2000 years old--it's in the Talmud, where an old man is planting a carob tree, which requires 70 years to become fruit-bearing. Nevertheless, he eventually is able to enjoy the tree's fruit, as can his children and grandchildren, etc. The real point of the story is that we do things for the people who come after us, just as those who came before did for us. The same applies to investing and accumulating wealth: it's great to build for our own later years, but perhaps even more satisfying to know that we're planting trees for our children.
Bogdan, Thanks for a lucid and extremely valuable discussion of the tax changes in the BigUglyBill.
Can you comment on how the new rules for charitable deductions might interact with QCD from required minimum distributions? Is the 0.5% floor relevant? If one has $1,000,000 AGI does that mean that the first $5000 of a QCD would be taxable income?
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Ed, It's wonderful that your great-grandmother was able to enjoy peaches from the tree that she planted, and I admire her determination! I just want to mention that the story is at least 2000 years old--it's in the Talmud, where an old man is planting a carob tree, which requires 70 years to become fruit-bearing. Nevertheless, he eventually is able to enjoy the tree's fruit, as can his children and grandchildren, etc. The real point of the story is that we do things for the people who come after us, just as those who came before did for us. The same applies to investing and accumulating wealth: it's great to build for our own later years, but perhaps even more satisfying to know that we're planting trees for our children.
Post: Asset Location Decisions
Link to comment from November 29, 2025
Bogdan, Thanks for a lucid and extremely valuable discussion of the tax changes in the BigUglyBill. Can you comment on how the new rules for charitable deductions might interact with QCD from required minimum distributions? Is the 0.5% floor relevant? If one has $1,000,000 AGI does that mean that the first $5000 of a QCD would be taxable income?
Post: One Big Beautiful Act: Tax Breakdown and Planning Strategies
Link to comment from August 18, 2025