Donor advised funds can be another excellent way to optimize charitable giving. Early DAFs often had expenses around 1%, which felt a little high to me. I have been studying daffy.org as a potential vehicle for my DAF. Since this organization is a relatively recent addition to the options available, there is not a lot of history available, but their fee structure appears to be far superior to that of others. Comments from other readers with more experience or expertise than I have would be appreciated.
I use QCDs whenever possible. It reduces my RMDs and I find it more tax efficient because I can take the standard deduction as well. We give to our church, missions, other Christian organizations and local charities like food banks. We also give to Christian orphanages and other children’s charities.
Consider donating appreciated stock (or mutual fund shares), instead of cash. As I understand it, you avoid capital gains taxes on the imbedded profits of the holding, you get a potential tax deduction equal to the current market value of the gift, the charity gets a step-up in basis when it liquidates the donation, and, if you want to keep the investment, you can use the cash that you were going to give to the charity to buy the stock or mutual fund back with a current cost basis.
Donor advised funds can be another excellent way to optimize charitable giving. Early DAFs often had expenses around 1%, which felt a little high to me. I have been studying daffy.org as a potential vehicle for my DAF. Since this organization is a relatively recent addition to the options available, there is not a lot of history available, but their fee structure appears to be far superior to that of others. Comments from other readers with more experience or expertise than I have would be appreciated.
I use QCDs whenever possible. It reduces my RMDs and I find it more tax efficient because I can take the standard deduction as well. We give to our church, missions, other Christian organizations and local charities like food banks. We also give to Christian orphanages and other children’s charities.
Consider donating appreciated stock (or mutual fund shares), instead of cash. As I understand it, you avoid capital gains taxes on the imbedded profits of the holding, you get a potential tax deduction equal to the current market value of the gift, the charity gets a step-up in basis when it liquidates the donation, and, if you want to keep the investment, you can use the cash that you were going to give to the charity to buy the stock or mutual fund back with a current cost basis.
Has anyone utilized a Charitable Gift Annuity? If so, what was your experience?
Check out Kathleen Rehl’s recent article:
https://humbledollar.com/2023/02/better-than-cake/