Month: November 2022

There is something special about the holidays that, for some, elicits deep feelings of philanthropy. So, it is not uncommon that at this time of year we get questions about charitable donations. But, before simply writing a check to a charity, you should consider other ways to gift that may benefit you as well as the charity. Two great strategies to consider are gifting highly appreciated securities and utilizing Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCD’s). We’ll touch on some lesser-implemented strategies as well.  Gifting Highly Appreciated Securities There are certain types of accounts in which we invest that are subject to capital gains tax. This tax is different from your 401k or your IRA because you only have to pay tax on amounts that you made on the investment. You see, accounts such as individual brokerage accounts, joint tenant accounts, trust accounts, and the like are funded with money that you have already paid tax on. So, the IRS can’t tax you on those dollars again. They do, however, tax you on the amounts that your investments made. This tax is called capital gains tax and occurs once the investment has been sold. At times, the value of these investments grows so