[ad_1]
The first half of the year is a great time to reflect on where you stand personally, professionally, and financially. How was last year? Are you where you thought you would be at this point in your life? Is your family in a good place when it comes to life choices? Do you think you’re better off than you imagined? Do you need to make any future decisions regarding work, family, health, or wealth based on your past reflections?
Looking at your current situation will give you the perspective you need to plan for the future. There are no strict standards of personal achievement or wealth that determine whether you need to plan for the future. Many families begin formal estate planning, establish guardianship provisions, and purchase life insurance as soon as they welcome their first child. At the other end of the age spectrum, empty nesters and retirees need to regularly revise their plans to account for family dynamics and financial events. Plans should reflect priorities such as family, faith, and community philanthropy.
When planning, it’s important to focus on what you can control and the results you want. For example, there is no piece of paper that can force families to behave in a certain way, but they can create incentives to allocate financial resources in ways that encourage things like educational attainment and employment. You can also arrange handouts to encourage charity.
Most people make meeting the needs of their immediate family a top priority in estate planning. You can use a simple will or a more complex trust to ensure that resources are available to care for those you leave behind. The right documentation will provide your trustees and executors with clear instructions to carry out your wishes regarding the care of those important to you. If your estate exceeds the amount you decide you need to leave for the care or benefit of others, or if there is no one left to receive your estate, consider making arrangements to support a charity. need to do it.
There are many options available for planning your philanthropy. Issues to ponder include timing, involvement of others, and philanthropy that will help you achieve your philanthropic goals. When it comes to timing, you should consider whether you want to make distributions immediately after your death, over a specific period of time (such as 5 to 25 years), or invest in a permanent fund that can be distributed annually to support your favorites. there is. Charity is forever. There are also ways to involve your family in philanthropy. For example, encourage families to work together to receive annual grants from short-term or permanent funds. Historically, family foundations have been used to accomplish this purpose, but different types of endowments can be established in community foundations to accomplish this outcome with much less formality and control. can. If you find that multiple families can’t work together or may have different interests, setting up separate donor-recommended funds for multiple families can save money from other families. Families will be free to support their own interests without needing their input.
Finally, there are several philanthropic activities to consider to achieve specific philanthropic objectives.
Donor-advised funds offer great flexibility to support a wide range of public charities with grants of varying sizes when needed. Fields of Interest funds may be able to give a slightly narrower scope than donor-recommended funds by subjecting them to restrictions that may require grants to specific types of charities in specific locations. tend to focus. Designated funds have narrower limits by designating specific individual organizations and specifying the formula or specific amount of annual distributions to be contributed to sustain such endowments in perpetuity. There may be cases. Finally, scholarship funds can support post-secondary education and training for students at specific schools or pursuing specific career paths.
Our staff welcomes the opportunity to discuss your philanthropy and consider appropriate means to achieve your goals. We work with a number of local professionals, including attorneys, accountants, investment advisors, financial planners, philanthropic consultants, and trust officers, to help you establish a foundation, trust, nonprofit or charitable trust to establish your charity. We support. Considering your philanthropic legacy may be the next best opportunity to give good.
— Guest columnist Kyle Penny is president of the East Texas Community Foundation and a certified philanthropic advisor. If you would like to learn more about ETCF or to discuss your philanthropic efforts, please contact Kyle at 866-533-3823 or email questions or comments to etcf@etcf.org. For more information, please visit www.etcf.org.
[ad_2]
Source link
