VOICES

Last chance this year to make a di erence

Iwould bet that everyone likes to help others, and no one likes to pay taxes. Well now is your chance to do both. ere are only a few more days left to leave an impact of those in need and reduce your income tax liability for 2022.

Picking out your favorite charity is the easy part. Now you get to determine how best to bene t from choosing the right amount, asset and process.

In a perfect world, we would donate regardless of a tax deduction, but it may also be helpful to be aware of what savings you can create as a result of your philanthropy.

First, identify what type of donation is best for you. e charity will bene t regardless of whether you donate cash, stocks, mutual funds, or a car. e charity can turn anything into cash tax free. erefore, if you have an appreciated asset, such as shares of a stock or mutual fund, it is best to donate the shares rather than sell rst. is way you can avoid paying capital gains tax on the investment. e charity does not have to pay capital gains tax. Next, determine whether you are eligible to take a tax deduction for your donation. If you can itemize, perhaps due to high medical expenses, mortgage interest and property tax, then your charitable deduction can be added to your itemized deductions. Unfortunately, the $300 per person deduction without itemizing ended in 2021 and is no longer available.

If you don’t exceed the standard deduction, then work with your advisor to consider bunching deductions. is is where you double up on charitable gifts in one year and then take a year o donating and use the standard deduction in those alternate years. e standard deduction for 2022 is $12,950 for single lers ($13,850 in 2023) and $25,900 for joint lers ($27,700 in 2023). If you can’t exceed these amounts on your Schedule A, you will need to beef up your charitable contributions in certain years in order to itemize.

You may also consider contributing to a donor-advised fund (DAF), where you can contribute appreciated shares of a business or investment without paying tax on the gain. Once this asset resides in the DAF, you have the rest of your life to distribute to your favorite charities as you wish. erefore, if you have a large asset you would like to donate and take the deduction all in one year, this strategy could be a good t for you.

Retirees over age 70 1/2 are eligible to take up to $100,000 out of their pre-tax retirement plan or IRA and gift directly to a charity through a quali ed charitable distribution (QCD) and still not have to itemize. ere may be other year-end strategies you can bene t from, such as tax-loss harvesting, maximizing your retirement contributions, or converting some of your pre-tax IRA or 401(k) to a Roth. Consider meeting with your advisor early in 2023 to start planning for next year as well.

FINANCIAL STRATEGIES Patricia Kummer

Patricia Kummer has been a Certi ed Financial Planner professional and a duciary for over 35 years and is Managing Director for Mariner Wealth Advisors.

Behind every door is opportunity for change

Last week I was speaking with the CEO of one of our customers and he shared with me that although he has been in his role for almost two years, he feels like every door he opens presents itself with an opportunity for improvement. And although he was referring to the areas of his business, it made we wonder if the rest of us maybe looked for doors to open where we could also make improvements personally or professionally.

This time of year, I have often written about goal setting and goal achievement in the past as New Year’s Eve in all its New Year’s resolution splendor calls for us to think about what we may want to change, do differently, do better, or improve. Some take this time very seriously and have a well thought out and balanced plan for how they are going to enter the year, start strong and finish even stronger. Others take a more casual approach, maybe even waiting right up unto the clock strikes midnight before declaring their resolution.

And then there are those of us who simply do not believe in the nonsense of New Year’s resolutions — if we are going to make changes and improvements, we just get it done on our time and when we are good and ready. Let’s revisit what my customer shared about opening doors and finding opportunities to improve. What would it look like if we put some intentionality behind this year’s game plan for our lives, goal setting, or business planning? Looking at all doors, every area of our personal and professional life, to identify areas that if we made some level of improvement, that it would bring us greater joy, success, wealth, vitality, or help to get us in better shape physically, mentally, or spiritually.

Maybe we start by looking to open those doors that we haven’t opened in a long time. As a matter of fact, these doors have remained locked for so long that we must give them a firm tug to pry them open. These are those doors to opportunities that we have always known we should have opened long ago, but we made the decision to focus on those other areas of our lives to make changes to instead. Or our desire to change gave way to laziness, and then laziness gave way to procrastination, and procrastination eventually led to defeat.

Next, we can start with those doors of opportunities for change that we opened last year, last month, last week, or even yesterday and then for whatever reason we closed them. We had an inspiring or motivating moment, we opened the door, saw an area of life or work that we wanted to improve, and we may have even started before closing the door again. These are the easiest doors to open and re-explore as they once had our attention and intention to want to change. Something we wanted to start doing or maybe even something we wanted to stop doing, and those feelings are probably still in our hearts and top of mind.

The first doors were those hard ones, the second doors were the easy ones, and now here are the most intriguing doors. These are the doors of opportunity we have yet to think about. Behind these doors lie untapped potential, new and creative ideas, bold steps, and big goals. By opening these doors, we become energized with new direction, inspired by what we see, and motivated by what we might become along the route of this journey.

Are there doors that are rusted shut, needing to be pried open? Are there doors that could be opened quite easily getting you back on track? Are there doors waiting for you to open, those doors of opportunity that could lead you to bigger and brighter goals and change? I would love to hear your story at gotonorton@gmail.com, and when we can place intentionality behind seeking opportunity behind all these doors, it really will be a better than good life.

WINNING WORDS

Michael Norton

Michael Norton is an author, a personal and professional coach, consultant, trainer, encourager and motivator of individuals and businesses, working with organizations and associations across multiple industries.

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