This is the most wonderful time of the year. This is the season when we give thanks and celebrate the people we love. This is the season when we are focused on saying thank you for the blessings of family, whether they are biological, legal, adopted or co-opted. We give thanks for those people who choose to share their life and love. I am always amazed at the wonderful people that I am blessed to know and spend time with. I am amazed to learn the great work that they are doing in their professional and volunteer lives.
It is at this time to focus on giving. We have religious and community holidays when we exchange food, gifts, donations to charitable organizations, and then again, food. It is because we are connected to people and organizations that have been a blessing in our lives that we are inclined to give back.
Estate planning is one of the ways in which we create a structure for giving to the people and/or organizations that we love. The first level of giving is by removing a level of distress we create for the people who love us by providing information and instruments that enable the people we love to make decisions for us that provide comfort and clarity. This can be supporting the people to make decisions during our incapacity as well as upon our death. We know that in times of emotional distress and grief, the responsibility to make decisions is an incredible burden. I encourage you to gift that sense of relief and comfort to people who love you.
The next level of giving is charitable giving. There is an opportunity to be a blessing to our communities and charitable organizations by gifting. We just recently celebrated Giving Tuesday, celebrated the Tuesday after Thanksgiving since 2012. This date has created the opportunity to motivate and compel global generosity.
There are and always will be opportunities to give. Unless there is a substantial change in the socioeconomic structure of the world, we will have those who have and those who have not. We will also know catastrophic circumstances of nature and people-created disasters. We have an opportunity to be thoughtful about the strategy for impacting those in distress. We have an opportunity to give a hand up. Charitable giving is powerful and transformational.
A shero that I often reference is the amazing Oscelo McCarty. She was a laundress who was thoughtful about philanthropy. She was mindful about supporting “colored” children to be able to go to college. She left a scholarship fund of $150,000 to the University of Southern Mississippi. That gift was transformational to many. This was achieved by strategic financial planning as well as living a life of frugality.
The opportunity to impact our community through charitable giving is significant. Lives can be impacted by our giving. Many times, what would be paid in taxes could be donated for the benefit of a charitable organization. Many times, we can donate appreciating asset which would offset capital gains taxes. Many times, we can create a strategic giving process that will live beyond our lifetime.
Our opportunity to change the world together is available through charitable giving. We can each contribute to carrying the load to support the work that needs to be done. If we each give a little, we can change a lot!
Life & Legacy counselors are available to support you in making that commitment to giving during this lifetime and beyond.