Another avenue available to those of any age is to donate appreciated stock - something many investors have in these hot market conditions - rather than just writing out a check.
Financial adviser Leon LaBrecque, who is based in Troy, Michigan, just had a client donate $20,000 worth of Facebook Inc. stock he had bought for $10,000 into a special account called a donor advised fund. By giving it to charity, the client saved about $8,000 between the value of the charitable deduction and not paying 20 percent in capital gains.
Kelly Pedersen, a financial planner in Bloomington, Minnesota, thinks that donor advised funds - which allow a person to give now and take a deduction, then give the funds away at a later time - will jump if the tax bills go through. "There will be incentive to give as it will be one of the few remaining itemized deductions left to the individual," she says.
If people do not have enough to give one year, they may give once every several years.
Kim Laughton, president of Schwab Charitable, says in the fiscal quarter from July to the end of October, new accounts were up 50 percent and contributions and grants were both up over 30 percent.
Fidelity Charitable has also seen growth. Grants through Thanksgiving 2017 are already running ahead of last year at $3.6 billion, over $3.5 billion for all of 2016, according to Lisa Dalberth, chief administrative officer at Fidelity Charitable.
For those making last-minute decisions about giving in 2017, beware of the calendar. Dec 31 is a Sunday, notes Eileen Heisman, CEO of the National Philanthropic Trust, which is one of the top 25 donor advised funds. To have your donation count, it needs to be processed on a day the stock market it open, or post marked by Dec. 30 by the U.S. postal service.
This article was provided by Reuters.