Ren | Blog

If I Had a Billion Dollars…

Without a doubt, I plan to be the winner of the $1.5 Billion Powerball jackpot this Wednesday.  I have $20 worth of tickets in hand and I just know the winner is there.  I also now know that you can’t buy lottery tickets with a debit card, only cash.  Sorry to the line of people behind me who had to wait while I ran to the ATM.

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DAF Stats: Baby Boomers Lead the Way but Millennials Gaining Ground on Gen X

For more than a decade donor-advised funds (DAFs) have been the fastest growing giving vehicle in the charitable giving landscape.  So what draws donors to DAFs?  When we peel back the layers, we find a whole host of reasons and benefits.  In addition to being easy to establish, DAFs offer an immediate tax benefit, a tax free environment for appreciated assets to be sold, anonymity in giving, family involvement, and the ability to spread giving over many years.

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Time is Running Out to Donate Specialty Assets

Just about any asset can be a good candidate for a donor-advised fund (DAF). Cash and publicly traded securities are by far the most common, but there are many other under-utilized ‘specialty” assets that work well for a contribution to a DAF.  Such specialty assets include closely-held business interests, real estate, equipment, collectibles, and other similar property.

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Making Philanthropy a Family Affair

Often we hear advisors and families alike remark about how challenging it can be to start a conversation around giving.  In reality, studies show that individuals want their advisors to discuss charitable giving.  While charitable giving is a different conversation for advisors, Renaissance has developed some trigger questions to help you get the conversation started.  Advisors play a critical role in starting these conversations and introducing solutions like Donor-Advised Funds (DAF) to charitable families. A DAF is the perfect tool for a family to support a tradition of giving and for an advisor to employ tax-smart strategies to enable the family to give more over time. Read More »Making Philanthropy a Family Affair

A CLT Can Benefit Charity, Reduce Taxes & Transfer Assets to Heirs

A common goal of estate planning to avoid estate and gift taxes. A charitable lead trust (CLT) is one tool that can accomplish this objective. Although less familiar than charitable remainder trusts, CLTs can meet many of a donor’s tax, financial, and non-financial goalsall in the context of making a charitable gift. For example, a CLT may be used to accomplish one or more of the following:

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