Many of our clients feel that one of the most meaningful areas of financial planning is deciding where their wealth ultimately goes. Most high-net-worth families will pay well into the seven or eight figures in taxes over their lifetimes and as part of their estate when they pass. But through thoughtful planning, our team of advisors & specialists are helping to uncover opportunities that can increase what goes to family members and charitable causes while reducing what would have otherwise been paid in taxes. Instead, that money can be directed to the people and causes that matter most — whether it be supporting family, a boys and girls club, a hunger organization, an alma mater, a shelter, a church, or disaster relief.
Our clients have done well financially. They have the money they need to achieve their goals and are often ready to take the next step: many describe wanting to move from success to significance. In our biannual Planning to Give workshop, we share exercises that help clients realize the impact they want to make, and the specific strategies and techniques for redirecting what may otherwise be paid in tax to family or charity.
Why Does This Topic Matter?
We’ll start with a Steve Jobs quote: “Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.”
Why did he say this? One of the most impactful people to ever walk the planet said the most important tool in making big life choices was facing his mortality.
For him, being faced with his mortality was about using urgency to focus on the things that mattered most. While being close to death is a forcing function, the idea of the scarcity of time works as well. Even if there are decades to go until life expectancy, the simple exercise of imagining we only have a month to live is helpful. It makes things clearer: What is most important, and who is most important.
How Do You Want to Give?
Ben Franklin left $2,000 to the city of Boston to help young people. But he stipulated in his will that while the city could use the income that money produced, it could not touch the principal for 200 years. By 1990, that original $2,000 gift had turned into $6.5 million. That gift has translated into centuries of positive impact through scholarships, women’s health initiatives, and support for children with disabilities. This is an example of what we mean when we talk with clients about legacy.
It also raises an important question: Do you want the causes you care about to receive a gift at a moment in time, or would you prefer to create a source of support that lasts for decades — or even generations?
Studies done by palliative nurses describe how many people on their deathbeds share similar regrets, often centered around spending time and energy pursuing things they believed would bring happiness, only to realize later that those things were not what mattered most. Our thought is simple: If many people arrive at the same realization later in life, perhaps we can learn from them now.
Some questions to consider:
- What impact do I want to make in this world, community, neighborhood, or family?
- When my time is up, what lasting mark do I want to have made?
- What causes or people do I most want to support?
A lasting impact doesn’t just happen by accident. It takes intentional reflection and planning.
Next Steps
While these exercises are helpful in clarifying the impact you want your wealth to make, they require actionable strategies to bring them to life. That’s where our team can help.
In our Planning to Give workshop, we share techniques to help redirect tax dollars to the people and causes that matter most, including bunching deductions, creating Tax Holidays, utilizing the $15 million gift allowance, and more. We also share real client case studies, including an example of a couple that made a $250,000 strategic gift, which created two Tax Holidays and resulted in $926,000 in lifetime tax savings.
If you’d like to join the next session of this event on December 4, click here to RSVP now. And if you’d like to explore which Planned Giving strategies could have the biggest impact on your family, charitable goals, and legacy, you can request a consultation on our website, email us at planwithHWA@ampf.com, or call us at 425-709-2345.
