FMF Financial Services believes all that we are, all that we possess, and all that we can do, is a gift from God, given to accomplish His purposes in the world through us. Simply put, everything we have is provided by God and we are His stewards. 

Part of being a good steward is knowing about various tax strategies that can maximize your giving. Representatives at FMF Financial Services consistently keep track of these ever-changing strategies and are happy to help you understand how they might apply to your personal giving.

A client recently called me with great news … he had reduced his income taxes for 2019 from $13,000 to $7,000! This client took advantage of a tax strategy known as a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD). Available to persons 70 ½ or older, the QCD allows you to give to qualified charities from your IRA. These gifts (up to $100,000) count toward satisfying your required minimum distribution (RMD) for the year AND reduce your taxable income. Instead of giving from his bank account, this client used the QCDs from his IRA to pay his tithe and make his annual gifts to charity. (Although the recent CARES act eliminated RMDs for 2020, you can still make these gifts from your IRA to ministry.)

The CARES Act gave us another valuable tax strategy for 2020. It allows donors to deduct up to 100% of their income in 2020 by making qualified contributions of cash to approved charities.

Your regional representative would be happy to talk about these tax strategies and many more to help you maximize your giving. As you can imagine, there is quite a bit of “small print” that applies to these tax strategies. We would be happy to help you wade through all of it to make sure your gift will qualify. Contact us today to begin the conversation and find a strategy that works just right for you.

Arnie Brann
Regional Vice President, FMF Financial Services
Contact Arnie: https://www.archive.fmffinancial.org/arnie/