Articles
Tips for Charitable Giving Strategies – 2020
While you may benefit from reduced tax rates and expanded tax brackets, it’s likely that many taxpayers will elect not to itemize this year. Read more
The CARES Act Sweetens the Pot for Charitable Giving in 2020
Some donors may feel the need to cut back on their charitable giving during these unprecedented times in the financial marketplace. With cancelled fundraising efforts, many charities around the country are feeling stresses in their operating budgets. There is hope: Signed into law in 2020, the CARES Act includes significant incentives for charitable giving but these incentives are only available in 2020. Read more.
Determining Your Family Values
Discussing and agreeing upon the guiding values of your family is an important part in drafting your family mission statement, which can help determine the direction of your legacy for generations to come. Read more
Your Guide to Donor Advised Funds – for Advisors.
The Financial Advisors Guide to Donor Advised Funds (DAFs) A Simple Primer-for advisors 4.16.20. Read more
The Power and Impact of Women in Philanthropy
Women are shifting the balance of values in communities, businesses, markets and philanthropy, their impact amplified by accelerating economic power and leadership visibility. Read more
Your Guide to Donor Advised Funds – for Donors
Americans are currently experiencing the greatest transfer of wealth in history. Read more
Not All Donor Advised Funds Are Alike: What to Look for in Selecting a Sponsor
Today there are over 1,000 public charities that sponsor DAFs, the fastest-growing and most active philanthropic vehicle in America…but not all sponsor programs are alike. Read more
The Value of Family Philanthropy
Aligning your heirs around a guiding purpose for your family wealth and identifying philanthropic missions can help ensure successful wealth transfer for generations to come. Read more
A Win/Win Opportunity: A Tax-Wise Roth Conversion
Clients can convert their traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs regardless of income or marital status. Read more
Charitable Giving – Phil Tobin Says: Live Your Values, Save On Taxes
You’re a generous person. You take care of the needs of your family, you give annually to your favorite charities, and you love to see those deductions reduce your tax bill. Read more
What Makes Us Independent and Why It Matters
When we read about independence, we associate it with qualities like “free from the influence, guidance, or control of another or others; self reliant”. Read more
Tips for Choosing the Right Charity
If you’re like many people who establish a donor-advised fund for philanthropic giving, you probably already have a passion for certain causes. Read more
A Donor Advised Fund Can Be the Glue That Keeps a Family Together.
America is experiencing a growing interest in genealogy. There are even TV shows on the subject, and one common theme is that our memory and knowledge of family is fragile. Read more
Why Support Favorite Causes Through a Donor Advised Fund?
A donor-advised fund can help you maximize the power of your philanthropy. Many of us procrastinate until the last minute to consider donating to charities at year-end. Read more
How to Change the World – Finding Philanthropic Focus
Some people already have a fairly good idea as to where they’d like to direct their philanthropic giving. Read more
Closing the Generational Gap with Family Philanthropy
A report published in 2012 by Pew Research Center shows that fully 50% of successful individuals worry that their children, or other heirs, do not have the proper financial skills to handle inherited wealth. Read more
The New Authors of Philanthropic Legacy: Women
Back in the 1960s and 1970s, as women began to venture into the workforce and become more independent, TV became rife with commercials themed around this newly empowered female persona. Read more
Volunteering (Giving Time and Talent) is a Transformational Experience
Americans are known around the world for their generosity. Giving is part of our very nature. Read more
Why Craft a Mission Statement for Your Donor Advised Fund?
Regardless of their size, most businesses have some sort of mission statement meant to guide the focus and general intent of their daily activities. Read more
Meaningful Philanthropy for Millennials
If your parents or grandparents have been involved in philanthropic giving for many years, they probably hope you and any siblings will continue to honor this family legacy once they’re gone. Read more
Are Your Kids Suffering from Too Well Off Syndrome?
Are your kids suffering from too well off syndrome? If so, how do you turn things around? Read more
Beyond Date Night – How Giving Can Bring Couples Closer Together
In today’s hyper-busy culture, many couples end up living almost separate lives during their first one or two decades together. Read more
Creating a Legacy Centered Around Life
“Choose well. Your choice is brief, and yet endless.” ~Goethe. What does the word “legacy” mean to you? Read more
Your Vision of Success Is Missing This Vital Ingredient
How do you define success? Ask 10 different people this question and you’re likely to get 10 different definitions. Read more
Charitable Giving – Looking Beyond Cash
Americans have a deep desire to become involved with and have an impact on various societal issues and alleviate suffering where there’s great need. Read more
Ten Questions to Help Families Navigate the Great Wealth Transfer
Americans are currently experiencing the greatest transfer of wealth in history, and many may be unprepared to successfully navigate it. Read more
Will New Tax Laws Impact Your Charitable Giving?
No doubt, the Tax Cut and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 will change your tax planning in one way or another. Read more
Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCD) for Advisors
While many of your clients will benefit from reduced tax rates and expanded tax brackets under the new tax laws, it’s likely that many will elect not to itemize this year. Read more
Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs) – for Donors
While most taxpayers will benefit from reduced tax rates and expanded tax brackets under the new tax laws, many will elect not to itemize this year. Read more
Private Foundations and Donor Advised Funds – The Best of Both Worlds
This article explores two strategies for family philanthropy, the Private Foundation (PF) and the Donor Advised Fund (DAF) and how these effective and meaningful tools for family philanthropy can help your clients increase the likelihood for the successful transfer of their family wealth. Read more
Why Some Wealth Transfers Succeed – and Others Fail
Sound asset stewardship and family unity each play a tremendous role in successful generational wealth transfer. Here’s why philanthropic giving can contribute to both of those goals. Read more
This Simple Strategy Can Help Make Your Legacy an Enduring One
What will happen to your established wealth in generations to come? By working together with family and trusted financial advisors, you can boil the future of your wealth down to a single page. Read more
My Mother’s Legacy
One October day 34 years ago my mother was a vibrant 71-year-old who loved to bowl and visit friends. The next she was gone. Read more
Donor Advised Fund Sponsorship vs. Stewardship: Two Very Different Things
As you may already know, a donor advised fund is a charitable giving vehicle sponsored by a public charity. Read more
What Will Your Legacy Be?
We all leave a legacy that has nothing to do with the assets that comprise our estate. We can have absolutely nothing, no material possessions at the end of our life, and still we have a legacy. Read more
Creating a Legacy within a Legacy
We’ve all heard the expression Shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations—one generation accumulates the money and the next two spend it down to zero or thereabouts. Read more
When Donors Speak, DAFs Listen
Whether it’s for the tax benefits, low hurdles for participation, overall flexibility or a number of other factors, donor-advised funds (DAFs) are seeing capital flowing in and out of them reach record levels. Read more
News Release – Phil Tobin Launches National Donor Advised Fund
Phil Tobin Launches National Donor Advised Fund. Read more
Getting Started with Your Family Mission Statement
A family mission statement is a critical part of successful wealth transfer, uniting all family members and heirs around a common, agreed-upon purpose – and it’s the foundation of your enduring legacy. Read more
Why Understanding the “What” of Family Wealth is Important to Success
Making critical, successful decisions when it comes to wealth transfer and inheritance depends on a comprehensive understanding of what makes up that wealth. Read more
A Counterintuitive Way to Look at Distributing Wealth
Beginning in the mid-1980’s, when Donor Advised Funds began to emerge from relative obscurity to become the most popular form of charitable giving today, I have been fortunate to work with financial advisors and their clients on their Donor Advised Funds (DAF). Read more
Last-minute Tax Situation: A Donor Advised Fund – the Right Option
It’s the week before Christmas. One of your favorite clients, Bill Smith, calls to tell you that he just received an unexpected year-end bonus of $175,000 and he is concerned about this taxable event. Read more
Year-End Giving Strategiesips for Charitable Giving Strategies
Anyone who’s ever given to charity knows about year-end giving and the pressure that comes along with it. Read more
Legacy is More Than Passing Wealth between Generations
Wealthy families lose their money every day. Statistics show that 70% of the family fortunes created in America are gone in two generations and 90% within three. Read more