Give and You Shall Receive: Efficient Year End Charitable Gift Planning

Aegis Group Holdings, Inc a Colorado Company
8400 East Prentice Avenue, Suite 660 Denver, CO 80111
T: 303-770-3664 info@aegiscompanies.com
Copyright © 2009-2010. All rights reserved.
Give and You Shall Receive: Efficient Year End Charitable Gift Planning
The 2010 tax year is quickly coming to a close. It is time to make some decisions about year-
end tax planning. However, uncertainty and confusion are the prevalent sentiments of many
clients. With myriad tax changes slated to take effect on January 1, 2011 (See Tax the
Rich…Tax the Rich…Tax the Rich…Again!), many clients are not sure what they should do
by December 31 to reduce their tax bill. The old planning advice of "Defer Income and
Accelerate Deductions" may or may not apply. Nevertheless, certain tax planning actions can
be taken before the end of this year.
One area of deductions that cannot be overlooked is charitable deductions. Make the most of
charitable deductions by finishing up your gifting and accelerating next year’s gifts into 2010. In
2010, there is no limit on itemized deductions; but, starting in 2011, people earning more than
$100,000 are likely to see their deductions limited. Any charitable contributions that you can
make before December 31, you probably should. These contributions can be made individually
or from your business. Even if you do not have all the cash by December 31, you can use a
credit card to make the gift (provided the credit card is paid off in a short period of time).
However, there is a right way to give and, let’s say, an inefficient way to give. A disorganized,
scattered, and impulsive giving model allows for significant waste to creep into your gifting
strategy, preventing the people you are trying to help from receiving what they should. Instead,
consider setting up a Donor Advised Fund ("DAF") to create a single repository for all your
charitable giving. The DAF can serve as your charitable bank account. You get the deduction
when you make the deposit, but you do not have to designate the ultimate charity or charities
until you request a grant be withdrawn for the organization.
Over the five-year period ending in 2009, a Philanthropy Chronicle study found that assets held
in DAFs at 64 organizations grew from $13.48 billion to $16.86 billion, adjusted for inflation.
During that same five years, the U.S. stock market actually declined. More than 100,000
Americans are now using DAFs as a simpler way to better coordinate their charitable giving.
Look at an example for the Williams family:
Click Here

A DAF creates a family foundation that is administered by Aegis World Fund, a public operating
charity. Individuals, families, and businesses create these accounts for the purpose of
managing their charitable donations. Some of the benefits are:
 Easy and inexpensive to establish and operate.
 Donate now and take the tax deduction in 2010 while eliminating the pressure of having to
select one or more charities to support. Decisions about which charity or charities to support
can be made any time in the future.
 Retain funds in a DAF until you are ready to make distributions. The ability to hold funds allows
the funds to be reinvested, creating a larger stream of gifts later. You or your advisor can
recommend the investment strategy for your contributions to your DAF. This minimizes
concerns about how charities manage or mismanage investments. Growth in assets held in a
DAF is tax-free, which provides the potential for greater charitable gifts.
 Reduced record keeping. A DAF account provides consolidated reporting and record keeping.
You can direct grants to multiple charities, but you will only need tax substantiation letters for
your contributions to the DAF. You can also review your history of grant making online before
making future gifts.
 Establish an enduring family legacy by providing for continued involvement from your family
though successor advisor designations.
 Your gift making can remain private.
The decision of whether to accelerate charitable contribution deductions depends on your
current marginal income tax rate and your anticipated future marginal income tax rate. In light
of the forthcoming barrage of tax changes for January 1, 2011 it is imperative you consult with
your tax advisor. The traditional recommendation of defer income and accelerate expenses
may not apply to you for 2010. You may instead want to accelerate income and expenses into
2010 making the case for setting up your DAF and accelerating your charitable deductions very
compelling.
Take control of your taxable situation and proactively direct your legacy. Use a DAF to enable
the efficiencies in your charitable planning, and let Aegis World Fund help you realize the
potential you have to impact the organizations and the causes you care about the most.
___________________________________________________________

More information on Thomas Agresti can be found at http://aegiscompanies.com.
T.J. Agresti, CEO, Founder, and Chairman of the Board, Aegis Holdings, Denver,
Colorado
Thomas Agresti, JD, LLM, from Denver, Colorado, began a successful career as a tax attorney
after finishing an extensive and well-planned education that included the University of Maryland,
Seton Hall University School of Law, University of Parma School of Law in Italy, and University
of Denver School of Law. He is currently registered with the Bar of Colorado.
In law school he focused on taxation and transactional law. He also went to Italy to understand
the intricacies of international law and finance, again with a focus on taxation and transactions.
He then took his taxation skills to the ultimate level, receiving a Masters in Taxation from the
University of Denver School of Law. He immediately became a highly sought-after professional
with a rare educational background. He chose to work with a large multinational public
accounting firm, due to the extensive tax and transactional experience he could gain in a
condensed time period.
While a taxation specialist for a "Big Six" international accountancy firm, he specialized in
domestic and international strategic tax planning or, quite simply, how to reduce a client's
overall tax burden. His responsibilities also included financial and estate planning, income, gift,
and estate tax reduction, compliance for individuals, trusts, and estates, partnerships,
corporations, and tax-exempt entities. After leaving public accounting he practiced tax law with
a boutique law firm before forming his own firm. He has lived and worked overseas
representing a broad range of clients. He has practical experience planning and implementing
multi-national transactions, sophisticated wealth transfer planning, sophisticated life insurance
structures, captive insurance, private equity, and structured debt instruments.
_____________________________________________

Ted Rusinoff, M.Tax, CFP®
President, Aegis Risk Management Group * Executive Director,
Aegis World Fund
Ted has almost twenty years of experience as an advisor helping families and businesses in
various financial and tax disciplines to best utilize the tools and strategies at their disposal to
accomplish their goals. For the last eight years he has been working with several organizations
to develop and implement their Donor Advised Fund platforms, finding new developments to
better serve the donors of each organization, and their legacy plans.
Ted holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration/Finance and a Masters of
Taxation from the University of Akron. He also holds the designation of Certified Financial
PlannerTM
.
A nationally sought after public speaker, Ted writes frequently on such topics as retirement
planning, charitable planning, risk management, tax planning, and business best practices. Ted
lives in Hudson, Ohio with his wife and two daughters. He enjoys snowboarding, horseback
riding, golf, and bicycling.

Give and You Shall Receive: Efficient Year End Charitable Gift Planning

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Give and You Shall Receive: Efficient Year End Charitable Gift Planning