The end of the year is the time when people are looking to show gratitude by donating to their favorite charities or special causes that are important to them. But like any financial decision, you should take a moment to see if there are any tax benefits or strategies to consider that can maximize your giving efforts. The first strategy to consider is a Donor Advised Fund. These have two main tax advantages. First, you become eligible for an income tax deduction of the full fair market value of the asset, up to 30% of your adjusted gross income (AGI) for gifted securities, and 60% of your AGI for cash. It also eliminates capital gains taxes on long-term appreciated assets if they’ve been held for longer than a year. The second strategy that can help benefit a charity – as well as your own finances – is a Qualified Charitable Distribution or QCD. QCDs can be a great option for those 70 ½ or older and allows you to contribute money directly from your IRA to your preferred charity. You’re allowed to give up to $100,000/year. The advantage is that this reduces your AGI, which affects things like Medicare, Social Security, and various other tax credits and deductions. It may even help you reduce your income taxes. It can also help you offset any additional income you have if you’re over age 72. Another charitable deduction that’s available is the Ohio Scholarship tax credit. It’s a $750/person non-refundable credit you ca
Key Takeaways: We are changing our allocations to slightly overweight U.S. quality stocks, seeking to capitalize on the recent market pullback and position for potential upside surprises in U.S. economic growth and corporate earnings. We are leaning into U.S. high-quality stocks expressing a high-conviction preference for the largest cap stocks in the U.S. that appear to have attractive growth profiles. We plan to decrease our exposure to Europe, moving underweight international Developed Market (DM) stocks due to weakening corporate earnings signals and more pronounced downside vulnerability to potential rising energy prices and geopolitical turmoil. We are underweight bonds and overweight cash and short-term instruments that offer very attractive yields. The ghost of September's past haunted markets once again in 2023 and has carried over. This notoriously weak seasonal period - combined with rising rates and declining liquidity - saw stock and bond prices press lower. The S&P 500 Index, for example, is off its late summer highs by almost 10%, and the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index is down a similar amount from its earlier highs. We are potentially facing an unprecedented third year in a row of bond market losses. Overall, it has been a challenging year for investors with only the largest stocks doing well while most equity and fixed-income styles are flat to down. The “Magnificent 7” stocks in the S&P 500