How do you measure what makes a life meaningful? 

Is it the awards a person won during their lifetime? The wealth they’ve accumulated? The trophies gathering dust on the shelf? 

Of course not. 

I think the real answer lies in something Henry Ford once said: “To do more for the world than the world has done for you – that is success.” 

One way that we can make sure to leave the world a better place than when we entered it is through charitable donations. But how do we support the causes we care about in ways that are truly impactful? 

It’s all about giving strategically 

One of the parts of my job that I’m most passionate about is helping clients figure out how to leave a lasting legacy. So many people want to give back, but are doing so without a real plan; they don’t know that donating charitably without a strategy can cost them extra money and create stress for the executors of their estate.

I see this especially in business owners, who might not understand the benefits of donating through their business rather than through personal accounts. That’s why I’ll be speaking about this exact subject at our Charitable Giving seminar on May 7th at the Canadian Canoe Museum here in Peterborough. 

If done properly, giving back can be a win for everyone 

I’m working with a business owner right now who has always been generous with his donations, but up until recently was making them personally, using after-tax cash. When I saw just how much he was giving, I asked him if he realized the tax cost of pulling money out of his corporate accounts to donate personally. 

Like many people, he didn’t. 

Because he was moving corporate dollars to personal accounts in order to donate, he was putting himself in a position where he had to pay personal tax on that money. Let’s say he wanted to donate $100,000 personally – in that case, he would have to withdraw closer to $200,000 from the corporation to net the donation after personal tax. That’s a pretty big difference! 

I told him if he started donating through his corporation, the whole amount of before-tax dollars could be given. 

So we set up a strategic plan for his donations. Since he has a well-built investment portfolio but cash flow timing wasn’t always ideal, we looked at donating securities in kind from the corporation. This has been positive in all directions: we were able to support his charitable goal, keep the plan consistent even when cash flow felt tight, and reduce taxes across the personal and corporate sides together. 

Keeping it simple, yet intentional 

One conversation that I’ll always remember was with a client who, like many people, was giving in what I like to refer to as a donation-at-checkout way – haphazardly donating a bit here, a bit there, when prompted by things like a supermarket cashier asking if he wanted to support their cause of the week. But he wanted to give more intentionally. 

When we talked about where his wealth was going after he died, he said that he wanted to give it to charity, since he doesn’t have kids and his siblings don’t need it. But one thing I often hear from lawyers is that charitable plans can be a lot of work for executors. 

So we helped him structure a giving plan using a donor-advised fund. He donates regularly, the portfolio stays invested and can continue to grow, and it grants money out every year. This lets him leave a legacy that reflects who he is and what he cares about, without placing a heavy administrative burden on anyone after he’s gone. 

The confidence to give more while you’re still here 

So often, when we’re talking about financial planning and charitable giving, people’s thoughts turn to what will happen after their death. But it often makes more sense to give while they’re still alive, because they get to use the tax benefits during their lifetime, year after year. 

Like the two clients I mentioned above, many people that I talk to want to give more to charity, but don’t realize how much capacity they would have to donate if they did so strategically. That’s where I come in – I help clients come up with individually-tailored plans that give them the confidence to be more generous while also reassuring them that they’ll still have more than enough left over to take care of the basics, like retirement and family. 

Leaving a legacy you can be proud of 

Just like Henry Ford, many of us are wondering how we can be the kind of success that leaves the world just a little better than we found it. I know that’s the kind of life I want to live. 

I also know how overwhelming it can be to try to figure out how to do that. Sometimes our actions feel like little more than a drop in the bucket. But it’s possible to give charitably in a way that really leaves an impact, and I’d love to help you create the kind of legacy you deserve.