4 Seasons Podcast

The Charitable Advantage: How Financial Planning Transforms Your Generosity

• Jeff Bingham • Episode 15

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Does B&H Provide Advice On Charitable Giving Or Philanthropy?

The power of generosity takes center stage as Jeff Bingham explores how thoughtful charitable giving strategies can transform both the causes you support and your own financial picture. We dive deep into the often-overlooked intersection where financial planning meets philanthropy, revealing how the right approach can maximize your impact while potentially creating tax advantages.

Most retirees understand the frustration of Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) – those mandatory withdrawals from retirement accounts that create taxable events whether you need the income or not. Jeff explains how Qualified Charitable Distributions offer a brilliant solution, allowing you to redirect those funds directly to causes you care about while satisfying IRS requirements and avoiding the taxation that would normally occur. This strategy ensures your charitable dollars work harder and go further.

Beyond basic giving strategies, we explore more sophisticated approaches like family foundations that honor loved ones while creating lasting legacies. Jeff shares a personal reflection about conversations with his nephew Matt regarding a potential foundation honoring Matt's father – a touching glimpse into how philanthropy can preserve family values across generations. The episode also tackles the important question of how to identify and evaluate charitable organizations that truly align with your personal values and operate with financial efficiency. As Jeff notes, the ideal charity not only matches your passions but also directs maximum resources to their mission rather than administrative overhead.

Whether you're just beginning your philanthropic journey or looking to enhance your existing giving strategy, this episode provides valuable insights to help you create meaningful impact while potentially enhancing your financial position. Ready to discover how your generosity can work harder and accomplish more? Schedule your free consultation today by calling 423-247-1152 or visiting BHRetire.com and take the first step toward truly transformative giving.

To learn more about B&H Wealth Strategies visit:
https://www.BHRetire.com
B&H Wealth Strategies
423- 247-1152

Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Four Seasons Podcast brought to you by B&H Wealth Strategies, serving Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia since 1966. Here we guide you through the ever-changing seasons of your financial journey, offering insights to help you grow, protect and enjoy your wealth. Ready to turn your financial dreams into reality, dare to dream. And now here's your host. President of B&H Wealth Strategies, jeff Bingham.

Speaker 2:

Giving with purpose is powerful, but giving with a plan is transformative. In this episode, we explore how B&H Wealth Strategies helps clients make the most of charitable giving, both emotionally and financially. Welcome back everyone, skip Monaco producer, back in the studio with Jeff Bingham, president of B&H Wealth Strategies. Good to see you, jeff. How's it going? I am doing great, skip. How about yourself? I'm doing just fine, ready to get the weekend rolling.

Speaker 3:

It is on us right.

Speaker 2:

That is right For those that are to date this podcast.

Speaker 3:

I guess this is the final couple of days of the Fun Fest, so we've got the big fireworks show and whatnot tomorrow night to look forward to.

Speaker 2:

Oh nice, very nice, that'll be awesome. Yeah, jeff, giving back is today's subject. It's such a personal part of wealth building Excited to hear how B&H helps make it both heartfelt and strategic. Does B&H provide advice on charitable giving and philanthropy, and if?

Speaker 3:

so how? The answer is yes, and we've probably. We've talked about it for years and years and we've done a good amount of it, and certainly, as many know out there that listen to the podcast and my clients that are out there that, as I have recommitted my life to Christ, I mean it's much more near and dear to my heart as well with not that we weren't doing it, but you know more meaningful and impactful, as you were talking about to begin with, and many, many of my clients that I work with on a regular basis have been doing these kind of things for years, and so now we really dig into those kind of things to try to find, you know, meaningful and impactful ways to do it. You know kind of. You know giving to charities and philanthropy. It's kind of you can do good. You can do good for yourself and do good while doing good for yourself at the same time, and that's that's a. Those win-win kind of things like that are, are, are something we Absolutely, absolutely.

Speaker 2:

What kind of charitable giving strategies does B&H typically recommend, or does it depend on the individual?

Speaker 3:

been. You know that's now reached, you know, full retirement age, let's say and is having to take what's known as a required minimum distribution from their IRAs, which, when you get to right now we're at 73 years old you've got to start taking these distributions out, whether or not you need the money or not, from you know, to add to your and augment your income. The government forces you to take it out. It's a calculation that's done. And that money right, there is often been is earmarked for charitable contributions, some of it or all of it. And so when you do that, you can take out a taxable distribution and then you can even have it sent directly to the charity. And when you do that and you give it to the charity or send it directly to the charity, however you might choose to do that, and there's some reasons to do it different ways Then it becomes you take out taxable money and you don't have to pay tax on it and you are able to give the full amount to the charity as opposed to discounting it with taxation, and you don't have to write a check to the IRS either and you've given that full benefit to charity.

Speaker 3:

And oftentimes I mean that's, you know, in this part of the world. That's quite often to the church that they attend and have been going to for years and years and years. So they give to their ministries along those lines. That's one very simple way to do it. There can be much more complex ways. That's one very simple way to do it. There can be much more complex ways, but that's one way to do it.

Speaker 2:

Do you see clients are creating private foundations versus donor advisor funds.

Speaker 3:

Very good question right there.

Speaker 3:

I don't have any clients that have set up their own foundations to do it.

Speaker 3:

I think it's an interesting concept.

Speaker 3:

It's actually we haven't talked about it in a while, but Matt and I actually were talking about something along those lines not too awful long ago about setting up some kind of you know kind of family foundation in honor of his father, my brother, and being near and dear to all the bams from an education standpoint, my brother's a team coach and just something along those lines you know to, to put a stamp of, to the legacy lives on and you honor the family and then you honor their commitment to their passions. If you will, it's something my dad and I talk a lot about, about education and kind of the direction or lack of direction, perhaps sometimes that it goes in. Matt and I'll spend some time, sometimes in agreement, sometimes not in conversations, but always in agreement, on that that. We would like to start, you know, set something up to remember and make sure that those that have passed before us and left us with the opportunities to talk on this podcast, to create something like that, that we don't forget those that really set the foundation for us.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely Well. How do you help clients identify causes or organizations that align with their personal values? Is there any process?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, that's a great question and something that we really have and, quite honestly, that I need to spend and I've really been working, at least you know, mentally through and trying to create that Now I need, we need to commit to it, we certainly do. But we're having these conversations with clients more and more. So you know we, what you try to. I mean, obviously you just like anything, you sit down with the client and you ask him where are you, you, where you want to go, how you want to get there, so they begin to identify their passions and their purposes. And as they begin to identify that, then you kind of see the directions that they're in. So then sometimes they have you know very, um, you know very they've already, they know where they want to drive money and where their passions are, but but oftentimes they don't. So that's where we really need to be better as an organization. I'm not trying to duck the question, although I guess I am that we need to put some time and effort into that and kind of create a list, if you will kind of vet out a list for our clients more definitively in conversation. But you look again we talk about they look at where did they go to college? Did they go to ETSU? Do they want to give to ETSU? Do they want to give to the hospital here? Do they want to give to the various, to the cancer foundation, the heart kind of thing?

Speaker 3:

Certainly, there's all kinds of things. There's pre-born that's out there. There's the ministries that we can look to. Born that's out there. There's the ministries that we can look to. But, like I said, I mean there's a lot of. And honestly I'll tell you another place of the life of my clients, the Humane Society as well, got a lot of dog lovers and other pet lovers that are in this part of the world and other parts of the world, I guess, for that matter but certainly that walk through the door of B&H all the time. And you know those are places that can always use funding as well. So there's no shortage of causes and passions and purposes that people can find.

Speaker 3:

I think the key that we need to be, and I think that where we can begin to help and do it individually as well, is to determine there's a number of in this category, here's a number of charities. Are those charities? Are they top heavy from, you know, from their executives and their administrative base, or is most of the money going actually to the causes that they're identifying? And that's a bit of a challenge. We know there's some, there's been, I guess, some controversy and things over the years and there'll continue to be, for that matter. But trying to find where not only the charity that matches your purpose, your passions and your causes, if you will, but also is really directing the money and is running lean and mean from an administrative standpoint, from an administrative standpoint, and the monies are really going to the purposes that they are designed to be going to, and not padding the pocket of the creators, the board members, et cetera.

Speaker 2:

Amen, good thing to remember, jeff. Thanks as always. What a great reminder that wealth isn't just about accumulation. It's also about giving back and contributing.

Speaker 3:

No, it absolutely is Absolutely Well. Thank you it absolutely is Absolutely.

Speaker 2:

Well, thank you, man, I appreciate that and we'll catch you in the next episode. All right, thanks, skip, talk to you soon. We'll talk soon. We'll ride out this podcast with the music of Matthew Bingham Absolutely, which is pretty awesome.

Speaker 3:

Absolutely, it's great, it's a great jingle he's written for this company. We need to make sure that we make him proud with the music that he wrote for us. We need to be doing good things, so it's got to give him credit.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. That's why I got that out. All right, amen, all right, have a good one.

Speaker 1:

Thanks for tuning into the Four Seasons podcast brought to you by B&H Wealth Strategies, where your financial success is our priority. Schedule your free 20-minute consultation today by calling 423-247-1152 or by visiting bhretirecom. Take the first step toward making your financial dreams come true. Until next time, remember every season is the right season to plan for your future. Securities and registered investment advisory services offered through Silver Oak Securities Inc. Member FINRA, sipc. B&h Wealth Strategies and Silver Oak Securities Inc are not affiliated.