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Philanthropy, or investing in others, includes sharing your resources, your time, or your talent.  Explore the blog articles below for helpful advice and tips.

Navigating Tax Season

Essential Home Office

Tax time can feel overwhelming for many people.  Preparing your taxes requires you to manage a lot of information and documents. In addition to your W-2 (or 1099-NEC forms if you are a contractor), you will need supporting documentation related to your savings and investment accounts. A 1099 statement details the year’s dividends, interest, and capital gains earned. Some investments are structured as partnerships and provide a year-end, or annual, K-1 instead of a 1099. A K-1 shows an investor’s share of partnership income for a given year. Transactions that you need to document at tax time occur throughout the year. Therefore, I strongly recommend that you keep a Current Year Taxes folder. As you receive tax-related documents in the mail or from a financial firm’s portal, store them in this paper folder or a similar folder on your hard drive. If you are a contractor, save an extra copy…

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Tax Time Approaches – Get Organized

Essential Home Office

Preparing your taxes is not a fun task. It can be significantly less unpleasant if you are organized. Your taxes involve a lot of documents, and you must keep good records. In addition to your W-2 (or 1099-Misc forms, if you are a contractor), you will need supporting documentation related to your savings and investment accounts. A 1099 is a statement that details the dividends, interest, and capital gains earned during the year. Some investments are structured as partnerships and provide a year-end, or annual, K-1 instead of a 1099. A K-1 shows an investor’s share of partnership income for a given year. Transactions that you need to document at tax time occur throughout the year. Therefore, I strongly recommend that you keep a Current Year Taxes folder. As you receive tax-related documents in the mail or from a financial firm’s portal, store them in this paper folder or a…

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Organize Your Tax Files – You Will Be Glad That You Did

Essential Home Office

Preparing your taxes is not a fun task. It can be significantly less unpleasant if you are organized. Your taxes involve a lot of documents, and you must keep good records. In addition to your W-2 (or 1099-Misc forms, if you are a contractor), you will need supporting documentation related to your savings and investment accounts. A 1099 is a statement that details the dividends, interest, and capital gains earned during the year. Some investments are structured as partnerships and provide a year-end, or annual, K-1 instead of a 1099. A K-1 shows an investor’s share of partnership income for a given year. Transactions that you need to document at tax time occur throughout the year. Therefore, I strongly recommend that you keep a Current Year Taxes folder. As you receive tax-related documents in the mail or from a financial firm’s portal, store them in this paper folder or a…

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Making Tax Prep Less Stressful

Essential Home Office

Due to COVID-19, the federal tax filing deadline has been extended. Even with additional time, preparing your taxes is not a fun task. It can be significantly less unpleasant if you are organized. Your taxes involve a lot of documents, and you must keep good records. In addition to your W-2 (or 1099-Misc forms, if you are a contractor), you will need supporting documentation related to your savings and investment accounts. A 1099 is a statement that details the dividends, interest, and capital gains earned during the year. Some investments are structured as partnerships and provide a year-end, or annual, K-1 instead of a 1099. A K-1 shows an investor’s share of partnership income for a given year. Transactions that you need to document at tax time occur throughout the year. Therefore, I strongly recommend that you keep a Current Year Taxes folder. As you receive tax-related documents in the…

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Investing in Others

Family Office Approach

Be Thoughtful About Giving Back Consider having a family giving policy or charitable mission statement and prioritize the causes you wish to support financially. Evaluate donations the same way that you analyze investments. Look for organizations that use resources efficiently so your donation dollars will have the biggest impact. Analyze the percentage of donations to an organization that are used to cover administrative and fundraising expenses. The percentage of donations spent on administration and fundraising should be available in a charity’s literature. You can visit Charity Navigator at http://www.charitynavigator.org and look up a charity. The Better Business Bureau also rates charities. Keep Track of Donations Keep track of this year’s donations and the acknowledgments, thank you letters, and emails, in a current year tax file, which makes it easier to recall donations at tax time. Note the date, amount, and check number (if you wrote a check) on the…

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TD Ameritrade Ticker Tape

Analyze Finances

Nancy Doyle was featured in Household Budget: On the Same Page Aligning Needs, Wants & Wishes by Debbie Carlson. Families can prioritize their spending by working together. Taking a close look at non-essential expenses helps family members identify changes they can make to achieve their collective goals. The same is true for philanthropy. By working together, families can focus on the causes that are most meaningful to them and align with family values. TD Ameritrade Ticker Tape

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Creative Approaches to Philanthropy

Good to Know

Managing your financial life also involves philanthropy, or investing in others. November is a time when we all think about giving back. There are many facets to philanthropy besides contributing financially. We have numerous opportunities to support important causes and not all involve money. You can donate items, give your time, or share a talent. In this guest column for the Daily Herald Business Ledger, I profile two impactful organizations that enable you to give in innovative ways. Check out the full article below: 

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Investing in Others: Venture Philantrophy

Family Office Approach

Philanthropy is a key part of financial management. With so many causes to support it’s important to leverage the best process possible to maximize the impact of your giving. I was interviewed by the Daily Herald on a new term used to describe a more deliberate approach to Philanthropy; “Venture Philanthropy.” Check out the full article below. Practicing venture philanthropy Increasingly, individuals are taking a more hands on, engaged approach to philanthropy. Some refer to it as venture philanthropy, due to its similarity to venture capital. Venture capitalists invest in early stage, rapidly growing companies. They play an active role advising the companies and usually serve on the board of directors. Venture capitalists expect management to use capital wisely, grow, and, eventually, achieve specific benchmarks. Set priorities Like venture capital, venture philanthropy represents a more deliberate and thoughtful approach to giving. Venture philanthropists regard donations as investments. Rather than support…

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Philanthropy Tips: Giving Tuesday and All Year Long

Family Office Approach

I was recently quoted in US News on the subject of Philanthropy. For people who are interested in a charity,  the more transparent organizations are on their websites, the better. Once donors find an organization that aligns with their passion, they need to look at the charity’s financial health, commitment to be accountable and transparent and look to see if the results of the charity’s work bring about the changes they’re hoping to accomplish. Check out the full article below. 

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