Give to charity, but don’t count on a tax deduction 


Here's an example of how donor-advised funds work: Suppose you plan to donate $5,000 a year to charity for the next five years, and you have $25,000 in savings. If you donate $5,000

each year, you won't have enough to meet the $24,400 threshold for itemizing. Instead, you could donate the $25,000 to the donor-advised fund and take an immediate deduction for the

amount of your contribution that exceeds the $24,400 standard deduction. Over the next five years, you can direct the donor-advised fund to give $5,000 a year to the qualified charities of

your choice. FOR WAYS TO SAVE AND MORE, GET AARP’S MONTHLY MONEY NEWSLETTER. SHARE THE GAINS ON STOCKS An even better option is to donate appreciated stocks or other assets to a

donor-advised fund. Some donor-advised funds will even accept bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as well as life insurance, private company stock and real estate. You'll be able to

minimize capital gains tax on your profits, and you'll get a deduction equal to the fair market value of your investment. Suppose you had bought 5,000 shares of a stock at $5 apiece,

for a total cost of $25,000. Those stocks are now worth $8 apiece, or $40,000. If you sold the shares, you would owe capital gains tax on $15,000. If you gave those shares to a donor-advised

fund, you would skip the capital gains tax on $15,000 and could get a full charitable deduction for $40,000. You don't need a charitable fund to donate appreciated securities. Many

charities accept securities and have long experience in handling transfers. Whether you are giving to a donor-advised fund or directly to a charity, you can't donate more than 60

percent of your adjusted gross income (AGI) each year if you're giving cash or securities with short-term capital gains. If you're donating appreciated securities, you can't

donate more than 30 percent of your AGI per year. Don't wait until the last minute to get the process rolling. If you're mailing cash to charity, the postmark usually determines

the date of the gift. If you're going to donate mutual fund shares or other appreciated investments, the process can take longer. Contact your charity and your broker as soon as

possible. Most transfers go smoothly, but you don't want a gift meant for the current tax year to get credited to the next one. _John Waggoner has been a personal finance writer since

1983. He was _USA Today_'s mutual funds columnist from 1989 through 2015 and has worked for _InvestmentNews_, _Kiplinger's Personal Finance_, the _Wall Street Journal_ and

_Morningstar_._ GIVING YOUR TIME Volunteering for a charity will lift your heart but won't lighten your tax load significantly. Services rendered, use of your equipment or property and

your time are not deductible, but unreimbursed expenses might be if you're itemizing for the year in which they occurred. What might be deductible: * LODGING AND MEALS when away from

home overnight. Those deductions can't include volunteer trips unless no significant personal pleasure, recreation or vacation is involved. * TRAVEL, such as actual costs of gas and

oil, or 14 cents a mile, plus parking and tolls. That includes getting to and from the place where you volunteer. * UNIFORMS, both buying and cleaning if they can't be used outside the

charity Not only must a volunteer keep detailed receipts and records, but the 501(c)3, tax-exempt nonprofit must acknowledge your donation if you're claiming $250 or more. _Source: IRS

Publication 526_