Strategies Your Clients Can Use Right Now

It may seem too early to talk about year-end planning. But the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act set many changes in motion for charitable giving. Whether a clients’ charitable giving stems from a concern for those who are less fortunate, the desire to support a particular cause, or an endeavor to gain recognition in their community, the changes to the income tax deductions will likely impact the charitably inclined.

The increase in the standard deduction ($12,000 for individuals, $18,000 for heads of household, and $24,000 for married couples) means far fewer people will itemize (a requirement to obtain the charitable deduction). Additionally, the $11.18 million estate tax exemption per person means far fewer people have taxable estates now than before the act came into effect. Because of the general reduction tax in tax liability after the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, charitable planning no longer has the same tax-saving benefit it once did.

Even against these headwinds, there remain actionable solutions you can implement with your clients to maximize their charitable giving results. When you share these solutions with charitably-minded clients, you enhance the value you provide and deepen your relationships.

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Tax-Saving Opportunities for Business Owners

Are any of your business-owning clients curious about the new Section 199A deduction?

Although the deduction became effective on January 1, 2018, guidance on how it would be calculated was delegated to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) by Congress. For months, financial and tax professionals have speculated about various aspects of this new deduction since Congress gave us little concrete guidance to work with.

New Developments in August 2018

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5 Strategies to Help Pay for a Child’s Academic Future

Higher education costs are just that -higher. The steady increase in educational expenses means your clients have much steeper bills for their children’s college tuitions than they had for their own. To illustrate how stark this contrast is, the average cost of tuition has increased 213 percent in the last 30 years¹. To make matters worse, there is no end in sight for this trend.

It’s understandable that the price of higher education is one of the biggest worries looming in your clients’ minds. A defined goal, such as a large purchase or a child’s educational needs, provides much more motivation to clients than an amorphous, abstract goal.

As their financial advisor, you are uniquely positioned to help your clients utilize educational savings tools they may not otherwise be familiar with. Not only will this effort help your clients —it’ll also lead to greater trust in your ability to help your clients strategically position themselves for better financial outcomes overall.

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