Sharpe Blog

In a lot of years, January has been hectic for me. Why? Because my phone has rung ceaselessly about year-end gift problems. What sorts of problems? These have been typical phone calls: Donor wired stock to us in late December, but we didn’t receive the stock until January. Our business office says we keep our …Read More

Last night, President Trump signed the latest relief package attached to the Consolidated Appropriations Act to fund the federal government. The relief portion of the legislative package was estimated at approximately $900 billion and includes extended unemployment benefits for millions of people who lost jobs this year, as well as $600 one-time relief payments to …Read More

Many commentators believe funding a testamentary charitable gift annuity with an income in respect of a decedent (IRD) item, like an IRA, means the annuity will be taxed in full immediately, with no recovery in basis. But is that, in fact, the correct result given the purpose of the IRD rules? When this IRD item …Read More

There was a lot of charitable giving in the U.S. before the federal income tax (1913) and a federal income tax charitable deduction (1917) came along. Example: As a young person, I made great use of a public library in Aurora, Illinois—one of the many such libraries funded by Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie funded these libraries …Read More

Getting donors to say “yes” often involves working with their professional advisors—attorneys, accountants, financial planners, trust officers, insurance agents, bankers, etc. Planned giving officers may be more knowledgeable about sophisticated charitable planning than professionals who only occasionally encounter charitable remainder trusts, charitable gift annuities or the use of charitable techniques in estate and generation-skipping transfers. …Read More

If an individual wants to give LLC units to your organization, be careful! Potential problems lie ahead for both the donor and your organization. Here’s why, by way of an example. Suppose the gift is of 10% of all the outstanding LLC units. It’s necessary to analyze the gift on two levels. First level: Donor …Read More

Thanksgiving celebrations and GivingTuesday are over, but the most generous time of year is just beginning! That’s right, the month of December is traditionally a time for giving to friends, family and favorite charitable organizations. Giving this time of year is embedded in many cultures and religions, and according to scientific studies, charitable giving makes …Read More

The SECURE Act dramatically reduced the deferral period of retirement plan benefits for a non-spousal beneficiary from their lifetime to 10 years. All benefits must be paid at the end of 10 years from the date of death of the account owner. However, no distributions are required until the 10th year; therefore, the beneficiary, if …Read More

If you’ve followed our blog or read our newsletter, Give & Take, you know we stress the importance of thanking your donors. As our founder Robert F. Sharpe Sr. often taught clients, when a donor puts you in their estate plan, they are elevating you to the status of family, and they should be treated …Read More

LLC means “limited liability company.” So what? LLCs play an important role in charitable gift planning. A charity may want to establish an LLC to receive gifts of real estate, for example. A donor may want to follow Mark Zuckerberg’s lead and create an LLC as a vehicle for making charitable gifts. An individual may …Read More