Grads, don’t be afraid to say, “I don’t know!”

Grads, don’t be afraid to say, “I don’t know!”

Calling all college graduates! Fear not the three magic words, “I don’t know,” especially when it comes to your finances. My own situation may sound familiar to many of you. I graduated in December 2019 with honors and a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice; little did I know what 2020 had in store, for all of us! I lost both my jobs at the time and sought ways of making lemonade out of life’s lemons. It was then and there that reality hit me like a ton of bricks! With all my years of college and formal education I never truly grasped the concept of financial planning. Sure I knew how to make money and how to save, I sure knew how to spend, but I never figured out just how the “big boys and girls” do it, how you could make your money work for you. Thankfully, life is a school within itself, and it doesn’t take a college degree to admit you need the help of a professional philanthropic advisor or a financial planner.  The Endow America Network Foundation provides just that, a list of reputable certified professionals well versed in the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) of the United States and ready to pass that knowledge on to you, so that you and I could not only reduce our own taxes and earn more income, but even help the charitable cause or causes that are most important to you. 

I don’t know about you, but I’m not very good with numbers. You might chalk it up to me using the right side of my brain more or whatever other explanation you can think of. I just know that when it comes to my finances, I need a friendly hand to help me figure things out. The Social Secharity project of the Endow America Network Foundation is that friendly neighbor offering sound advice. Social Secharity is a play on words between Social Security and Charity, and refers to Section 664 of the IRC. Don’t worry, I didn’t know this law existed either but, apparently, it’s been around for over 50 years and only a hand full of older Americans have taken advantage of it. Now, we can too! 

The concept is simpler than it sounds; the Federal Government rewards you for the charity you give. You are rewarded with tax deductions and even growing annual income for your contributions to either a charitable remainder trust, pooled income fund, or a charitable gift annuity. A charitable remainder trust is an irrevocable contribution that creates income for you as the donor and/or the beneficiaries of your choice, with the remainder of the donated assets going towards the charity or cause that you want. A pooled income fund is also a kind of charitable trust created and maintained by a qualified nonprofit organization. The fund receives irrevocable donations from one or more people, families or charities. A charitable gift annuity is a contract that provides you the donor with a fixed income stream for life in exchange for a considerable donation to a charitable cause, and you can use cash or other noncash assets in your contributions. If I had someone explain all this to me years ago maybe I would have been able to do a lot more with the money I would have saved and the benefits I would have prepared for my own future. But now I know because I was willing to tell my advisor, “I don’t know,” and so he enlightened me with information I would have totally missed out on, but now there’s no excuse!

Why would the government reward you for giving? Because most charities in the U.S. don’t just rely on public donations, they mostly lobby Congress to receive federal funding to operate their services on the most basic levels. When that funding comes from enough people where these organizations no longer have to rely on DC for help, it alleviates pressure off of the government which in turn alleviates IRS pressure on your wallet! That’s right, it doesn’t just mean lower taxes for you, but for your friends and neighbors too. Now imagine if everyone in the country opted to open a Social Secharity account. With the current $1 trillion of federal aid going to charity each year, and our national debt nearly $30 trillion, we could effectively reduce that amount by $28 trillion by 2050. OK so I helped save the U,S, economy, but how do I immediately benefit from this? The possibilities are limitless, but let’s start with the fact that you will have generated annual income for yourself and whoever you choose for life. You like money don’t you? I know I do! Secondly, you will have saved boat loads of cash in taxes by having contributed to charity. Last, but not least, you can continuously support the charitable causes that are important to you, even decades down the road towards the end of your life, your legacy will live on through your generous contributions to society. Now isn’t that something to consider? Imagine that, you can make money by giving money, what a concept! So, if you’re like me and you want to learn more, just visit www.socialsecharity.org or like us on Facebook @SocialSecharity. You may have graduated, but that doesn’t mean you’re on your own, be smart with your money and consult a professional philanthropic advisor today.