Ways to Support Holy Trinity You May Not Have Considered
As we look toward the year ahead, here are a few ways you can support Holy Trinity while easing (or at least not adding to) your tax burden.
Here are a few things that you can consider (please consult your own tax or financial adviser before making any decisions).
→ Donating Appreciated Securities
Did you know that you can donate stocks, mutual funds, or other securities to a qualified charity, such as Holy Trinity, without having to sell them? Holy Trinity has set up an investment account at our bank, Truist, to which you can transfer the securities directly.
This prevents your having to sell the securities and pay capital gains taxes on the amount the securities have appreciated over the years. Holy Trinity will hold the investment(s) and, hopefully, let them appreciate further until we need the money to pay expenses. If you are interested in this, please contact me for the account information and specific instructions.
→ Donate from Your IRA Required Minimum Distribution If you’re 70½ or older, you can direct
all or part of your annual IRA Required Minimum Distribution (up to $105,000) to Holy Trinity.
This Qualified Charitable Distribution counts toward your RMD but isn’t taxable income. You do not need to itemize your deductions to take advantage of this. You simply report the total amount of IRA distributions on the IRA distributions line on your tax return and report the taxable amount of the gift to charity as $0. See IRS Publication 590-B, “Distributions from Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs)” for additional information. Ask your IRA custodian to send the check directly to:
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 605 W. Market St., Leesburg VA 20176.
→ Name Holy Trinity as a Beneficiary or Leave a Bequest in Your Will or Trust
By naming Holy Trinity in your will, trust, or as a beneficiary, you can make a lasting impact without affecting your current finances. Charitable bequests can also reduce estate taxes.
Holy Trinity is profoundly grateful for the generous contributions, large and small, of all our congregation members. Please let me know if you would like to discuss taking advantage of any of these suggestions or other ways of supporting Holy Trinity.
Karla McGovern + karlakmcgovern@gmail.com