LCMC Texas District now has the ability to receive donations of publicly traded securities (e.g. stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs, etc.) Please email us at info@lcmctexas.org to request the form to complete and give to your stockbroker to process your gift!

 

 

By donating stock that has appreciated for more than a year, you are actually giving 20 percent more than if you sold the stock and then made a cash donation. The reason is simple: avoiding capital gains taxes. The maximum federal capital gains tax rate is 20 percent on long-term holdings. Given that the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose from about 13,000 at the end of August 2012 to almost 22,000 at the end of August 2017, you are likely to realize a taxable profit on the sale of assets you purchased in the past five years. But if you donate the stock directly to a charity, there’s no capital gains tax to pay. Plus, you are still eligible to deduct the full fair-market value of the asset you donated from your income taxes, up to the overall amount allowed by the IRS.

 

 

 

Many investors have stocks that they love and want to hold for the long term. Any appreciation of that stock’s value confirms your belief in it, but it can also set the stage for substantial gains when you sell. So consider donating some of your appreciated shares and then buying new shares to reset your cost basis at the current, higher price. This will reduce your future capital gains tax exposure if the stock continues to grow in value.

 

 

 

Even with a good diet and regular exercise, your health can get out of balance. So, too, can your stock portfolio. If a review of your investments’ gains and losses shows that it’s time to rebalance your portfolio to maximize its performance and optimize for risk, donating stock can give your portfolio the health check it needs. Implementing a donation strategy puts your capital gains to work funding your philanthropy. Talk to your advisor about which assets to put to a better use.

 

“Advisors want people to understand where there are capital gains and where there are losses,” says Jaqueline Valouch, a vice president and charitable planning consultant with Fidelity Charitable. “You may need to sell things off, but maybe instead of selling you use rebalancing.”

 

 

Simply complete and sign stock donation form and send it to your broker for processing. It’s that simple!