In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight. Most of you will remember this hit by The Tokens and will be humming it the rest of the day. I had to take Laura to the doctors office today and saw this advertisement in National Geographic Magazine. It looks like the concept of a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) has gone mainstream, and even NatGeo is cashing in on this.
In a nutshell, once you turn 70 1/2 and have to take your Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) you can have all or a portion sent to the charity of your choice. The big caveat being, it must never go through your bank and must go directly from your brokerage account to the charity. The strategy is that the portion of or all, whatever you decide, will not be added to your income. We have written in previous blog posts that this can cause some retiree's tax issues, pushing them into a higher bracket and possibly raising their Medicare premiums.
This is a great way to help the charity of your choice and keep your taxes low. Laura gives a very detailed step by step instructions in our Charitible Giving podcast, The Retirement Specialists. Our podcasts can be found on Spotify, Google Podcasts, IHeart Radio and TuneIn+Alexa.
If you have questions, give us a call at 256-417-4870
Mike
Mike Mickels is President of CochranMickels Retirement Specialists and an avid sporting clay competitor. CochranMickels Retirement Specialists provides personalized planning and investment services to individuals approaching and in retirement. They also provide retirement and benefits training to Federal employees. Securities offered through Registered Representatives of Cambridge Investment Research, Inc., a broker-dealer, member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory services offered through Cambridge Investment Research Advisors, Inc, a Registered Investment Advisor. CochranMickels and Cambridge are not affiliated.