Simply put, retirement planning is the thought process of strategizing what an individual wants to do with their life after their paid working days have come to an end. It includes financial aspects such as income goals (and the means by which to reach them) and nonfinancial aspects such as how and where an individual wants to spend their time & energy in their retirement years.

What Do You Want to Do in Retirement?

There are many financial aspects of retirement planning (some of which are covered in this Ebook) – but what about non-fiscal concerns? Potentially one-third of your life may be spent in retirement – what are you going to do with your time and energy?

Although the options can be many, one area that many look at is how to support the organizations and causes that are important to them. Many donors in retirement view their giving as a way to pass down their values and beliefs on to their grandchildren and other family members. Thinking through which causes a retired person wants to lend their support to and in what ways to do that deserves focus.

Donating to Charity: Considerations & Concerns

Deciding how to make a charitable impact toward a good cause, be it with labor & time, monetary assets, or a combination of both is an ongoing concern that many donors engage in. Questions include:

  • Which charities are most deserving of my help?
  • Can the charity use my gift wisely?
  • If I make a large gift, will it overwhelm the capacity of the charity to spend it effectively?
  • Will the charity spend my gift toward the specific purpose/project that I intended?
  • Will I receive the appropriate recognition for my gift from the charity?
  • Will I be pursued continuously by the charity to make more donations?
  • Will other charities pursue me to donate to their causes?

Additionally, anticipating how to make these financial donations within the bounds of retirement can pose a challenge. This is where the concept of charitable planning can help.

Charitable Planning

As it name implies, charitable planning is the strategic process of determining the charitable impact a donor wants to make and looking at the specific means by which to do so.

By asking these questions of their own giving, a donor can provide the needed structure to a charitable plan.

Download our Ebook, Giving While Living: Continuing to Do Good When Your Working Days are Done

Topics within it include:

  • How much will you need to retire?
  • Essential documents involved in retirement planning.
  • What kind of charitable impact do you want to make?
  • How a donor advised fund (DAF) can give structure to your charitable plans.
  • Tips on choosing the right donor advised fund for your interests.

At American Endowment Foundation (AEF), we look forward to helping donors and their trusted advisors build a plan that helps make the charitable impact that a donor wants to make. Contact us or call at 1-888-966-8170 with any further questions.

Articles

“Retirement Savings a Key Focus for Wealthy” – Article on AccountingWeb.com, March 8, 2018