Recently traveling thru West Virginia on my way out West to the Plains of Texas and the Hot New Mexico Desert, I met with a financial planner at a coffee shop and we discussed many new strategies of giving away money. Perhaps you are not aware but giving away money is one of the hardest things to do correctly. Anyone can donate money, but giving the right way is extremely difficult. In fact when Warren Buffet and Bill Gates merged their Foundation Assets and Warren came aboard as a Trustee, they mentioned this exact challenge and they were concerned about this. During my coffee shop conversation we discussed the Charitable giving of real estate and the gentleman from West Virginia also a member of the State Legislature told me of an older lady who donated her families hotel to a Church in Charleston WV. The way it was done was very smart. The Church took out an annuity life insurance policy for the lady and she gave them the building. People often donate millions to American Cancer Society this way and the organization buys them an Annuity. Yet it works even better if you consider this can be done for a Boys and Girls Club or some other purpose locally in the community such as hospice or historical society. It is great to see the charitable giving in American and around the world from our people both on the massive scale of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to the small scale giving in local communities. Consider all this in 2006. |
