South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Charitable giving the smart way
December is the most popular month for charitable gifts. Before you start the process, consider these six important steps:
Confirm that the charity is legitimate and financially sound
Earlier this year, the IRS warned against a big uptick in charitable frauds. “Scam artists commonly use charities as a cover to lure honest people into providing money and sensitive personal information,” said IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig. “Protect yourself, and make sure you are dealing with a reputable group before making a donation.”
Access the IRS’s Exempt Organizations Select Check Tool to confirm that the organization is a registered public 501(c)(3) organization and has legitimate IRS Employer Identification Number. Then see what experts say about the organization and how much of your donation goes to supporting programs, versus salaries and marketing. The Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance, Charity Watch, GuideStar, Charity Navigator and GiveWell are helpful resources.
Ditch the cash
Never send cash donations or wire money to someone claiming to be a charity. If you are planning to send a check, your payments must be postmarked by midnight Dec. 31 to qualify for a deduction, and pledges aren't deductible until paid.
Donations made with a credit card are deductible as of the date the account is charged, so if you are a little late in the process, you probably should stick to credit cards.
Let the bull run
U.S. stock indexes are up over 20% this year, which makes it a great time to gift appreciated securities from a taxable investment account. Doing so allows you to write off the current market value (not just what you paid) and escape taxes on the accumulated gains.
Use the tax code
If you want a tax advantage from your giving, you have to itemize deductions. One way to get there is to “bunch” or “bundle” future gifts into one year. One way to accomplish this is by establishing a donor advised fund, which allows you to make multiple years’ worth of donations up front.
An added bonus of DAFs is that you can contribute appreciated securities from a taxable investment account, as well as cash.
Divert RMDs
For those who are 70½ and older and need to withdraw money from an Individual Retirement Account, consider a qualified charitable distribution, which allows you to direct some or all of your required minimum distribution to a public charity (not to a private foundation, nor to a charitable supporting organization or a donor-advised fund).
You don’t get to count a QCD towards an itemized charitable deduction, but you avoid being taxed on the money. As a result, using a QCD may be a smart way to give, because it can minimize your adjusted gross income.
You can transfer up to $100,000 a year from your IRA and you can give away more money than your actual RMD amount. A QCD can be tricky, which is why working with a CPA or CFP can be crucial.
Keep good records
For any cash or property valued at $250 or more, you must have a receipt (bank record, payroll deduction or written communication) identifying the organization, the date and amount of the contribution and a description of the property.
For text message donations, flag the telephone bill with the name of the receiving organization, the date of the contribution and the amount given. ove is a many-splendored thing, but does it have a place in the office?
Dating in the office, even between two colleagues at the same level, is definitely risky. In addition to issues that are inevitable in any relationship, like arguments and breakups, colleagues who date have to navigate professional landmines like conflicts of interest and office politics.
Despite the potential for professional and personal problems, workplace romances abound, according to a February study from career website Vault.com. Vault’s annual Office Romance Survey reported that 30% of respondents between the ages of 18 and 21 had engaged in an office romance, with the number climbing to more than 70% of respondents over age 50.
Whether you’re an employee considering a new relationship or a company trying to refine its policy, if you’re concerned about properly maneuvering office romances, these tips from workplace experts might help.
Be transparent
If you are in a long-term office relationship, the sooner you and your partner disclose your situation to HR, the better.
Tracie Sponenberg, the chief people officer of The Granite Group, has personal experience with the ins and outs of office dating. Sponenberg dated the CFO at a previous job. The two eventually tied the knot and have been married for 12 years. Sponenberg says transparency with HR prevented the relationship from damaging her and her husband’s standing as executives.
It “was a very tricky thing to navigate both ... in a professional way but also in a personal way, and I worried a lot about credibility for both of us,” Sponenberg said.
Brett Holubeck, a labor lawyer and legal blogger at the Texas Labor Law Blog, cautions that in dating situations at work, secret-keeping does more harm than good, especially if the relationship violates company policy.
“The best thing to do is to be open,” Holubeck says.
Be clear on the culture
For employers, Holubeck recommends creating a clear sexual harassment policy.
Alongside these policies, Holubeck
said, companies must provide regular training for employees and managers.
“Every company needs to train their employees on sexual harassment (as well as) their managers and that training should be separate … bystander training is something that a lot of companies are considering right now ... to show employees how they can intervene if somebody’s being mistreated in the office, or if they think that something inappropriate is going on,” Holubeck said.
Sponenberg thinks a company’s policy should stop short of banning all relationships.
“Office relationships happen and when you’re in an environment where you prohibit them, people are just going to do it anyway and do it behind the company’s back … you’re better off having those discussions in an open forum rather than having people sneak around,” Sponenberg said.
Always say no to supervisor-subordinate relationships
This is a big no-no, and most companies have firmly established rules against it, for good reason.
“I don’t think there’s a relationship within the workplace that can cause as big of an impact, other than hiring a family member or somebody like that,” Holubeck said.
Holubeck also calls out the potential for impropriety if a supervisor begins using his or her power to influence the relationship.
There “are positions where it is impossible to date almost anybody in your workplace because it is going to create either an impression of improper behavior or the potential for improper behavior,” Holubeck said.
Keep it professional
While she was dating her husband, Sponenberg recalls keeping the relationship secret from her colleagues until they announced that they were getting married. Once her relationship became public, Sponenberg took extra steps to assure her husband’s subordinates that it wouldn’t impact her work.
“We talked with people and said, ‘I know this is hard to believe, but I’m doing my job, I’m professional, unbiased, but still, here are the alternate paths that you can go to if there’s an issue and you’re not comfortable,’ ” Sponenberg said.
Prepare to look for a new job, if needed
While you may believe your new fling won’t impact your work, your employer might have different feelings. Once a relationship begins and is disclosed, Holubeck says the two parties should prepare for consequences.
“They need to talk with the company to see what steps they can take to minimize the impact on the workforce. … They may need to make a choice on how that relationship can continue if one of them may need to find a different job,” Holubeck said.
Sponenberg recalls that although she and her husband were peers, she offered to quit when they reported their relationship. Sponenberg says if she’d been at a large legacy company she probably would have left.
Vault’s study notes that most people who engage in workplace relationships haven’t soured on them. Nearly three-quarters of respondents (72%) said they’d participate in another office romance.
“You may not be able to help who you fall in love with,” Robyn Flint, an insurance specialist at ExpertInsuranceReviews.com, says. “Just make sure you know how to act appropriately when you fall in love.”
Ultimately, it’s up to you and your employer to take appropriate steps to keep falling in love from making you fall out of favor on the job.