People say it every December and it continues to be true: This past year went by so fast! It’s hard to believe we are approaching another 12/31 and thinking once again about how to reduce taxes while supporting your favorite charities (like Duke!) before the tax year ends. Here are some ideas: Donating publicly traded […]

The stock market is once again near historic highs. The S&P Index recently hit a record, and other indexes aren’t far behind. If you own stock or mutual funds, this is great news.  The downside is that, if you want to turn those shares into cash by selling them, you may owe taxes on “capital […]

Duke University is fortunate to have so many alumni and friends who want to have an impact on this remarkable institution through philanthropy. Many of them are interested in exploring creative and tax-efficient ways to support Duke, and we regularly receive gifts of all sorts of assets. Last month in Blueprints, my colleague Phil Buchanan […]

Charitable gifts of appreciated stocks, bonds, mutual funds and other securities can give you an extra bonus in terms of tax savings (as compared to a donation of cash). If you have owned publicly traded securities more than one year—which makes it a “long term capital gain” asset—you can claim a tax deduction for the […]