If you’ve recently retired, you may still be figuring out the ideal balance of activities. If you’ve been retired for several years, you might still be trying to figure it out! Time and again, research shows us that finding purpose is an essential component of a happy and satisfying retirement. Consider the following:
- A large-scale, longitudinal study used data from 13,770 older adults, finding that those with a higher sense of purpose at baseline were significantly less likely to develop unhealthy behaviors.
- Other research used a nationally representative panel of over 8,000 American adults and determined that, contrary to some beliefs, retirement can actually increase a person’s sense of purpose.
- A cross-sectional study analyzed data from nearly 2,000 adults and found that a sense of purpose was significantly associated with lower depression and anxiety in both retirees and non-retirees.
Indeed, retirement offers a unique opportunity for individuals to rediscover their sense of purpose beyond the confines of a traditional career. The IECF team and charitable tools can play a pivotal role in this journey.
Here’s how:
Check in on tax planning
For starters, the IECF team can work with you and your tax advisors to be sure your charitable giving is reflected in your estate and financial plan to achieve the impact you’re seeking. Among other issues, we’ll help you and your advisors explore whether itemizing your tax deductions in certain years might save you money. You can “bunch” charitable donations into your donor-advised fund in higher-income years to exceed the itemization threshold, then support your favorite causes steadily over time from that fund. If you’re 70 ½ or older, we’ll also help evaluate whether tax-free transfers directly from your IRA—up to $108,000 (in 2025)—to a designated, unrestricted, or field-of-interest fund at IECF would be an effective planning technique for your situation.
Involve the next generation
Many retirees have more time to include family members in their personal charitable giving activities. The IECF team can work alongside you and your estate planning advisors to name children or grandchildren as advisors or successor advisors to your donor-advised fund and invite them to participate in site visits and educational events. This is a great way to strengthen family bonds while building a legacy of generosity across generations. Our team can help you identify ways to include children and grandchildren in site visits to favorite charities and participate in education sessions about community needs and the nonprofits that are making a difference for people who live in our region.
Build a legacy
Many people update their estate plans just after they retire. As you work with your tax and estate planning advisors, consider incorporating a gift in your estate plan that will allow your charitable legacy to live on for generations. For example, many people name a fund at IECF as the beneficiary of their IRAs because of the significant tax advantages when compared with leaving the IRAs to heirs. IECF is happy to work with you and your advisors to establish a special fund to receive assets from your estate, whether from an IRA or other type of estate gift. The fund can be structured as a permanent endowment to address the community’s greatest needs far into the future, or even support IECF’s operations to ensure that philanthropy and stewardship continue to thrive for generations to come. You can also name your donor-advised fund as an estate beneficiary, and your children and grandchildren can serve as advisors to the fund so that they, in turn, can carry on the spirit of charitable giving in the family’s name.
We look forward to working with you throughout your retirement years to ensure that your community dreams are fulfilled through the power of charitable giving. Please reach out anytime.
Please reach out to our Charitable Giving Team anytime, and stay up to date on all the good work we’re doing through the power of philanthropy. Sign up for our eNewsletter, Philanthropy Matters, today.
The team at IECF is honored to serve as a resource and sounding board as you build your charitable plans and pursue your philanthropic objectives for making a difference in the community. This newsletter is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal, accounting, or financial planning advice. Please consult your tax or legal advisor to learn how this information might apply to your own situation.
