Many people put off making gifts until the end of the year. If you want to make a charitable gift and be able to deduct the gift in 2011, timing is critical.

The requirements for making a year-end charitable gift by check or credit card effective for the current calendar year are relatively simple. A gift by check will be effective for 2011, if you sign the check and place it in the mail or deliver it to the charity by Dec. 31. As long as the check is paid in ordinary course, the gift is effective as of the date of mailing or delivery even if not actually cashed until the following January.

When you hear that there are people in the 35 percent tax bracket, you may wonder what it means. It means their annual (adjusted) gross income is $200,000 for individuals or $250,000 for couples. For those who make a gift to a favorite charity, the 35 percent bracket also means that for every $100 they
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Colby Parks Tragically, the most senior and respected members of our community, our parents and grandparents, occasionally even great-grandparents, are the victims of exploitation by the most unseemly of suspects: their children. Amazingly, family members often sue senior relatives out of greed or fear of losing “their inheritance,” and seek a court’s order to take
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What do a P-51, a concert violin, a toy train collection and an old beach cabin have in common? All four were turned into creative gifts to charity, made in lieu of cash. That’s right. Your favorite nonprofit might be the best place to give things you had never considered giving them, because you figured
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