As Ramadan is rapidly passing us by, you may have had a massive number of solicitations from charities in your email box, your mailbox, social media and old fashioned phone calls (if anyone still does that).
Charity is more than an act of worship through. It is an expression of your values. It is also an expression of your legacy, what you leave behind in this world, of course, includes charity that continues. You cannot take your wealth with you. When you give in Sadaqa Jaaria (continuous charity), your wealth continues to benefit you.
What if your charity was more than just supporting the mission of someone else’s vision, as laudable as it may be? What if supporting charity was more about the legacy you want to pass on to your family?
Charity is a learned behavior. You can raise children to care about charity, or you can raise them not to. As they become adults, many people want their children to be involved in ongoing charitable projects.
Charitable Planning can also include financial planning. The tax code looks at charitable planning much more favorably than most people realize. While a lot of this benefits the wealthy, it’s still worth looking at for everyone. People can become more wealthy as a result of doing charitable planning. They can also become shallow, mean and obnoxious. It happens.
I wrote an article on Islamic Charitable Planning that will give you a rundown on Charitable Remainder Trusts, Supporting Organizations, Donor Advised Funds and Charitable Lead Trusts, among other issues. Please take a look if you are interested. Feel free to share with others as well.