Month: April 2017

A Legacy Of Giving

As I’m now in my full return to the Non Profit space a very large component of my job load is to go into the community and share with trusted advisors and business owners the opportunities that lie within their reach to truly make a difference in their own lives as well as the lives of those in their communities, through planned legacy giving structures. When a business owner sells a business that they have a low cost basis in they will inevitably incur large capital gains tax consequences, or they can use 1031  exchange programs to delay the inevitable or maybe they will use another tax strategy that can spread that gain out over years to minimize the tax burden for each annual period, but in what other ways can they do good by the way of their family, and the causes that they care about, while easing the tax burden they will potentially owe.

I think these are great questions that any socially conscious business owner should be asking themselves and their advisor teams. But the biggest impact is made prior to the sale transaction, not after.

One modern day business legend that has figured out the concept of legacy planning is David Green of Hobby Lobby. Can you imagine this… he started with less than $1,000 and now his empire is worth over $4 Billion. He has a new book coming out in Late April that speaks to the concept of giving your wealth away. I’m not going to go into the details but this is going to be a must read for anyone who is considering developing a solid exit plan that benefits the family, the causes they care about, and minimizes the affectual tax amount owed on a wealth transfer. Look for Davids book on April 25th everywhere books are sold.

Then if you have questions concerning this concept reach out and we will be happy to introduce you to our friends who are experts in the creation of these types of legacy strategies. They would be happy to meet with you and your trusted advisory team to discuss the process and share insight from their decades of proven success in the giving space.

The Cross And Tomb

As we enter into this holy weekend I am humbly reminded of Gods ultimate gift to us. A gift that we are so unworthy of, yet it was so freely given.

On a hill far off in the distance stood a cross of rugged wood, a place for the derelict and fallen to be executed by an occupying government. A place where one would never expect to see the Son of God. But for us Jesus Gods only son laid down His life. It was a plan laid down in the thrown room of God and played out here on Earth. We as men had fallen so far short of the plan that God had laid out for us and had so turned away from His vision of what earth and man had been created for that there could be only one way to redeem the human race. After all He had created us to worship and adore Him and that through that worship we would have blessing and relationship with Him.

So on that lonely hill and on the old wooden cross Jesus laid down His life so that we could have the opportunity to know Gods grace, mercy and redeeming power. Through that sacrifice the entire way we worship changed and became personal. It was a sad day for those close to Jesus but God had a plan… In Luke 24 we see that when the women, who were in mourning, came to the grave on the morning of the third day there was a surprise waiting for them. Can you imagine the feelings that must have come over them when they saw the tomb of their beloved savior standing wide open with no corpse lying in it.  Praise God our Lord is risen.

As I walk out the journey that is life I, in all transparency, fail and fall just like many of you. But I am so grateful that because of the cross and the tomb I can humbly come before the throne of God Almighty and receive His grace and His mercy, and walk with Him as Father and friend.

Its personal because of a sacrifice made 2000 years ago on an old wooden cross………

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only son……………”
Blessings

Dan