One Opportunity If You Have Done Well Financially
You Have Done Well Financially
You Have Done Well Financially
Opportunity 1: Save taxes now with a gift of stock
With stock indices reaching record highs in 2021 and home values rising sharply, your financial net worth may be higher than it has ever been.
This could be the time to make a charitable contribution - particularly if you have been thinking of selling highly appreciated securities to harvest your gain and rebalance your portfolio. The net cost of the gift could be lower than you think because you receive a charitable deduction for market value and avoid taxation of the gain.
Example: You are considering selling stock valued at $100,000 for which you paid only $20,000 years ago. If you are subject to a capital-gain tax rate of 18.8% (15% rate plus the Affordable Care Act surtax of 3.8%), your tax on the gain would be $15,040 (18.8% x $80,000) - leaving $84,960 after paying the capital-gain tax. If you donated the stock instead, you would receive a deduction for $100,000. Assuming you are in a 32% tax bracket, your tax savings would be $32,000. The net cost of making the $100,000 gift would be $84,960 (the after-tax sales proceeds) minus $32,000 (tax savings from the gift), which is only $52,960.
Year-End Reminder: If practical, make your charitable gifts with appreciated property to receive a double benefit: a charitable deduction and no tax on the capital gain.
Mr. Biden and Mr. Macron at the French Embassy.Credit...Erin Schaff/The New York Times
Some of those results the French have demanded may be forthcoming, but were not announced when the two spoke to reporters before a lengthier diplomatic meeting.
American and French officials said the United States was prepared to bolster France’s counterterrorism efforts in Africa, including possibly sending additional reconnaissance planes and drones to the $110 million airfield that the United States has built in the desert scrub near Agadez, Niger.
The Biden administration will also try to address one of Mr. Macron’s priorities by giving a guarded backing to a European military force that is separate from NATO, the officials said.
It would also be viewed in Paris as a sign of American respect after the perceived insult of the secretly negotiated Australian submarine deal.
Officials said they hoped the American moves would put to rest the fight between the United States and France.
“The United States is still our major ally,” said Gen. Thierry Burkhard, the French military’s chief of staff. “But what we need is a very clear sign that trust can still be there.”
— Katie Rogers, Roger Cohen and Helene Cooper