Redefining philanthropy (Greg and Veronica)
GREG: We have tended to only fund our donor-advised fund at the end of the year, but we’re now exploring, as we get older and as our income has actually gone up the last several years, how do we contribute on a monthly basis, how do we really maximize the amount we could put aside for charity, and how do we minimize our tax liability each year,
VERONICA: And I think that all plays to one of the biggest things for us, which is having this account makes us think about donating more regularly and have conversations about what we want to be doing [right] more than we ever had before. I think there’s… there’s an intention to it, and knowing that we have that account that we can pull from and do something, I think that’s just been one of the best things about it.
GREG: Right. Right. It’s just not the possibility, or someday, or… or the ‘I wish we did this more.’ It’s there. We’ve made a concerted effort to contribute more and that’s something we want to building into our lives more. and this is a terrific [yeah] vehicle for making sure we… we can and will give more.
18:49 it’s a great thing. We’re making a little bit of a difference [yeah], and that’s, ah, really what’s important to us…
VERONICA: I love that part.
VERONICA: the Schwab Charitable account has really helped us have these conversations about how we want to make a difference and what we want to do with the amount of money that we have to donate to the things that are… that are important to us. And without that Schwab Charitable account I don’t think we’d be having these conversations.
GREG: You know, we’ve never viewed ourselves as philanthropists in the past. We give a little bit of money here, a little bit there, give as much as we can. We didn’t always give as much as we can because it wasn’t always convenient. [yeah] Now, we’re having more conversations about how does philanthropy fit into our lives, and what we want that to look like, and who do we want to give to, and what difference can we make? And the donor-advised fund is a terrific vehicle [yeah] that… helps us think about what’s important to us, and hopefully makes a difference to some of the people we give money to.
VERONICA: …Yeah, almost redefining what philanthropy means [yeah], right? We’re not rich. We’re just… you know, we’re regular people, but it matters to us what we do. And… and to think about our own way of being philanthropists, I love that.