You’ve worked hard…for decades and it’s about time for you to enter the next phase in your life, one in which you’ll have time to catch-up on all those books you’ve been meaning to read, travel to those capitals (foreign and domestic) that you’ve always wanted to see, and perhaps volunteer for that charity you’ve […]

Did you know that women consistently save less for retirement than men do?  This statement is true despite the fact that women are living about five years longer than men are and their money has to be stretched even further!  A recent article from Forbes Retirement discusses the three essential retirement planning tips for women.  […]

BloombergBusiness recently published the article, “Three reasons why women should lead household retirement planning,” by Carla Fried that suggests women may be more adept at managing their retirement assets than their spouses. The article points to several statistics as to why women may be uniquely prepared and financial savvy when it comes to planning for […]

Finding inspiration at Duke is not hard for Blaine Paxton Hall.  He sees it in the books that fill the shelves at the Duke University Medical Center Library and Perkins Library, in Duke Life Flight—the world’s first air ambulance started by two Duke alumni—as it hovers above campus, and even in a scrap of paper […]

As we gaze into our ever prescient crystal ball—what future do we foresee for charitable gift planning?  Answer: a VERY bright one! (Well, what did you expect me to say?) Let’s ignore the conjecture so often offered in light of congressional and presidential proposals, oil price fluctuations, and world events and consider where we are, […]

Think for a moment about everything you own…your car, your home, maybe another property that you purchased as a get-away or an investment, and your various investment accounts and bank accounts.  Which is worth the most? For many of us, it’s our retirement accounts.  If you’ve been contributing to these accounts year after year, then—despite […]

On December 19, President Obama signed into law the Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014 (H.R. 5771), which extends the charitable IRA rollover through December 31, 2014. The provision allows IRA owners age 70 ½ or older to make a direct, tax-free transfer of up to $100,000 a year from their individual retirement account to […]

Our Director of Gift Planning, Jeremy Arkin, was recently interviewed by Kiplinger’s Retirement Report for the article, Prepare to Retire with a Gift Annuity. The article focuses on the recent uptick of deferred gift annuities as a retirement tool for younger donors who want to make a charitable gift now, but don’t plan to retire […]

Bubbles are a great thing when my kids are taking a bath… but NOT when we are talking about investments and where we think things stand in the current economic cycle.  As the old saying goes, “you can’t time the market,” but it certainly doesn’t hurt to take some chips off the table while the […]

There are numerous ways to make charitable gifts and fulfill your personal and philanthropic goals.  While we all tend to make smaller charitable gifts by check or credit card, it is wise to understand your choices (and related benefits) when considering a larger gift. Here are five simple questions you may want to ask your […]