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STRATEGIC CHARITABLE GIVING - THE EASY WAY

OUR CLIENTS MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE

STEELE WEALTH MANAGEMENT’S CHARITABLE INVOLVEMENT

Your Steele Wealth Management team’s passion is giving time and resources to charities that we believe make a real and tangible difference. As such, we are proud sponsors along with Raymond James of the longest running charity pro-am in Ontario. The successful Westmount Oktoberfest Charity Pro-Am has raised over $1,790,000 for various charities in the Waterloo Region. This past October, the golf tournament raised an incredible $115,000 of needed funds for children’s mental health and suicide prevention by supporting the Waterloo Region Suicide Prevention Council and Lutherwood.

Each of us at SWM support charities that are close to our hearts by giving our time, talents, and financial resources. We strongly believe that strategic charitable giving is a way to express gratitude, support emotional wellbeing and is an essential part of a successful financial plan. Accordingly, as part of our vision-based wealth management strategy that focuses on you, we ask about your charitable goals and then we provide tools to achieve those goals. There are many ways to make strategic charitable giving part of your overall financial plan, each with its own level of control and tax benefits.

CHARITABLE GIVING STRATEGIES

One strategy for charitable giving uses The Raymond James Canada Foundation Charitable Giving Fund. A charitable giving fund provides imme­diate tax benefits, growth of the initial gift, and the freedom to recommend grants, all without the administrative burden. Many of our clients have family foundations and memorial foundations invested with us because establishing and maintaining one is easy! So easy in fact that Brian and Liz set up their own foundation, The Kernohan-Steele Family Foundation, and now involve their children in charitable decisions.

A Raymond James Canada Foundation Charitable Giving Fund is:

1. Easy to setup - with an initial irrevocable dona­tion of $100,000 in cash or securities
2. Customizable – you can personalize the name of your foundation
3. Simple – Raymond James Canada Foundation takes care of all the administrative and reporting responsibilities for a highly cost-effective fee of only 1% per year
4. Strategic – donations result in an immediate tax receipt that you can use to reduce income tax
5. Managed by your Steele Wealth Management team – we prudently invest your foundation investments to increase value
6. Flexible – you have the freedom to choose the timing, amount, and the charity for grants out of the foundation
7. Ongoing – after the initial set up, you can continue to make donations to the foundation
8. Legacy building – you designate successors, to act after your death, to continue the foundation and preserve your legacy

If this sounds interesting, reach out to talk about creating your own charitable giving plan. Brian and Liz can tell you how well it has worked for their family!

CHARITABLE GIVING BY OUR CLIENTS

We believe in a vision-based approach to wealth management with a comprehensive plan that encompasses an in-depth analysis of all aspects of your life vision and financial goals. Through this process, we get to know our clients quite well and we discuss how they work to make the world a better place. We are proud that so many of our clients generously give their time, talents, and financial resources to an extensive list of charities, such as volunteering at hospice, donating to literacy funds, giving to hospitals, participating in cancer support groups, raising funds for mental health awareness, supporting the fight to end homelessness, participating on charitable boards, funding scholarships for girls in Nairobi… the list is long and extensive.

THE MUKWANO WOMEN’S COOP IN UGANDA

As an example of the philanthropy that our clients are involved in, we appreciate the work that our client, Pat McGill, does to make the world a better place. He reached across the globe to join with the Mukwano Women’s Coop in Bujagali Falls, Uganda. Life in Uganda is challenging and fragile with increased food and fuel costs because of the Ukrainian war, lethal Ebola outbreaks, life threatening malaria and scarce medical care. The women in the Coop craft quilted bags by hand using old treadle sewing machines. They sell the bags to support their families. For ten years, Pat has been bringing the bags home from Uganda to sell in Canada and the USA. Each bag contains a leaflet with the story of the Coop leader whose name is Nangobi Florence. All the funds that Pat raises go directly to the women. Through his dedication and compassion, he has raised $155,000 to advance the empowerment of these women. Pictured here are examples of the bags. To win one of these precious bags – read on!

SOCIAL MEDIA - FOLLOW US FOR INFORMATION THAT IS RELEVANT AND USEFUL TO YOU

Did you know that we share insights and expertise on social media? We actively post timely, interesting news and views on Facebook, Twitter (X) and LinkedIn We also have a comprehensive website where we post our market commentary, this newsletter (Taking Stock with Steele) and Wealth Without Borders (our cross-border newsletter).

We’d like to share our social media excitement by having a contest that ties in with charitable giving! It’s simple to enter. You receive one entry when you follow our Facebook page. One entry each time you share one of our posts on your Facebook page. One entry when you invite your friends to follow us. We are giving away the beautiful bags pictured above! Contest closes March 5, 2024. We hope that you follow us, share our page to win and learn something.

NEWS AND OUR VIEWS

• Don’t Miss the Deadline to Contribute to Your RRSP! Another annual Canadian ritual approaches. The deadline for making tax year 2023 Registered Retirement Savings Plan contributions is February 29,2024. The RRSP contribution room is equal to 18% of earned income in the previous year (up to the 2023 annual maximum of $30,780) plus any carryforward, less any unclaimed contributions from previous years and less any pension adjustments. Please contact us so that we can help you make your contribution before the deadline.
• Remember to Contribute to your TFSA! The Tax-Free Savings Account is a registered savings plan that lets you grow and withdraw your investments tax-free. The TFSA annual contribution room for 2024 is $7,000. You can also carry forward any unused contribution room from previous years. Contact us so that we can help you make your TFSA contribution.
• TFSA Overcontribution Penalties Paid to CRA in 2022 are Shocking The Globe and Mail reported that the total amount of overcontribution penalties paid to CRA in 2022 was $132.6 million. What!! That’s crazy. Don’t get caught! Don’t overcontribute! Don’t pay the CRA extra!
• Don’t Make the Costly Mistake of Overcontributing to your TFSA! The penalties for overcontributing to your TFSA are steep at 1% of the excess per month. But the amount you can contribute to your TFSA is confusing. If you withdraw an amount in one year, you need to wait until the following year to recontribute. And your information on “My Account” on the CRA website is rarely up to date as it is usually missing the last 18 months of contributions. You can click on the “Transactions Summary” link in “My Account” to get the information that CRA has used in its calculation and compare that to the amounts that you have actually contributed.
• Remember to Contribute to your FHSA! The First Home Savings Account is a new registered account intended to help Canadians save for the purchase of their first home. FHSA annual contribution room is $8,000. The contribution room accumulates only after the account is opened and unused amounts up to $8,000 can be carried forward to contribute to the following year. Contributions are tax deductible and the investment earnings in the account are tax-free while invested in the FHSA. Contact us so that we can help you make your FHSA contribution.

JUST FOR FUN – VALENTINE’S DAY QUOTE TO KEEP YOU SMILING

This quote from Dr. Suess keeps the SWM team smiling, “ We're all a little weird, and life's a little weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.” Happy Valentine’s Day!