December 3, 2025 • 35 mins
Most people don’t give at year-end because they’re saints. They give because of taxes… and then hope the IRS sees it the way they do. In this episode, I bring back estate planning attorney Griffin Bridgers and walk through year-end giving in four parts: Hook & Setup, The BS We’re Fed, No BS Reality, and Do This Next.
In the Hook & Setup, we talk about why year-end giving turns into chaos so easily — last-minute donations, rushed transfers, and families confusing “being generous” with “throwing money at the calendar.” Griffin breaks down the timing problem most people ignore: if you’re wiring money or donating stock on December 30th, you’re not planning, you’re gambling on processing times and paperwork.
In The BS We’re Fed, we call out the myths: “Just give by 12/31 and you’re good,” “cash is king,” and “philanthropy is for the ultra-wealthy.” Griffin walks through how the $19,000 annual exclusion, the massive lifetime exemption, and the idea of foundations vs. donor-advised funds (DAFs) really work — not how social media and marketing spin it.
Then we move into No BS Reality. We talk about starting with what you actually want to leave behind — for your family and for causes you care about — and working backward from there. We dig into why relying only on thick legal documents is a trap if nobody can access your accounts, devices, or logins. This is where Griffin introduces his Death Manual concept and his Inherit Substack, where he’s building out the playbook for organizing your real life, not just your paperwork.
Finally, in Do This Next, we get practical. We lay out simple steps: pick your giving strategy for this year, decide what you’re actually going to give (cash, stock, or something else) with your CPA, start your own Death Manual with one password and one account list, and choose a “giving day” you repeat every year instead of panicking at the deadline.
If you’ve ever said, “I know I need to get my will done” and then ghosted the process for years, this episode is your reset button — not perfect, not theoretical, just real moves to stop leaving a mess behind.
🎥 Watch the full episode on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/q85Ub9rxVNk
As always we ask you to comment, DM, whatever it takes to have a conversation to help you take the next step in your journey, reach out on any platform!
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DISCLOSURE: Awards and rankings by third parties are not indicative of future performance or client investment success. Past performance does not guarantee future results. All investment strategies carry profit/loss potential and cannot eliminate investment risks. Information discussed may not reflect current positions/recommendations. While believed accurate, Black Mammoth does not guarantee information accuracy. This broadcast is not a solicitation for securities transactions or personalized investment advice. Tax/estate planning information is general - consult professionals for specific situations. Full disclosures at www.blackmammoth.com.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:22):
Well then it's time.
Yes, it's the end of the year.
It's December, and a lot of whatwe're talking about and thinking
about is not only charitablegiving.
Our loved ones, but for those,it's tax.
It's tax giving.
I mean, let's be real.
Majority of people give for taxpurposes.
(00:44):
Let's not hide around that.
However, there's different waysto, one, prepare for yourself,
but also what does that mean foryour legacy, um, and how can you
set those things up?
So Griffin's on here.
To help us walk through that.
And he has a, a really shinyobject announcement for himself
that we're gonna get into andintegrate it all.
So without further ado, Griffin,welcome back and, yeah.
(01:06):
Smart year end giving.
When it all wraps into yourlegacy, th this will, this is
different.
Um, I know a lot of people doit.
Not a lot of people think aboutthe different ways to do so.
Yes.
And, uh, I, I think it's easy toget wrapped up in, uh.
The, the rush of the end of theyear and put a lot of this off.
I think, uh, I've personallystruggled with this too, or I
(01:27):
have various charitable pledgesand all of a sudden it's, uh,
new Year's, or at best December30th, and I'm thinking, oh no, I
haven't really gotten thosedone, so I'm logging on to hope
that maybe I can get the, themoney wired over.
And I think the, the issuebecomes that, obviously, you
know, there's.
Charitable and legacy purposesto, to making year end gifts,
(01:50):
like you said.
But sometimes there's also aquestion of timing and the IRS
looks at it as, when you'restraddling that year end point,
at which point is that transferor gift effectively made?
Uh, is it at the point where youwrite the check, uh, assuming
you still write checks?
(02:10):
Is that at the point where the.
Check is deposited.
Is it at the point where thewire transfer or online
charitable portal actually pullsmoney from your account and
depending on the situation, it'suh.
You know, there, there might notbe any clear answer.
So I think it's really, uh, atiming question where it's
(02:31):
important to make sure thatperhaps you're not leaving it to
the absolute end to make surethat yes, if you want a transfer
to be credited into 2025 for taxpurposes, you better make sure
it happens during 2025.
Absolutely.
And first, let's put it outthere, right?
We're not accountant CPAs and weare not licensed in the tax
(02:53):
side.
So.
Get with them first before youallude to anything that we're
talking about.
However, providing thisopportunity to discuss it from
our lenses is gonna provide someclarity.
But, you know, gotta throw thatdisclosure out there because as
you know, as an attorney, it'salways good to save ourselves.
So I agree timing.
Timing is key and we are in.
(03:15):
A timeframe right at the end ofthe year to do so.
However, we're also in atimeframe of the stock market
too.
So everyone thinks giving isalways typically just cash,
right?
I mean, probably 90% of givingis cash.
Um, the rest of its stocks or,or land.
Um, and so when do we givestocks is important.
(03:36):
Timing too.
The market's been at all timehighs.
The Appreciat Appreciatablestock stocks is what we're
talking about here.
So there's multiple timings, notonly at the end of the year, but
where your stocks are at.
Um, and it all comes into playat that.
So let's dive into our firstsegment, which is what Soci our
second segment, which is societyand Media are saving.
(03:57):
This one's fun from a, a hor ofways, just'cause it's fun for us
to do, but it also is whateveryone's thinking.
So.
Again, we just alluded to thisone.
The first one is give at thelast minute and it's fine.
Right?
We talked about it.
Yeah.
Technically it, it's fine.
That's a lot of stress, a lot ofmistakes could be ma, be, be
(04:18):
had, and all of those things.
Aside from what you had justsaid.
What else comes into play thatyou know of from like the legacy
side of things, if we do it lastminute and we rush it, try to
get it done before 1231.
Well, I think, uh, you know,carrying on to a conversation I
had this morning with, uh,another client looking at
charitable planning is if you'regifting anything other than cash
(04:42):
valuation becomes important.
Now, obviously with a lot ofpublicly traded stocks, you
know, things where you couldjust go through your advisor
easily.
Unload those on a tradingplatform.
Uh, you know, it, it's easy tofind what those prices might
have been after the fact, but atthe same time, there's, there
(05:03):
could be a little forensicsthere that you have to engage
in.
But where a lot of people thinkthe money meets the, you know,
meets the road or rubber meetsthe road, is with, uh, things
like business interest or realestate or hard to value assets.
And the IRS isn't going to justtake your word for it on what
the value of those is and whatthe amount of your charitable
(05:24):
gift, or even if giving tofamily members, your just direct
gift might be so at some point.
Valuation experts come into playthat you have to get, you know,
some level of expert opinion onwhat the value of an asset might
be, and you have to include thatwith whatever return you're
required to file.
(05:45):
And if it's on the charitableside.
Whoever that expert is, they mayhave to actually sign a part of
your return as well as part ofthat, that value substantiation.
So those things can take time toget set up.
Now, uh, you may have.
Gear end versus April 15th, orif you extend October 15th in
(06:08):
terms of how those pieces lineup and, and often valuation is
done in a backwards s facing.
Type of area where we're lookingat, okay, we're gonna
reconstruct the books and figureout what the value was on such
and such past date.
So that's the situation you'rein.
Great.
But professionals get busy andthe earlier you can line up the
(06:31):
right professionals that you'llneed to help you, the better off
you're gonna be.
'cause the last thing you wantto do is wait not just a year
end, but maybe April 14th andsay, oh no, we need an
appraisal.
Well, it looks like we're forcedto extend now and then putting
it off again till September,October and finding out, well,
guess what?
That that professional isn'tavailable.
(06:52):
That's such an important part ofit.
Like professional.
We're busy too.
Like we, it's not, you're notthe only one.
Yeah.
Potentially doing this and youknow, on the stock side of
things and giving, yeah.
It takes time to also transferand settle in all of those, so
gotta plan preemptively.
And if you're thinking aboutthis and, and listening right
now, you technically have time,but it's time to move it, it's
(07:13):
time to get on it or have it aspart of your 2026 plan as well.
Exactly.
Uh, I alluded this one too.
Cash is always the best way togive.
What's your opinion on that?
Yeah, I mean, cash is easiest.
Now.
It depends on the purpose of thegift and, uh, whether you're
giving it direct or in trust or,or what does the mechanism of
(07:37):
transfer look like?
And for, for a lot of people,you know.
An irrevocable trust isn't gonnabe the optimal type of a vehicle
unless it's part of a broader,sustained pattern of giving that
you want to carry out over time.
But cash is king.
And I think the, the, thenegative to cash is that, yeah,
(07:58):
if you don't want somebody to beable to immediately turn around
and use it, uh, then perhapsthat's not what you should be
giving away.
But at the same time, you don'thave to worry about some of
these.
Valuation of headaches.
Now, with that, I think a veryimportant element too is, you
know.
Some of this is charitable, butthe other piece that a lot of
(08:18):
people ignore is that if you'regiving money to other family
members, you run up against thegift tax.
Now, it's rare that anybody everduring life pays a cent of gift
tax.
You get two exclusions that comein the way.
First you have a lifetimeexclusion.
Right now it's 13.99 million.
Once we hit January one, it goesto 15 million per giver.
(08:40):
So until you're over thatthreshold and lifetime giving,
you don't have to worry.
And that amount's gonna keepgoing up, index for inflation
every year.
But what you do have is also anannual gifting limit, because
the IRS doesn't want to have totrack every single gift you give
during the year.
So that right now is 19,000 perrecipient, not for you as a
(09:03):
giver, but per recipient.
So you can give up to$19,000 perrecipient, but it typically has
to be a direct.
Gift can't necessarily be intrust so.
The issue with that 19,000threshold, one is that once you
cross it for any one person,then you now have to file a gift
(09:23):
tax return for the year.
And that can be a bear too.
And there's not a lot of CPAsout there who know the ins and
outs of that return and trulyknow how to prepare it
correctly.
Some will occasionally do'em,some will just put up their
hands and say, no, we don'ttouch these.
Go see your attorney.
And the attorney might say,okay, we didn't help you with a
gift.
So we're reluctant to just dothis as a one-off engagement, so
(09:47):
keeping that in mind isimportant and cash helps you fin
nightly know that you're underthat 19,000 per recipient limit,
but that 19,000 is designed totake in account.
Every single gift you makeduring the year.
So a lot of people will stroke a$19,000 check at year end.
Well, guess what?
You know, whatever holiday youcelebrate, be it Christmas,
(10:10):
Hanukkah, any other number ofthings, there's usually also a a
gifting element to that.
Technically, if you wanna staywithin the letter of the law,
everything that you're giving.
As part of the holiday season,including material goods counts
against that 19,000 as well.
So a lot of people don't realizethat if you truly want to be
compliant, that 19,000 is gonnainclude a lot of other stuff
(10:34):
that might have passed from youduring the year and, and very
few people remember those giftsor remember that principle.
They, it's true.
And that's why so many or soless, so many, however, I wanna
word that CPAs and accountants,they don't, they don't know how
to do the gift tax return.
'cause it's one, it's rare, veryrare.
And people forget.
(10:54):
And then it's like, well, okay,but you're right.
Um, and that's where it comesinto play.
I also believe that when you,when you think, yes, Cassius
King, we all know that part, butif you wanted to layer and, and
have it.
You also can put in your, your,your death benefit of your life
insurance or something like thatis more of a legacy.
(11:15):
You can always build that in forthose that don't have the cash
or they want to directly do itat a different way.
So just some fun things to thinkabout.
Agreed.
Family foundations, familyphilanthropy is only for the
wealthy.
What do you say to that?
I mean there, it, it reallydepends on the scope and scale
of what you're trying toaccomplish.
(11:36):
Now, it used to be that, um.
A lot of clients had the onlyoption of really setting up a
family foundation like youalluded to, and that was often
used as a tool to, uh, givewealth away but not really give
wealth away that, uh, you know,you could have it there
(11:58):
earmarked for charitablepurposes, get all the sweet tax
benefits up.
Front, but not necessarily haveto permanently part ways with
it.
And in the process, the IRS cameout with a lot of rules that
say, okay, um, once you've putit into one of these family
foundations, you're limited inhow you can interact with those
(12:18):
funds.
It can't personally benefit thefamily.
It's.
Earmarked for charitablepurposes.
So often there's a minimumamount you have to make in
grants every year to actualcharities.
And two, there's pretty steep,in some cases, excise taxes that
kick in to ding you.
If you do indeed, personallybenefit from those funds.
(12:42):
So family foundations inaddition to those are just a
bear to set up.
It can be very expensive to setthat up and try to seek tax
exemption.
So if you want to use that as atool, for example, to get
children involved and help themlearn philanthropy and, uh.
Maybe even just have the opticsof a board that you're there
(13:04):
using to support charitable uh,purposes.
A lot of people are pivoting tothe middle ground now, which is
the donor advised fund, where alot of the larger financial
institutions administer andmanage these.
Um, a lot of larger publicfoundations administer and
manage these, but you can set upyour own fund, which for all
(13:26):
intents and purposes, operates alot like a family foundation,
but at a much lower cost.
And I think the benefit is thatit's kind of then on you.
To determine the grant makingauthority, uh, whether it's
within your family in anorganized structure or at your
passing, that you're passing thetorch to those who you want to
manage that wealth.
(13:47):
So a lot of these can be set upwith a minimal gift, sometimes
as little as a, you know, a fewthousand dollars, and it gives
you more of that flexibility todecide over time how much.
The initial seed amount and anygrowth and value of that, which
will be tax free.
Another benefit will ultimatelybenefit charities.
(14:07):
Now that being said, it doeshave its own internal costs, and
I think what a lot of peopleforget is that, um, the, the
name of it is donor advised,meaning that you as the donor
can advise what grants you wantto make, but whoever's
administering that fund does nothave to.
Follow your instructions.
They can say no.
There have been some highprofile cases of situations
(14:30):
where, yes, the, the donoradvice fund didn't accept a
grant making request and somefoundations will set them up
where they'll only allow grantsfor specific causes, specific
purposes, and those may notalign.
So, you know, there's trade-offsto everything, and while you get
simplicity with thedonor-advised fund, you do lose
(14:51):
some benefits in the process aswell.
Let's get to next segment, whichis your point of view, right?
And I love this one.
It's just being the host,because I get to dig into your
brain even more.
All right, so we, we just talkedabout the DFS or donor advised
funds, um, appreciated assets.
We've talked about foundations.
(15:11):
From your perspective and yourexperience, how do you really
match which one goes with whattype of family and situation
now, g.
It all depends.
I get that right everybodylistening.
It depends on your scenario, butwhen you are talking to people
or or building out a legacy.
What are some questions or waysthat you figure this thing out
(15:33):
to find which tool is best forthem?
I think it always starts with,you know, with why and, um, you
know, I'm, I'm blanking on thename of the, the speaker, uh,
who, who had the famous startwith Why speech?
Uh, I think it was Simonsomething I'm, it's gonna come
to me after the fact and I'lllook like an idiot.
But, uh, you know, it's reallystarting with that why of what
(15:53):
are your.
Legacy and charitable purposes.
And because I'm an estateplanner, I always like to start
with the end in mind and workbackwards.
So at a bare minimum, you know,usually an estate plan starts
with the legally enforceabledocuments you have that usually
outline transfers of propertythat are gonna take place at the
(16:13):
time of.
Uh, and sometimes for a marriedcouple, it's really considering
what's gonna happen when both ofyou are gone.
And that's really the inflectionpoint at which we're looking at
who's gonna receive what.
And the question is, okay,charity comes in at that point.
So.
What amount or percent orwhatever do you want to
(16:34):
ultimately leave to charity?
And once we've answered, youknow, the why and the amount,
then we get into who and whothat benefits, what level of
control, uh, you want, andwhether you want the flexibility
to change that over time.
Once we kind of have that inplace, then you can work
backwards to look more at, okay,what is your lifetime giving
look.
Like, uh, is that treated assomething above and beyond what
(16:58):
you wanna give at death or is itkind of treated as a cumulative
thing, or that's reducing whatyou might intend to give away at
death and.
Aligning both of those plans,lifetime giving and death time.
Giving, for lack of a betterterm, I think is extremely
important.
And I think flexibility isimportant too because the causes
(17:20):
you want to support today maynot be the causes you want to
support in the future.
So at a certain level, there's alot of charitable vehicles that
come into play where, uh, if youwant that level of.
Flexibility.
There are ways you can get the,the tax benefits now, but put
some of that off thedonor-advised fund, like we
said, where, uh, you can have anupfront benefit, shift some
(17:45):
growth out, but retain kind ofthat educational and control
piece to it.
There's other trust and otherthings that'll, that'll help you
do that too, that we're notgonna get into in great detail.
But there's, there's some waysyou can have your cake and eat
it too.
Now that being said.
I think one of the things wehaven't touched on is as we
approach year end, there is aslight change to, uh, the
(18:07):
charitable deduction that, uh,uh, you know, starting next year
there's a floor, you know, 0.5%generally of your A GI or you
can't deduct anything until youexceed that threshold.
That doesn't exist for 2025.
So depending on what your A GIis, if you're a high earner,
that may be a pretty significanttax.
(18:28):
Uh.
Chunk that you're losing goinginto 2026 that may benefit.
Pushing up that timeline infavor, an immediate gift over
some of the broader concerns Ijust discussed.
Yeah, and a part of the DS too,and I know we keep hitting a
upon on that.
It's just, for me, it's easiestuse flexibility and can be done
(18:48):
quicker.
Like let, let's talk about whynot saying that I'm selling
those and that's the best thingin the world.
I'm just saying this is theflexibility and quickness.
Also, you're able to lump sum.
Other at the same time, right?
So if I wanted to put a wholebunch in, now I can take that to
tax deduction for this year asopposed to with some of these
vehicles we've gotta do it everyyear.
(19:09):
So there is some flexibility ofwhy we're talking about it with
the new, you know, the new taxbill coming out and those types
of things of why we're talkingabout so immediately, but.
That still gets me back to likethe, the legacy planning, the,
the charitable stuff and all ofthat, but like how, how, why,
those types of things.
But ultimately comes back towhat have you been working on.
(19:31):
Right.
I know we teased it lastepisode, now it's time.
So what have you been working onthat we've held off until now to
talk about.
Well, I think, um, there's beena couple things that, uh, I have
motivated this.
Uh, and, and really I'll getinto the project, but ultimately
what I'm looking to do iscompletely rethink the way that
(19:51):
not only individuals, but alsoprofessionals approach estate
planning and estate planningeducation.
So, uh, there's.
Common advice in education.
You get out there where the, theconstant message you see is get
your estate planning documentsdone, get a will, get a trust.
(20:11):
It's document based and a lot ofadvisors will either are, have
now pivoted to using platformsthat generate documents.
Or that review existingdocuments to kind of add some
value and figure out situationswhere things can be improved
upon.
Nothing wrong with that, but inthe grand scheme of things,
(20:32):
there's a couple issues withwhat I've seen as the
traditional approach.
One is.
That the legal documentsthemselves are only a very small
fraction of the estate andlegacy planning.
And I've noticed over the yearsthat a lot of clients when they
do this, um, you know, there's astatistic that says 60 to 70% of
(20:54):
Americans don't have a will oran estate plan.
And that, that's often been usedas a point of shame.
I view it as, okay, if you're inthat 60 to 70%, you're in good
company.
And to me.
Not always, but it could beworse to get pushed into doing
this before you're ready than itcould be to wait and take other
(21:15):
steps that might have a littlebit more impact.
But that being said, thisdocument-based ecosystem ignores
a lot of things that I thinkcould benefit your broader
legacy and your broader plan.
Now, within that.
The document ecosystem hascreated a complete reliance and
(21:36):
dependence on professionals.
If you ever want to get anythingdone from an estate planning
perspective, estate planning isperhaps the only area out there
where for the most part, thereis no self-help guidance.
So what do you need before youengage a professional?
You need to realize that youactually need help and realizing
(21:59):
you need help is usually theoutcome of actions taken on your
own.
DIY is viewed as a bad thing,but on the financial side, you
can find all sorts of stuffabout basic education,
budgeting, investment, all sortsof things you can do on your
own.
And once it gets too complicatedfor you, or when you realize
(22:21):
that you're fighting againstyour own brain, your own
emotions, your own psychology,that's when you can get somebody
to come in and help you.
But it's that important realm ofdiscovery to realize you need
help to begin with.
That's important.
Estate planning hasn't createdthat.
Uh, and you know, I I don't meanthis as an indictment of any of
my peers in estate planning oranything else.
(22:43):
'cause Yeah, we're, we're, do,we're.
We're acting where incentivesalign.
And for most attorneys outthere, the sole revenue
generating things in estateplanning are one, creating
documents and two, administeringtrust in estates when somebody
has passed away.
But there's a ton that can bedone in the interim.
So what I have done is I'mtrying to rethink the psychology
(23:05):
of estate planning.
I may be completely wrong inthis and I may completely fall
on my face and fail.
But the seed change that I'mseeing is that this is behavior
change, it's psychology change,and we need a better set of
guiding principles as to whatthe client can actually own,
(23:26):
what they aren't dependent onyou for, and to avoid getting
into trouble.
What I've started with is theidea that organizing your
affairs.
Is the most important thing youcan do.
It's something you can'toutsource to a professional.
All of us have head knowledge uphere that we use to manage our
financial life.
(23:47):
It's something that you couldget down in a matter of seconds.
Um, story, if I were to promptyou right now to write down your
bank login and your bankpassword onto a piece of paper,
you could do that in fiveseconds.
Probably once you're gone, thathead knowledge is gone.
With you, or even once you'rehospitalized or incapacitated
(24:07):
during life, you can'tregurgitate it.
So a loved one, having to findthat is gonna spend hours upon
hours trying to get access toinformation.
And, uh, to logs and otherthings, or establishing a chain
of custody that could easily behandled now.
(24:28):
So my idea is that if each of uscould just dedicate a little bit
of time when the mood hits toget that information down, then.
Each of those iterations willimprove things for our loved
ones or our partners, or anybodyelse who we leave behind, that
we have a big mess that caneasily be cleaned up and has an
(24:50):
outsized return.
And often in the investmentworld, we're looking for
outsized returns, compounding,uh, in terms of.
Financial return and balancesheet, but this to me is a
compounding investment of timethat immediately saves a ton of
time for people down the road,and I think gives you peace of
mind.
And I've started to determinethis, the death manual where I
(25:12):
have my own setup.
There's a cover sheet to my willthat says.
First and foremost, here's thepin number to my computer.
I have a death manual stored atthis address.
It's gonna give you everythingyou need start to finish to
figure out how to settle myfinal affairs.
Now, we used to think of thewill as being the tur, the, the
instrument that does that, butmore and more with a digital
presence, we need somethingself-authored to get there.
(25:35):
So that's my idea.
And I've started a, a newslettercalled Inherit, which is a, a
mix between inheriting andlegacy.
'cause really we're looking atbridging the two gaps between
the two in terms of the finallegacy you want to leave, which
is not one of a mess.
It doesn't matter what you wantto have your final impression be
(25:57):
that if your final impression isleaving.
Everything in disarray.
That's how people are going toremember you for better or
worse.
So if you want your time onearth to mean something, it's
better to organize what thattime on earth meant to you and
what's gonna be needed to carrythat out.
In the future.
So if you wanna look at that,you can visit
(26:18):
it@inherit.substack.com.
And really the idea is that fornot just the end client, but for
professional advisors who reallywant actionable estate planning
results beyond the simple, get awill that gets repeated hundreds
of times before somebody finallydecides to take action.
That that's my idea, that I cancreate a better base of
(26:40):
marketing and education for.
Anybody who is involved in theestate planning ecosystem.
So I'll pause there.
No, I absolutely love it.
Um, we literally doing it again.
My wife and I are doing ours,but I'm doing it for a couple
clients right now.
And that's, that's the type ofstuff that we are, we're asking,
like we're asking all thosethings.
(27:01):
And I, I.
I know this isn't proper orlegal, but to me that is the
will, right?
That is the documents of, youknow, your death guide,
whatever, you know, you labeledthat as.
But like that is more importantthan the actual legal documents.
And I say that because I've lostboth my grandmother and my
mother, and I've had clients andwe've been through this.
(27:23):
Not having that information andtaking the time to dive through.
It was the trouble part.
Not who the POA or the theexecutor was, or the trustee was
like, those are cool and all,but even they then were like, I
don't know where anything is.
I don't know where that stuffis.
And so even if you didn't have awill or a trust at that point,
that is your will, that is yourtrust.
That is stuff they need.
(27:44):
So I love it.
And um.
Listeners, all that sub substackstuff, that'll be in the link in
the description and whatnot.
Um, it'll also be, we'll makesure to put that on no BS wealth
and everything too.
So definitely subscribe.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Whether you're a client or anadvisor.
Yes.
Subscribe.
Because I think the idea here isthat, um, one perfect is the
enemy of good.
(28:05):
And two, that there's a lot youhave to do here.
You have to eat the elephant onebite at a time.
But a lot of us are reluctant toeven take the first bite'cause
we see the entire elephant.
So my idea is, can we hide theelephant?
Just take one bite and iterateon that.
And if you're an advisor sittingin a meeting, instead of asking,
have you done your estateplanning documents yet?
(28:27):
Have a prompt say, this is oneitem of information we're gonna
write down today if everything'sstored on your computer or
phone.
Good starting point.
What's the pin to get intothere?
Or the password even that ismajorly impactful.
There's so many littlediscussions and ideas like that
that we could be hammering on tomake sure that everybody is
(28:48):
prepared.
And advisors, I know you use ane-money or right capital or
something with a vault.
Create that document today asyou're listening in everyone's
folder and then just start.
Take it one bite at a time withit.
Exactly.
You have tools, you have thesafety, you have the ability to
do that, and if they were topass with you, then it is very
easy for someone to do so.
(29:08):
So you're right.
Advisors, jump on now.
Um, yep.
As we get to the end, we alwaysend with a segment of actionable
steps.
Now, besides actionable step, wejust said by subscribing and
doing exactly what we just wentwith, besides that part, back to
the original part of theepisode.
What do you believe if someone'slooking to do a charitable
donation of any kind or anythingwithin their will or
(29:32):
inheritance, you name it, whatis that thing they need to set
up before 1231?
Well think if it's something inyour will, it's not something
that has to be done before yearend unless you are clairvoyant
and plan to, uh, anticipate yourdemise as of 1231.
So that aside, I think, uh, youknow, if that's something that's
(29:55):
in the works and you want to beintentional about that level.
Planning yet helps to get, uh,the, the update to your will or
revocable trust or even the baserevocable trust or will in place
and get the ball rolling onthat.
Besides that, I think it's amatter of figuring out what
assets might have the bestimpact.
And I think it's a, it's adecision we've talked about, but
(30:15):
it's not a decision that can bemade in a vacuum.
Uh, that involving your CPA,your advisor, the other
professionals in your ecosystem,if you have them, is important.
And if you don't.
Depending on the size of thegift, um, you know, if you're
used to a certain pattern ofcharitable giving, um, you know,
if it's in cash or otherwise,just being conscious about that
(30:37):
deadlines approaching.
And maybe 1231 isn't the goodday.
Maybe it's Boxing Day, the dayafter Christmas, 1226 that you
can designate every year is thisis the day I complete my
charitable donations or even myyear end gifts to family members
and friends and other people.
Who I want to support and in theprocess too.
(31:00):
You know, if it's a matter ofselecting the right assets, the
earlier, earlier, you can figurethat out, the better.
And knowing that you're gonnahave to find a value for those
assets, especially if they'reover$5,000.
I think that's the hurdle thatyou have to substantiate.
Now, I know there's all sortsof, uh, other charities out
there where they used to do the,the donate a car and just simply
(31:23):
sign over the title or the.
1, 1, 8, 7, 7 cars for kidsjingle, which I apologize for
getting stuck in your head.
And, and, and some of those arestill around, but, uh, for the
most part, uh, you know, the,the, the criticisms become
choice of charitable recipientis important too.
That Yeah, it's one thing tohave a cause I think it's also
(31:45):
important to look under thehood.
Of the types of organizationsyou're supporting, and if you
don't have the time to do thatbefore year end, maybe there can
be a good intermediary middleground, something like a
donor-advised fund or somethinglike that where you can park
funds and maybe accelerate somegiving into 2025 so that you
(32:06):
don't hit that tax hurdle that'skicking in next year.
And I'm just gonna leaveeveryone with this as the next
action step, and that is tocreate whatever file and
document and just write downyour passwords.
Exactly.
Start somewhere, because I knowa lot of you don't have, like we
just said, don't have a will,don't have a trust, don't have
any of that.
(32:26):
Maybe you haven't dealt withdeath in your family.
You've never been through this,and I'm going to promise you and
guarantee you.
By the way, I can't do that muchbecause compliance yells at me,
but I will on this, that thatdocument alone will save more
time, headache, and stress thanalmost any other document that
you can create that a attorneywill create, that anything will
happen.
(32:46):
So do that now.
Then lead that into theconversation next year of maybe
a bigger document, maybe moredifferent assets, maybe,
whatever it is.
So again, that came from Griffinhimself, that came from his, uh,
substack that we're gonna putdown below.
Everyone else have a reallyhappy holidays, uh, Griffin, I
appreciate you everyonelistening.
(33:08):
Also, our 12 Days of Givingcomes out on December 12th,
which is 12 episodes.
One every day a story kind oflike this to help you through
the holidays and those and lovedones that are around.
So Griffin, I appreciate youHappy holidays and we look
forward to 2026.
Thank you story and happyholidays everybody.
(33:42):
The proceeding program wassponsored by Black Mammoth.
Any awards, rankings, orrecognition by unaffiliated
third parties or publicationsare in no way indicative of the
advisor's future performance orany individual client's
investment success.
No award ranking or recognitionshould be construed as a current
or past endorsement of blackmammoth.
(34:03):
Information regarding specificawards, rankings, or
recognitions is available on theBlack Mammoth website, www.black
mammoth.com.
All investment strategies havethe potential for profit or loss
Investment strategies such asasset allocation,
diversification, or rebalancingdo not assure or guarantee
(34:24):
better performance and cannoteliminate the risk of investment
losses.
There are no guarantees that aportfolio employing these or any
other strategy will outperform aportfolio that does not engage
in such strategies.
This broadcast should not beconstrued by any client or
prospective client as asolicitation to affect or
attempt to affect transactionsand securities or the rendering
(34:46):
of personalized investmentadvice due to various factors
including changing marketconditions.
The information discussed inthis broadcast may no longer be
reflective of current positionsor recommendations.
While information presented isbelieved to be factual and up to
date, black mammoth, do notguarantee its accuracy and it
should not be regarded as acomplete analysis of the
(35:08):
subjects discussed.
The tax and the state planninginformation discussed is general
in nature and is provided forinformational purposes only and
should not be construed as legalor tax advice.
Listeners should consult anattorney or tax professional
regarding their specific legalor tax situation.
Past performance is notindicative of future results.
Well then it's time.
Yes, it's the end of the year.
It's December, and a lot of whatwe're talking about and thinking
about is not only charitablegiving.
Our loved ones, but for those,it's tax.
It's tax giving.
I mean, let's be real.
Majority of people give for taxpurposes.
(00:44):
Let's not hide around that.
However, there's different waysto, one, prepare for yourself,
but also what does that mean foryour legacy, um, and how can you
set those things up?
So Griffin's on here.
To help us walk through that.
And he has a, a really shinyobject announcement for himself
that we're gonna get into andintegrate it all.
So without further ado, Griffin,welcome back and, yeah.
(01:06):
Smart year end giving.
When it all wraps into yourlegacy, th this will, this is
different.
Um, I know a lot of people doit.
Not a lot of people think aboutthe different ways to do so.
Yes.
And, uh, I, I think it's easy toget wrapped up in, uh.
The, the rush of the end of theyear and put a lot of this off.
I think, uh, I've personallystruggled with this too, or I
(01:27):
have various charitable pledgesand all of a sudden it's, uh,
new Year's, or at best December30th, and I'm thinking, oh no, I
haven't really gotten thosedone, so I'm logging on to hope
that maybe I can get the, themoney wired over.
And I think the, the issuebecomes that, obviously, you
know, there's.
Charitable and legacy purposesto, to making year end gifts,
(01:50):
like you said.
But sometimes there's also aquestion of timing and the IRS
looks at it as, when you'restraddling that year end point,
at which point is that transferor gift effectively made?
Uh, is it at the point where youwrite the check, uh, assuming
you still write checks?
(02:10):
Is that at the point where the.
Check is deposited.
Is it at the point where thewire transfer or online
charitable portal actually pullsmoney from your account and
depending on the situation, it'suh.
You know, there, there might notbe any clear answer.
So I think it's really, uh, atiming question where it's
(02:31):
important to make sure thatperhaps you're not leaving it to
the absolute end to make surethat yes, if you want a transfer
to be credited into 2025 for taxpurposes, you better make sure
it happens during 2025.
Absolutely.
And first, let's put it outthere, right?
We're not accountant CPAs and weare not licensed in the tax
(02:53):
side.
So.
Get with them first before youallude to anything that we're
talking about.
However, providing thisopportunity to discuss it from
our lenses is gonna provide someclarity.
But, you know, gotta throw thatdisclosure out there because as
you know, as an attorney, it'salways good to save ourselves.
So I agree timing.
Timing is key and we are in.
(03:15):
A timeframe right at the end ofthe year to do so.
However, we're also in atimeframe of the stock market
too.
So everyone thinks giving isalways typically just cash,
right?
I mean, probably 90% of givingis cash.
Um, the rest of its stocks or,or land.
Um, and so when do we givestocks is important.
(03:36):
Timing too.
The market's been at all timehighs.
The Appreciat Appreciatablestock stocks is what we're
talking about here.
So there's multiple timings, notonly at the end of the year, but
where your stocks are at.
Um, and it all comes into playat that.
So let's dive into our firstsegment, which is what Soci our
second segment, which is societyand Media are saving.
(03:57):
This one's fun from a, a hor ofways, just'cause it's fun for us
to do, but it also is whateveryone's thinking.
So.
Again, we just alluded to thisone.
The first one is give at thelast minute and it's fine.
Right?
We talked about it.
Yeah.
Technically it, it's fine.
That's a lot of stress, a lot ofmistakes could be ma, be, be
(04:18):
had, and all of those things.
Aside from what you had justsaid.
What else comes into play thatyou know of from like the legacy
side of things, if we do it lastminute and we rush it, try to
get it done before 1231.
Well, I think, uh, you know,carrying on to a conversation I
had this morning with, uh,another client looking at
charitable planning is if you'regifting anything other than cash
(04:42):
valuation becomes important.
Now, obviously with a lot ofpublicly traded stocks, you
know, things where you couldjust go through your advisor
easily.
Unload those on a tradingplatform.
Uh, you know, it, it's easy tofind what those prices might
have been after the fact, but atthe same time, there's, there
(05:03):
could be a little forensicsthere that you have to engage
in.
But where a lot of people thinkthe money meets the, you know,
meets the road or rubber meetsthe road, is with, uh, things
like business interest or realestate or hard to value assets.
And the IRS isn't going to justtake your word for it on what
the value of those is and whatthe amount of your charitable
(05:24):
gift, or even if giving tofamily members, your just direct
gift might be so at some point.
Valuation experts come into playthat you have to get, you know,
some level of expert opinion onwhat the value of an asset might
be, and you have to include thatwith whatever return you're
required to file.
(05:45):
And if it's on the charitableside.
Whoever that expert is, they mayhave to actually sign a part of
your return as well as part ofthat, that value substantiation.
So those things can take time toget set up.
Now, uh, you may have.
Gear end versus April 15th, orif you extend October 15th in
(06:08):
terms of how those pieces lineup and, and often valuation is
done in a backwards s facing.
Type of area where we're lookingat, okay, we're gonna
reconstruct the books and figureout what the value was on such
and such past date.
So that's the situation you'rein.
Great.
But professionals get busy andthe earlier you can line up the
(06:31):
right professionals that you'llneed to help you, the better off
you're gonna be.
'cause the last thing you wantto do is wait not just a year
end, but maybe April 14th andsay, oh no, we need an
appraisal.
Well, it looks like we're forcedto extend now and then putting
it off again till September,October and finding out, well,
guess what?
That that professional isn'tavailable.
(06:52):
That's such an important part ofit.
Like professional.
We're busy too.
Like we, it's not, you're notthe only one.
Yeah.
Potentially doing this and youknow, on the stock side of
things and giving, yeah.
It takes time to also transferand settle in all of those, so
gotta plan preemptively.
And if you're thinking aboutthis and, and listening right
now, you technically have time,but it's time to move it, it's
(07:13):
time to get on it or have it aspart of your 2026 plan as well.
Exactly.
Uh, I alluded this one too.
Cash is always the best way togive.
What's your opinion on that?
Yeah, I mean, cash is easiest.
Now.
It depends on the purpose of thegift and, uh, whether you're
giving it direct or in trust or,or what does the mechanism of
(07:37):
transfer look like?
And for, for a lot of people,you know.
An irrevocable trust isn't gonnabe the optimal type of a vehicle
unless it's part of a broader,sustained pattern of giving that
you want to carry out over time.
But cash is king.
And I think the, the, thenegative to cash is that, yeah,
(07:58):
if you don't want somebody to beable to immediately turn around
and use it, uh, then perhapsthat's not what you should be
giving away.
But at the same time, you don'thave to worry about some of
these.
Valuation of headaches.
Now, with that, I think a veryimportant element too is, you
know.
Some of this is charitable, butthe other piece that a lot of
(08:18):
people ignore is that if you'regiving money to other family
members, you run up against thegift tax.
Now, it's rare that anybody everduring life pays a cent of gift
tax.
You get two exclusions that comein the way.
First you have a lifetimeexclusion.
Right now it's 13.99 million.
Once we hit January one, it goesto 15 million per giver.
(08:40):
So until you're over thatthreshold and lifetime giving,
you don't have to worry.
And that amount's gonna keepgoing up, index for inflation
every year.
But what you do have is also anannual gifting limit, because
the IRS doesn't want to have totrack every single gift you give
during the year.
So that right now is 19,000 perrecipient, not for you as a
(09:03):
giver, but per recipient.
So you can give up to$19,000 perrecipient, but it typically has
to be a direct.
Gift can't necessarily be intrust so.
The issue with that 19,000threshold, one is that once you
cross it for any one person,then you now have to file a gift
(09:23):
tax return for the year.
And that can be a bear too.
And there's not a lot of CPAsout there who know the ins and
outs of that return and trulyknow how to prepare it
correctly.
Some will occasionally do'em,some will just put up their
hands and say, no, we don'ttouch these.
Go see your attorney.
And the attorney might say,okay, we didn't help you with a
gift.
So we're reluctant to just dothis as a one-off engagement, so
(09:47):
keeping that in mind isimportant and cash helps you fin
nightly know that you're underthat 19,000 per recipient limit,
but that 19,000 is designed totake in account.
Every single gift you makeduring the year.
So a lot of people will stroke a$19,000 check at year end.
Well, guess what?
You know, whatever holiday youcelebrate, be it Christmas,
(10:10):
Hanukkah, any other number ofthings, there's usually also a a
gifting element to that.
Technically, if you wanna staywithin the letter of the law,
everything that you're giving.
As part of the holiday season,including material goods counts
against that 19,000 as well.
So a lot of people don't realizethat if you truly want to be
compliant, that 19,000 is gonnainclude a lot of other stuff
(10:34):
that might have passed from youduring the year and, and very
few people remember those giftsor remember that principle.
They, it's true.
And that's why so many or soless, so many, however, I wanna
word that CPAs and accountants,they don't, they don't know how
to do the gift tax return.
'cause it's one, it's rare, veryrare.
And people forget.
(10:54):
And then it's like, well, okay,but you're right.
Um, and that's where it comesinto play.
I also believe that when you,when you think, yes, Cassius
King, we all know that part, butif you wanted to layer and, and
have it.
You also can put in your, your,your death benefit of your life
insurance or something like thatis more of a legacy.
(11:15):
You can always build that in forthose that don't have the cash
or they want to directly do itat a different way.
So just some fun things to thinkabout.
Agreed.
Family foundations, familyphilanthropy is only for the
wealthy.
What do you say to that?
I mean there, it, it reallydepends on the scope and scale
of what you're trying toaccomplish.
(11:36):
Now, it used to be that, um.
A lot of clients had the onlyoption of really setting up a
family foundation like youalluded to, and that was often
used as a tool to, uh, givewealth away but not really give
wealth away that, uh, you know,you could have it there
(11:58):
earmarked for charitablepurposes, get all the sweet tax
benefits up.
Front, but not necessarily haveto permanently part ways with
it.
And in the process, the IRS cameout with a lot of rules that
say, okay, um, once you've putit into one of these family
foundations, you're limited inhow you can interact with those
(12:18):
funds.
It can't personally benefit thefamily.
It's.
Earmarked for charitablepurposes.
So often there's a minimumamount you have to make in
grants every year to actualcharities.
And two, there's pretty steep,in some cases, excise taxes that
kick in to ding you.
If you do indeed, personallybenefit from those funds.
(12:42):
So family foundations inaddition to those are just a
bear to set up.
It can be very expensive to setthat up and try to seek tax
exemption.
So if you want to use that as atool, for example, to get
children involved and help themlearn philanthropy and, uh.
Maybe even just have the opticsof a board that you're there
(13:04):
using to support charitable uh,purposes.
A lot of people are pivoting tothe middle ground now, which is
the donor advised fund, where alot of the larger financial
institutions administer andmanage these.
Um, a lot of larger publicfoundations administer and
manage these, but you can set upyour own fund, which for all
(13:26):
intents and purposes, operates alot like a family foundation,
but at a much lower cost.
And I think the benefit is thatit's kind of then on you.
To determine the grant makingauthority, uh, whether it's
within your family in anorganized structure or at your
passing, that you're passing thetorch to those who you want to
manage that wealth.
(13:47):
So a lot of these can be set upwith a minimal gift, sometimes
as little as a, you know, a fewthousand dollars, and it gives
you more of that flexibility todecide over time how much.
The initial seed amount and anygrowth and value of that, which
will be tax free.
Another benefit will ultimatelybenefit charities.
(14:07):
Now that being said, it doeshave its own internal costs, and
I think what a lot of peopleforget is that, um, the, the
name of it is donor advised,meaning that you as the donor
can advise what grants you wantto make, but whoever's
administering that fund does nothave to.
Follow your instructions.
They can say no.
There have been some highprofile cases of situations
(14:30):
where, yes, the, the donoradvice fund didn't accept a
grant making request and somefoundations will set them up
where they'll only allow grantsfor specific causes, specific
purposes, and those may notalign.
So, you know, there's trade-offsto everything, and while you get
simplicity with thedonor-advised fund, you do lose
(14:51):
some benefits in the process aswell.
Let's get to next segment, whichis your point of view, right?
And I love this one.
It's just being the host,because I get to dig into your
brain even more.
All right, so we, we just talkedabout the DFS or donor advised
funds, um, appreciated assets.
We've talked about foundations.
(15:11):
From your perspective and yourexperience, how do you really
match which one goes with whattype of family and situation
now, g.
It all depends.
I get that right everybodylistening.
It depends on your scenario, butwhen you are talking to people
or or building out a legacy.
What are some questions or waysthat you figure this thing out
(15:33):
to find which tool is best forthem?
I think it always starts with,you know, with why and, um, you
know, I'm, I'm blanking on thename of the, the speaker, uh,
who, who had the famous startwith Why speech?
Uh, I think it was Simonsomething I'm, it's gonna come
to me after the fact and I'lllook like an idiot.
But, uh, you know, it's reallystarting with that why of what
(15:53):
are your.
Legacy and charitable purposes.
And because I'm an estateplanner, I always like to start
with the end in mind and workbackwards.
So at a bare minimum, you know,usually an estate plan starts
with the legally enforceabledocuments you have that usually
outline transfers of propertythat are gonna take place at the
(16:13):
time of.
Uh, and sometimes for a marriedcouple, it's really considering
what's gonna happen when both ofyou are gone.
And that's really the inflectionpoint at which we're looking at
who's gonna receive what.
And the question is, okay,charity comes in at that point.
So.
What amount or percent orwhatever do you want to
(16:34):
ultimately leave to charity?
And once we've answered, youknow, the why and the amount,
then we get into who and whothat benefits, what level of
control, uh, you want, andwhether you want the flexibility
to change that over time.
Once we kind of have that inplace, then you can work
backwards to look more at, okay,what is your lifetime giving
look.
Like, uh, is that treated assomething above and beyond what
(16:58):
you wanna give at death or is itkind of treated as a cumulative
thing, or that's reducing whatyou might intend to give away at
death and.
Aligning both of those plans,lifetime giving and death time.
Giving, for lack of a betterterm, I think is extremely
important.
And I think flexibility isimportant too because the causes
(17:20):
you want to support today maynot be the causes you want to
support in the future.
So at a certain level, there's alot of charitable vehicles that
come into play where, uh, if youwant that level of.
Flexibility.
There are ways you can get the,the tax benefits now, but put
some of that off thedonor-advised fund, like we
said, where, uh, you can have anupfront benefit, shift some
(17:45):
growth out, but retain kind ofthat educational and control
piece to it.
There's other trust and otherthings that'll, that'll help you
do that too, that we're notgonna get into in great detail.
But there's, there's some waysyou can have your cake and eat
it too.
Now that being said.
I think one of the things wehaven't touched on is as we
approach year end, there is aslight change to, uh, the
(18:07):
charitable deduction that, uh,uh, you know, starting next year
there's a floor, you know, 0.5%generally of your A GI or you
can't deduct anything until youexceed that threshold.
That doesn't exist for 2025.
So depending on what your A GIis, if you're a high earner,
that may be a pretty significanttax.
(18:28):
Uh.
Chunk that you're losing goinginto 2026 that may benefit.
Pushing up that timeline infavor, an immediate gift over
some of the broader concerns Ijust discussed.
Yeah, and a part of the DS too,and I know we keep hitting a
upon on that.
It's just, for me, it's easiestuse flexibility and can be done
(18:48):
quicker.
Like let, let's talk about whynot saying that I'm selling
those and that's the best thingin the world.
I'm just saying this is theflexibility and quickness.
Also, you're able to lump sum.
Other at the same time, right?
So if I wanted to put a wholebunch in, now I can take that to
tax deduction for this year asopposed to with some of these
vehicles we've gotta do it everyyear.
(19:09):
So there is some flexibility ofwhy we're talking about it with
the new, you know, the new taxbill coming out and those types
of things of why we're talkingabout so immediately, but.
That still gets me back to likethe, the legacy planning, the,
the charitable stuff and all ofthat, but like how, how, why,
those types of things.
But ultimately comes back towhat have you been working on.
(19:31):
Right.
I know we teased it lastepisode, now it's time.
So what have you been working onthat we've held off until now to
talk about.
Well, I think, um, there's beena couple things that, uh, I have
motivated this.
Uh, and, and really I'll getinto the project, but ultimately
what I'm looking to do iscompletely rethink the way that
(19:51):
not only individuals, but alsoprofessionals approach estate
planning and estate planningeducation.
So, uh, there's.
Common advice in education.
You get out there where the, theconstant message you see is get
your estate planning documentsdone, get a will, get a trust.
(20:11):
It's document based and a lot ofadvisors will either are, have
now pivoted to using platformsthat generate documents.
Or that review existingdocuments to kind of add some
value and figure out situationswhere things can be improved
upon.
Nothing wrong with that, but inthe grand scheme of things,
(20:32):
there's a couple issues withwhat I've seen as the
traditional approach.
One is.
That the legal documentsthemselves are only a very small
fraction of the estate andlegacy planning.
And I've noticed over the yearsthat a lot of clients when they
do this, um, you know, there's astatistic that says 60 to 70% of
(20:54):
Americans don't have a will oran estate plan.
And that, that's often been usedas a point of shame.
I view it as, okay, if you're inthat 60 to 70%, you're in good
company.
And to me.
Not always, but it could beworse to get pushed into doing
this before you're ready than itcould be to wait and take other
(21:15):
steps that might have a littlebit more impact.
But that being said, thisdocument-based ecosystem ignores
a lot of things that I thinkcould benefit your broader
legacy and your broader plan.
Now, within that.
The document ecosystem hascreated a complete reliance and
(21:36):
dependence on professionals.
If you ever want to get anythingdone from an estate planning
perspective, estate planning isperhaps the only area out there
where for the most part, thereis no self-help guidance.
So what do you need before youengage a professional?
You need to realize that youactually need help and realizing
(21:59):
you need help is usually theoutcome of actions taken on your
own.
DIY is viewed as a bad thing,but on the financial side, you
can find all sorts of stuffabout basic education,
budgeting, investment, all sortsof things you can do on your
own.
And once it gets too complicatedfor you, or when you realize
(22:21):
that you're fighting againstyour own brain, your own
emotions, your own psychology,that's when you can get somebody
to come in and help you.
But it's that important realm ofdiscovery to realize you need
help to begin with.
That's important.
Estate planning hasn't createdthat.
Uh, and you know, I I don't meanthis as an indictment of any of
my peers in estate planning oranything else.
(22:43):
'cause Yeah, we're, we're, do,we're.
We're acting where incentivesalign.
And for most attorneys outthere, the sole revenue
generating things in estateplanning are one, creating
documents and two, administeringtrust in estates when somebody
has passed away.
But there's a ton that can bedone in the interim.
So what I have done is I'mtrying to rethink the psychology
(23:05):
of estate planning.
I may be completely wrong inthis and I may completely fall
on my face and fail.
But the seed change that I'mseeing is that this is behavior
change, it's psychology change,and we need a better set of
guiding principles as to whatthe client can actually own,
(23:26):
what they aren't dependent onyou for, and to avoid getting
into trouble.
What I've started with is theidea that organizing your
affairs.
Is the most important thing youcan do.
It's something you can'toutsource to a professional.
All of us have head knowledge uphere that we use to manage our
financial life.
(23:47):
It's something that you couldget down in a matter of seconds.
Um, story, if I were to promptyou right now to write down your
bank login and your bankpassword onto a piece of paper,
you could do that in fiveseconds.
Probably once you're gone, thathead knowledge is gone.
With you, or even once you'rehospitalized or incapacitated
(24:07):
during life, you can'tregurgitate it.
So a loved one, having to findthat is gonna spend hours upon
hours trying to get access toinformation.
And, uh, to logs and otherthings, or establishing a chain
of custody that could easily behandled now.
(24:28):
So my idea is that if each of uscould just dedicate a little bit
of time when the mood hits toget that information down, then.
Each of those iterations willimprove things for our loved
ones or our partners, or anybodyelse who we leave behind, that
we have a big mess that caneasily be cleaned up and has an
(24:50):
outsized return.
And often in the investmentworld, we're looking for
outsized returns, compounding,uh, in terms of.
Financial return and balancesheet, but this to me is a
compounding investment of timethat immediately saves a ton of
time for people down the road,and I think gives you peace of
mind.
And I've started to determinethis, the death manual where I
(25:12):
have my own setup.
There's a cover sheet to my willthat says.
First and foremost, here's thepin number to my computer.
I have a death manual stored atthis address.
It's gonna give you everythingyou need start to finish to
figure out how to settle myfinal affairs.
Now, we used to think of thewill as being the tur, the, the
instrument that does that, butmore and more with a digital
presence, we need somethingself-authored to get there.
(25:35):
So that's my idea.
And I've started a, a newslettercalled Inherit, which is a, a
mix between inheriting andlegacy.
'cause really we're looking atbridging the two gaps between
the two in terms of the finallegacy you want to leave, which
is not one of a mess.
It doesn't matter what you wantto have your final impression be
(25:57):
that if your final impression isleaving.
Everything in disarray.
That's how people are going toremember you for better or
worse.
So if you want your time onearth to mean something, it's
better to organize what thattime on earth meant to you and
what's gonna be needed to carrythat out.
In the future.
So if you wanna look at that,you can visit
(26:18):
it@inherit.substack.com.
And really the idea is that fornot just the end client, but for
professional advisors who reallywant actionable estate planning
results beyond the simple, get awill that gets repeated hundreds
of times before somebody finallydecides to take action.
That that's my idea, that I cancreate a better base of
(26:40):
marketing and education for.
Anybody who is involved in theestate planning ecosystem.
So I'll pause there.
No, I absolutely love it.
Um, we literally doing it again.
My wife and I are doing ours,but I'm doing it for a couple
clients right now.
And that's, that's the type ofstuff that we are, we're asking,
like we're asking all thosethings.
(27:01):
And I, I.
I know this isn't proper orlegal, but to me that is the
will, right?
That is the documents of, youknow, your death guide,
whatever, you know, you labeledthat as.
But like that is more importantthan the actual legal documents.
And I say that because I've lostboth my grandmother and my
mother, and I've had clients andwe've been through this.
(27:23):
Not having that information andtaking the time to dive through.
It was the trouble part.
Not who the POA or the theexecutor was, or the trustee was
like, those are cool and all,but even they then were like, I
don't know where anything is.
I don't know where that stuffis.
And so even if you didn't have awill or a trust at that point,
that is your will, that is yourtrust.
That is stuff they need.
(27:44):
So I love it.
And um.
Listeners, all that sub substackstuff, that'll be in the link in
the description and whatnot.
Um, it'll also be, we'll makesure to put that on no BS wealth
and everything too.
So definitely subscribe.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Whether you're a client or anadvisor.
Yes.
Subscribe.
Because I think the idea here isthat, um, one perfect is the
enemy of good.
(28:05):
And two, that there's a lot youhave to do here.
You have to eat the elephant onebite at a time.
But a lot of us are reluctant toeven take the first bite'cause
we see the entire elephant.
So my idea is, can we hide theelephant?
Just take one bite and iterateon that.
And if you're an advisor sittingin a meeting, instead of asking,
have you done your estateplanning documents yet?
(28:27):
Have a prompt say, this is oneitem of information we're gonna
write down today if everything'sstored on your computer or
phone.
Good starting point.
What's the pin to get intothere?
Or the password even that ismajorly impactful.
There's so many littlediscussions and ideas like that
that we could be hammering on tomake sure that everybody is
(28:48):
prepared.
And advisors, I know you use ane-money or right capital or
something with a vault.
Create that document today asyou're listening in everyone's
folder and then just start.
Take it one bite at a time withit.
Exactly.
You have tools, you have thesafety, you have the ability to
do that, and if they were topass with you, then it is very
easy for someone to do so.
(29:08):
So you're right.
Advisors, jump on now.
Um, yep.
As we get to the end, we alwaysend with a segment of actionable
steps.
Now, besides actionable step, wejust said by subscribing and
doing exactly what we just wentwith, besides that part, back to
the original part of theepisode.
What do you believe if someone'slooking to do a charitable
donation of any kind or anythingwithin their will or
(29:32):
inheritance, you name it, whatis that thing they need to set
up before 1231?
Well think if it's something inyour will, it's not something
that has to be done before yearend unless you are clairvoyant
and plan to, uh, anticipate yourdemise as of 1231.
So that aside, I think, uh, youknow, if that's something that's
(29:55):
in the works and you want to beintentional about that level.
Planning yet helps to get, uh,the, the update to your will or
revocable trust or even the baserevocable trust or will in place
and get the ball rolling onthat.
Besides that, I think it's amatter of figuring out what
assets might have the bestimpact.
And I think it's a, it's adecision we've talked about, but
(30:15):
it's not a decision that can bemade in a vacuum.
Uh, that involving your CPA,your advisor, the other
professionals in your ecosystem,if you have them, is important.
And if you don't.
Depending on the size of thegift, um, you know, if you're
used to a certain pattern ofcharitable giving, um, you know,
if it's in cash or otherwise,just being conscious about that
(30:37):
deadlines approaching.
And maybe 1231 isn't the goodday.
Maybe it's Boxing Day, the dayafter Christmas, 1226 that you
can designate every year is thisis the day I complete my
charitable donations or even myyear end gifts to family members
and friends and other people.
Who I want to support and in theprocess too.
(31:00):
You know, if it's a matter ofselecting the right assets, the
earlier, earlier, you can figurethat out, the better.
And knowing that you're gonnahave to find a value for those
assets, especially if they'reover$5,000.
I think that's the hurdle thatyou have to substantiate.
Now, I know there's all sortsof, uh, other charities out
there where they used to do the,the donate a car and just simply
(31:23):
sign over the title or the.
1, 1, 8, 7, 7 cars for kidsjingle, which I apologize for
getting stuck in your head.
And, and, and some of those arestill around, but, uh, for the
most part, uh, you know, the,the, the criticisms become
choice of charitable recipientis important too.
That Yeah, it's one thing tohave a cause I think it's also
(31:45):
important to look under thehood.
Of the types of organizationsyou're supporting, and if you
don't have the time to do thatbefore year end, maybe there can
be a good intermediary middleground, something like a
donor-advised fund or somethinglike that where you can park
funds and maybe accelerate somegiving into 2025 so that you
(32:06):
don't hit that tax hurdle that'skicking in next year.
And I'm just gonna leaveeveryone with this as the next
action step, and that is tocreate whatever file and
document and just write downyour passwords.
Exactly.
Start somewhere, because I knowa lot of you don't have, like we
just said, don't have a will,don't have a trust, don't have
any of that.
(32:26):
Maybe you haven't dealt withdeath in your family.
You've never been through this,and I'm going to promise you and
guarantee you.
By the way, I can't do that muchbecause compliance yells at me,
but I will on this, that thatdocument alone will save more
time, headache, and stress thanalmost any other document that
you can create that a attorneywill create, that anything will
happen.
(32:46):
So do that now.
Then lead that into theconversation next year of maybe
a bigger document, maybe moredifferent assets, maybe,
whatever it is.
So again, that came from Griffinhimself, that came from his, uh,
substack that we're gonna putdown below.
Everyone else have a reallyhappy holidays, uh, Griffin, I
appreciate you everyonelistening.
(33:08):
Also, our 12 Days of Givingcomes out on December 12th,
which is 12 episodes.
One every day a story kind oflike this to help you through
the holidays and those and lovedones that are around.
So Griffin, I appreciate youHappy holidays and we look
forward to 2026.
Thank you story and happyholidays everybody.
(33:42):
The proceeding program wassponsored by Black Mammoth.
Any awards, rankings, orrecognition by unaffiliated
third parties or publicationsare in no way indicative of the
advisor's future performance orany individual client's
investment success.
No award ranking or recognitionshould be construed as a current
or past endorsement of blackmammoth.
(34:03):
Information regarding specificawards, rankings, or
recognitions is available on theBlack Mammoth website, www.black
mammoth.com.
All investment strategies havethe potential for profit or loss
Investment strategies such asasset allocation,
diversification, or rebalancingdo not assure or guarantee
(34:24):
better performance and cannoteliminate the risk of investment
losses.
There are no guarantees that aportfolio employing these or any
other strategy will outperform aportfolio that does not engage
in such strategies.
This broadcast should not beconstrued by any client or
prospective client as asolicitation to affect or
attempt to affect transactionsand securities or the rendering
(34:46):
of personalized investmentadvice due to various factors
including changing marketconditions.
The information discussed inthis broadcast may no longer be
reflective of current positionsor recommendations.
While information presented isbelieved to be factual and up to
date, black mammoth, do notguarantee its accuracy and it
should not be regarded as acomplete analysis of the
(35:08):
subjects discussed.
The tax and the state planninginformation discussed is general
in nature and is provided forinformational purposes only and
should not be construed as legalor tax advice.
Listeners should consult anattorney or tax professional
regarding their specific legalor tax situation.
Past performance is notindicative of future results.
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