As year-end approaches, you may be eyeing a donation to charity — and certain gifting strategies can boost your tax break, experts say.  

In 2023, U.S. charitable giving hit $557.16 billion, up roughly 2% compared to 2022, according to Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy’s annual report released in June. U.S. donations totaled $3.1 billion for Giving Tuesday 2023, GivingTuesday Data Commons estimated.

“This is the time of year when charitable gifting takes center stage” and most want to maximize their impact, said certified financial planner Paula Nangle, president and senior wealth advisor at Marshall Financial Group in Doylestown, Pennsylvania.

Here’s what to know about charitable tax breaks before swiping your credit card or transferring funds, according to financial advisors.

When filing taxes, you claim the standard deduction or your total itemized deductions, whichever is bigger. The latter includes a tax break for charitable gifts, medical expenses and state and local taxes, or SALT, among others.

Enacted by President-elect Donald Trump, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 nearly doubled the standard deduction and capped SALT at $10,000 through 2025.

Those changes make it harder to itemize, Nangle explained.

For 2024, the standard deduction is $14,600 for single taxpayers and $29,200 for married couples filing together. Roughly 90% of filers used the standard deduction in 2021, according to the latest IRS data. 

Still, there are tax strategies to exceed or bypass the standard deduction, experts say. 

If you’re age 70½ or older with savings in a pretax individual retirement account, a so-called qualified charitable distribution, or QCD, “almost always has the highest tax advantage,” said Sandi Weaver, a CFP and certified public accountant at Weaver Financial in Mission, Kansas.

QCDs are a direct transfer from an IRA to an eligible nonprofit, limited to $105,000 per individual in 2024, up from $100,000 in previous years.

There’s no charitable deduction, but the transfer won’t increase your adjusted gross income, or AGI, Weaver explained. Higher AGI can impact income-related monthly adjustment amounts, or IRMAA, for Medicare Part B and Part D premiums.  

Plus, you can satisfy yearly required minimum distributions, or RMDs, with a QCD, according to the IRS. Since 2023, most retirees must take RMDs from pretax retirement accounts at age 73.

“Bottom line: The QCD is a no-brainer,” said CFP Juan Ros, a partner at Forum Financial Management in Thousand Oaks, California.

One popular bunching strategy involves opening a so-called donor-advised fund, an investment account that functions like a charitable checkbook, with flexibility for future gifts to nonprofits. Donors get an upfront deduction on transferred assets.

Appreciated stock is a “great asset for funding a donor-advised fund,” because the donor gets a tax break, and “any capital gain is forever avoided,” Ros said. 

As Inauguration Day nears, investors are trying to unravel what booms or busts lay ahead under President-elect Donald Trump.

Trump’s campaign promises — from tariffs to mass deportations, tax cuts and deregulation — and his picks to lead federal agencies suggest both risks and rewards for various investment sectors, according to market experts.  

Republican control of both chambers of Congress may grant Trump greater leeway to enact his pledges, experts said. However, their scope and timing is far from clear.

“There’s so much uncertainty right now,” said Jeremy Goldberg, a certified financial planner, portfolio manager and research analyst at Professional Advisory Services, which ranked No. 37 on CNBC’s annual Financial Advisor 100 list.

“I wouldn’t be making large bets one way or another,” Goldberg said.

His administration may try to roll back regulations like a Biden-era tailpipe-emissions rule expected to push broader adoption of EVs and hybrids. He also intends to kill consumer EV tax credits worth up to $7,500 — although states like California may try to enact their own EV rebates, blunting the impact.

Losing the federal credit would make EVs more costly, driving down sales and perhaps making “per unit economics even less favorable” for automakers, John Murphy, a research analyst at Bank of America Securities, wrote in a Nov. 21 research note.

Some companies seem well-positioned, though: Ford Motor (F), for example, “has a healthy pipeline of hybrid vehicles as well as traditional [internal combustion engine] vehicles to supplement the EV offerings,” Murphy wrote.

Tariffs and trade conflict pose threats to the auto industry, since the U.S. relies heavily on other nations to manufacture cars and parts, said Callie Cox, chief market strategist at Ritholtz Wealth Management.

They “could affect the cost and availability of cars we see in the U.S. market,” Cox said.

Economists expect tariffs and other Trump policies to be inflationary.

In that case, the U.S. Federal Reserve may have to keep interest rates higher for longer than anticipated. Higher borrowing costs may weigh on consumers’ desire or ability to buy cars, Cox said.

However, lower EV production could be a boon for companies that manufacture traditional gasoline cars, experts said.

Trump has also called for a “drill, baby, drill” approach to oil production. Greater supply could reduce gas prices, supporting demand for gas vehicles, experts said. But trade wars and sanctions on Iran and Venezuela could have the opposite impact, too.

—Greg Iacurci

That may help bolster profitability in the sector, and therefore stock prices, said Brian Spinelli, co-chief investment officer at Halbert Hargrove in Long Beach, Calif., which is No. 54 on the 2024 CNBC FA 100 list.

“The larger banks probably benefit more from that,” Spinelli said.

Less regulation — combined with the prospect that interest rates could stay higher — will provide a net positive for the bank industry, since they may be able to lend out more risk-based capital, said David Rea, president of Salem Investment Counselors in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, which is No. 8 on the 2024 CNBC FA 100 list.

One issue that emerged this year that could resurface is concern about regional banks’ exposures to commercial real estate, Spinelli said.

“It wasn’t that long ago, and I don’t think those problems disappeared,” Spinelli said. “So you question, is that still looming out there?”

—Lorie Konish

The housing market has been “frozen” in recent years by high mortgage rates, said Cox of Ritholtz.

Lower rates would likely be a “catalyst” for housing and associated companies, she said.

However, that may not materialize — quickly, at least — under Trump, she said. If policies like tariffs, tax cuts and mass deportations stoke inflation, the U.S. Federal Reserve may have to keep interest rates higher for longer than anticipated, which would likely prop up mortgage rates and weigh on housing and related sectors, she said.

The whims of the housing market impact retailers, too: Home goods stores may not fare well if people aren’t buying, renovating and decorating new homes, Cox said.

That said, deregulation could be “absolutely huge” for the sector if it accelerates building timelines and reduces costs for developers, Goldberg said.

Trump has called for opening new land to builders and creating tax incentives for homebuyers, without providing much detail.

Housing policies will be “one of the most-watched initiatives coming out of the next administration,” Cox said. “We haven’t gotten a lot of clarity on that front,” she said.

“If we see realistic and well-thought-out policies, you could see real estate stocks and related stocks” like real estate investment trusts, home improvement retailers and home builders respond well, Cox said.

—Greg Iacurci

Trump’s election has brought a new bullishness to cryptocurrencies, with bitcoin nearing a new $100,000 benchmark before its recent runup ended.

As president, Trump is expected to embrace crypto more than any of his predecessors.

Notably, he has already launched a crypto platform, World Liberty Financial, that will encourage the use of digital coins.

Those developments come as new ways of investing in crypto have emerged this year, with the January launch of spot bitcoin ETFs, and more recently, the addition of bitcoin ETF options.

Yet financial advisors are hesitant, with only about 2.6% recommending crypto to their clients, an April survey from Cerulli Associates found. Roughly 12.1% said they would be willing to use it or discuss it based on the client’s preference. Still, 58.9% of advisors said they do not expect to ever use cryptocurrency with clients.

“The number one reason why advisors aren’t investing in cryptocurrency on behalf of their clients is they don’t believe it’s suitable for client portfolios,” said Matt Apkarian, associate director in Cerulli’s product development practice.

Even for advisors who do expect they may use crypto at some point, it’s “wait and see,” particularly regarding how the regulatory environment plays out, Apkarian said.

However, investors are showing interest in cryptocurrency, with 90% of advisors receiving questions on the subject, according to research from Christina Lynn, a certified financial planner and practice management consultant at Mariner Wealth Advisors.

For those investors, exchange-traded funds are a good starting place, since there’s less chance of falling victim to one of crypto’s pitfalls like scams or losing the keys, the unique alphanumeric codes attached to the investments, according to Lynn. Because crypto can be more volatile, it’s best not to invest any money you expect you’ll need to pay for near-term goals, she said.

Investors would also be wise to think of cryptocurrency like an alternative investment and limit the allocation to 1% to 5% of their overall portfolio, Lynn said.

“You don’t need to have a lot of this to have it go a long way,” Lynn said.

—Lorie Konish

Yet it remains to be seen whether that performance can continue under Trump, who has advocated for more oil, gas and coal production. The outlook for the sector could change if Trump acts on a campaign threat to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act, a law enacted under Biden that includes clean energy incentives.

If Trump continues to make it easier to create more oil supply, that might not be a great thing for oil companies, according to Adam of Raymond James.

“Because there’s more supply, it may tamp down on the price of oil, and that’s one of the biggest drivers of that sector,” Adam said.

Eagle Global Advisors, a Houston-based investment management firm that specializes in energy infrastructure, is “cautiously optimistic” about Trump’s impact on the sector, according to portfolio manager Mike Cerasoli. Eagle Global Advisors is No. 35 on the 2024 CNBC FA 100 list.

“We would say we’re probably more on the optimistic side than the cautious side,” Cerasoli said. “But if we know anything about Trump it’s that he’s a wild card.”

A lot of the Inflation Reduction Act may stay intact, since the top states that benefitted financially from the law also handed Trump a victory in the election, according to Cerasoli.

When Biden won in 2020, there was a lot of panic about the outlook for energy, oil and gas. In a third quarter letter that year, Cerasoli recalls writing, “I don’t think it’s going to be as bad as you think.”

Four years later, he has the same message for investors on the outlook for renewables. In the days following Trump’s January inauguration, Cerasoli expects there may be a deluge of executive orders.

“Once you get past that, you’ll get a sense of exactly how he’s going to treat energy,” Cerasoli said. “I think people will realize that it’s not the end of the world for renewables.”

—Lorie Konish

RFK is a prominent vaccine skeptic, which may bode ill for big vaccine makers like Merck (MRK), Pfizer (PFE) and Moderna (MRNA), said David Weinstein, a portfolio manager and senior vice president at Dana Investment Advisors, No. 4 on CNBC’s annual FA 100 ranking.

Cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, are also likely on the table to reduce government spending and raise money for a tax-cut package, experts said.

Publicly traded health companies like Centene (CNC), HCA Healthcare (HCA) and UnitedHealth (UNH) might be impacted by lower volumes of Medicaid patients or consumers who face higher healthcare premiums after losing ACA subsidies, for example, Weinstein said.

Medical tech providers — especially those that supply electronics with semiconductors sourced from China — could be burdened by tariffs, he added.

Conversely, deregulation might help certain pharmaceutical companies like Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) and Charles River Laboratories (CRL), which may benefit from faster approvals from the Food and Drug Administration, Goldberg said.

Vivek Ramaswamy, a former biotech executive who Trump appointed as co-head of a new Department of Government Efficiency, has called for streamlined drug approvals. But RFK has advocated for more oversight.

“There’s a real dichotomy here,” Weinstein said.

“Where do we end up? Maybe where we are right now,” he added.

—Greg Iacurci

All physical goods from apparel to footwear, tools and appliances are at risk from tariffs, Weinstein said. Tariff impact would depend on how the policies are structured.

The Home Depot (HD), Lowe’s (LOW) and Walmart (WMT), for example, source a relatively big chunk of their goods from abroad, Weinstein said.

Home Depot sources more than half its goods from the U.S. and North America, but “there certainly will be an impact,” CEO and president Ted Decker said Nov. 12 during the firm’s Q3 earnings call.

“Whatever happens in tariffs will be an industry-wide impact,” Decker said. “It won’t discriminate against different retailers and distributors who are importing goods.”

It’s a good idea for investors to own “high quality” retailers without a lot of debt and with diversified inventory sources, Goldberg said. He cited TJX Companies (TJX), which owns stores like TJ Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods, as an example.

“Direct imports are a small portion of [its] business and TJX sources from a variety of countries outside of China,” Lorraine Hutchinson, a Bank of America Securities research analyst, wrote in a Nov. 21 note.

Deregulation may be positive for smaller retailers and franchises, which tend to be more sensitive to labor laws and environmental and compliance costs, Goldberg said.

—Greg Iacurci

The technology sector continued its strong run in 2024, thanks in large part to the Magnificent Seven — Amazon, Apple, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla.

Even broadly diversified investors may find it difficult to escape those names, as they are among the top weighted companies in the S&P 500 index.

Information technology — which includes all those stocks except for Amazon and Google parent Alphabet — comprises the largest sector in the S&P 500 index, with more than 31%.

Trump is poised to have an influence on looming antitrust issues, amid considerations as to whether Google’s influence on online search should be limited.

Any tariffs put in place may also prompt some sales to decline or the cost of raw materials to go up, said Rea of Salem Investment Counselors.

Nevertheless, Rea said his firm continues to have a “pretty heavy” tech allocation, with strong expectations for generative artificial intelligence. However, the firm does not own Tesla, due to its expensive valuation, and has recently been selling software company Palantir, a winning stock that may have gotten ahead of itself, he said.

Technology valuations are trading well into the high double digits on a price to earnings basis, which often signals forward returns will decline, according to Halbert Hargrove’s Spinelli.

Consequently, prospective investors who come in now would basically be buying high, he said.

“If you think you’re going to get the same double digit returns in the next five years, sure it could happen on a one-year basis,” Spinelli said. “But your chances historically have been that your returns come down.”

—Lorie Konish

Retailers hype Black Friday sales, and it works.

This year, the number of people shopping between Thanksgiving Day and Cyber Monday could hit a record, according to the National Retail Federation’s annual survey.

But that doesn’t mean consumers are getting the lowest prices of the season.

According to WalletHub’s 2024 Best Things to Buy on Black Friday report, 41% of items at major retailers offer no savings compared with their pre-Black Friday prices.

The items that are on sale are marked down by 24%, on average. The site compared Black Friday advertisements against prices on Amazon earlier that fall. 

Other common ploys include displaying the number of shoppers with the same item in their carts or an alert that a product is almost out of stock. PIRG also found that some sellers on Etsy use fake countdown timers on deals that don’t expire.

Etsy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“These stunts aren’t limited to the holidays. Retailers and advertisers are always trying to get you to buy more than you need and spend more than you want,” Cross said in a statement. 

More from Personal Finance:
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Depending on the retailer, some markdowns could be up to 50%, according to Lauren Beitelspacher, a professor of marketing at Babson College.

However, premium brands — including high-end activewear companies such as Nike, Alo or Lululemon — likely will not discount more than 30%, she said. “It’s a fine balance with maintaining the premium brand integrity and offering promotions.”

To that end, retailers will also try to lure shoppers to spend with incentives, such as a free gift card with a minimum purchase, Woroch said. “Many stores will also offer bonus rewards when you spend a certain amount on Black Friday.”

For those planning a trip, “Travel Tuesday” can be a good time to snag discounts on airfares, cruises and tour packages, with many hotels offering 20% to 30% off best available rates. Travelers can check out Travel Tuesday deals from 2023 to get an idea of what to expect this year.

With toys, it could pay to hold out until the last two weeks of December, and holiday decorations are cheaper the last few days before Christmas or right after, according to Woroch.

Exercise equipment, linens and bedding tend to be marked down more during January’s “white sales,” she said, and furniture and mattress deals are often better over other holiday weekends throughout the year, such as Presidents’ Day, Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends.

Further, stack discounts: Combining credit card rewards with coupon codes and a cash-back site such as CouponCabin.com will earn money back on those purchases. Then, take pictures of your receipts using the Fetch app and get points that can be redeemed for gift cards at retailers such as Walmart, Target and Amazon.

Finally, experts urge consumers to pay attention to price adjustment policies.

“If an item you buy over Black Friday goes on sale for less shortly after, you may be able to request a price adjustment,” Woroch said. Some retailers such as Target have season-long policies that may apply to purchases made up until Dec. 25.