How effective is charitable giving?

If charitable giving is important to you AND you have an investment portfolio that includes non-retirement accounts, you could consider gifting appreciated securities instead of cash. This route has a double tax benefit – you get a tax deduction for the value of the shares, AND you don’t have to pay captial gains tax on the appreciation of the shares. Here’s an example: Say you bought a mutual fund for $1,000 several years ago and now it is worth $5,000. If you sold that mutual fund, you would o