The whole concept behind giving Christmas gifts is that you are sharing your joy of Jesus’ birth by giving gifts to others.  Usually this means your immediate family but you should take it a step further if you don’t already and share your gifts with total strangers.  Don’t know any total strangers?  No problem!  Give through your church or place of worship, through your City, or through established gift-giving organizations such as Salvation Army or Toys for Tots, which you can typically access through your fire department.

Giving and Financial Planning

This is a blog about investing and financial planning, and so giving money away doesn’t sound like it should be part of a financial plan, but it is.  For 2018, the Standard Deduction for Married Filing Jointly jumped to $24,000, which means that those who earn and therefore give small amounts are unlikely to benefit by charitable giving because they are less likely to itemize their deductions because there itemized expenditures are less likely to be higher than their standard deduction.  Therefore, most giving that you do will be out of the kindness of your heart, which is, if you think about it, the way most giving is done anyhow.  If you give your kids or grandchildren or others a small gift, you probably aren’t thinking about tax consequences.  Instead, your gift says you are joyful with the recipient and you want to share your joy.

Why Do You Earn Money?

Other than to earn enough money to feed, clothe, and house yourself, why else do you go to work every day to earn money?  What better reason is there than to have enough to share with others?  The motivation to have enough to share with others is a very important reason why we work and earn money.  If you are motivated by a cause such as giving to others that is greater than yourself, you will be more likely to want to get out of bed every morning and drag yourself to your job.  That is why Christmas and Sharing is a very important part of someone’s financial plan.  Achieving the plan in and of itself is a good motivator, but helping others is better.