Giving to a charity is easy, right?  You write a check and send it off to your favorite 501(c)(3) organization, and get a full deduction for the amount on your tax return, up to 50% of your adjusted gross income.

“Would you believe Matt gave $60,000 to the school capital campaign?” said my friend Beth.  We were catching up after being out of touch for years and these were the first words out of Beth’s mouth after she learned I was a fee-only financial advisor.  She elaborated on the gift by saying that her husband Matt had just cashed in on some of his stock gains and they had a pool of cash sitting around.

Your interpretation: Wow!  Those people are lucky to have so much money that they can gift $60,000.