With Mark Halpern, CFP, TEP, MFA-P (CEO, WEALTHinsurance.com) & Martin Ochwat (COO, Dundas Wealth)
Every estate has three possible heirs: your family, charity, and the government. Most business owners only plan for the first one, and assume that every dollar given to charity is a dollar taken from their kids.
In Episode 13 of Keep What You Build, Martin Ochwat sits down with Mark Halpern, CFP, TEP, MFA-P, CEO of WEALTHinsurance.com and founder of Power of Platinum, who has spent 35 years showing owners a third option: plan it properly, and much of the gift comes out of money that would otherwise go to the CRA.
Giving to charity is not about disinheriting your kids. It’s about adopting causes that you care about and disinheriting the tax department.
Mark’s own start was in 1974, when his father died suddenly at 50 with no will, little savings and no life insurance. Today he works with some of Canada’s most successful owners, and his observation is that most of them still don’t have the basics in place. On giving specifically, he sees a gap on both sides: advisors rarely raise it with clients, and charities rarely explain it to donors, so very few people know the rules exist.
Mark walks through several ways a life insurance policy can become a charitable gift, as he explains them: donating a policy you no longer need, naming a charity as the beneficiary of a policy you keep, converting term coverage you were about to cancel, and one-premium policies built specifically for giving. He shares a real example of a term policy that was about to lapse, converted and donated to a Canadian university instead.
Many successful owners don’t need their CPP, and it ends when they do. Mark’s CPP Philanthropy™ idea is to put those payments toward a permanent policy that creates a much larger legacy gift, with a few different ways to structure who owns it and who benefits.
How Canada’s donation rules change at death, and why Mark says the biggest incentives arrive last.
Why business owners who hold appreciated securities inside a corporation have options that a personal cheque doesn’t.
Giving transactionally instead of building it into the estate plan, and where a generous family should actually start.
If you’ve ever wondered whether you could support the causes you care about without shortchanging your family, this is the episode to start with.
This episode is general information, not tax, legal or investment advice. Figures and strategies discussed are Mark Halpern’s, based on his professional experience; results depend on your situation, the policy and current tax rules. Speak with your own accountant, lawyer and advisor before acting. CPP Philanthropy™ and Accidental Philanthropist™ are trademarks of Mark Halpern / WEALTHinsurance.com.
Mark Halpern joins Greg Rozdeba live for the business-owner version: the four ways to give, ranked by tax power, and the corporate version of each. Free, 45 minutes plus live Q&A.
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