September 3, 2018

There has long been a perspective that people stop giving assets away to charity when they get older. But a study shows that this is simply not the case. Research completed by the Women’s Philanthropy Institute shows that charitable giving stays the same after retirement while other types of spending drops significantly. The study also identified differences in how single men, single women and married couples give to charity. 

Retired couples are often portrayed as not having the money or refusing to give. However, an Indiana University study found that this was not true, and this is good news for any non-profit that relies on donations received for financial support. Many of these retired couples could choose to give while they still are alive and are also including estate planning charitable options when putting together their documents for the distribution of assets.

The study looked at charitable giving among single men, single women and married couples starting in 2001. Overall, the report looked at data for more than 6,000 people who fit into their various categories, and individuals in these cohabitating, married or single households were between the ages of 55 and 101. The study found that the likelihood of giving to charity decreases by approximately 4% in the 5 years immediately after and before retirement. However, that was considerably less than the overall decline in general spending, which is approximately 16%. If you are contemplating including charitable giving in your overall estate planning, schedule a consultation with an experienced lawyer today.