You Would Cringe If You Knew — Susan Schoenfeld
Susan R. Schoenfeld, CEO and Founder of Wealth Legacy Advisors LLC, serves as a ‘thought partner’ to families of wealth through personal attention and human spirit. Susan is an award-winning Thought Leader; she provides guidance on legacy, stewardship, governance, leadership succession, and philanthropy. She recently spoke for the Greater Cincinnati Foundation to their professional advisor network.
If your family has established a private family foundation, you may be surprised to know the amount of private information about you that is publicly available.
When I used to run a Donor Advised Fund, the first thing I did whenever I went into a meeting with a new client was to look up the family’s last name on Guidestar, and if they had a family foundation, I would print out the foundation’s annual tax filing Form 990PF, drop it on the conference table in the first meeting and ask, “Are these the details of your family’s philanthropic vehicle? Is that your home address? Is that your signature?”
They are supposed to black out the signature, but they don’t always do so.
Unless the Family Foundation uses “care of” the CPA’s or the wealth management firm’s address as their address for purposes of their annual tax filing, the default is often the family’s home address.
And so anyone who cares to look will see publicly available your name, your signature, how much you give in the aggregate, which causes you give to, in what amounts you give to each charity, all kinds of information about you that you would cringe if you knew.
For privacy, make sure that your tax preparer uses their business address on your Foundation’s tax filing instead of your home address. It will help reduce the number of unsolicited grant seekers sending you mailings. Also think about not using your last name in your family foundation’s name to offer enhanced security.
Beyond that, you might consider using a Community Foundation or Donor Advised Fund as your family’s giving vehicle. In addition to a higher level of anonymity, it also provides higher income tax deductibility thresholds and a number of other advantages over a private family foundation.
Susan Schoenfeld, a public speaker & thought partner to families of wealth and their advisors, is an award-winning thought leader. Susan’s switch from successful estate planning attorney and CPA to a trusted family advisor and thought partner was inspired by families of wealth asking her searching questions beyond estate tax planning. As a conflict-free advisor who provides no investment, tax, or legal advice and sells no product, Susan shares her insights directly with wealthy families and with financial services experts. She is active as a keynote speaker and a leader of break-out sessions and workshops at conferences throughout the US.
Connect with Susan Schoenfeld on LinkedIn.
