4 Tips to Help Ensure Your Financial Choices Support What’s Important to You
While we have all heard the adage that money can’t buy happiness, it can enable you to maximize your fulfillment. The key is to treat money as a tool to achieve your goals. What’s the purpose of your money? When you look back on your life, what will have been the most memorable and fulfilling areas? When you align your finances with your values and priorities, you may discover that money actually can buy happiness. The following tips can help.
#1 – Be intentional with your spending.
Intentional spending refers to a deliberate, ongoing effort to spend your money in a way that aligns with your values and priorities. To be intentional, it’s important to take time to understand and articulate your unique values, then evaluate your current financial habits to identify opportunities to better align them with what’s truly important to you.
Keep in mind that everyone’s financial values are different. Many of you may equate money to financial security, but the path toward financial freedom may differ. For example, some people choose to spend money on creating experiences with loved ones close to home, while others prefer to travel the world.
#2 – Cultivate family memories.
While it’s true that money can’t buy time, it can buy memories. And someday, when you look back on your life, it will probably be memories with your loved ones that you value most. As you make decisions regarding your spending, saving and investing habits, be sure to prioritize experiences with friends and family. You don’t always need to spend a lot of money to create lasting memories, but you probably won’t regret spending on experiences that give you more time with your loved ones.
#3 – Give to the people and causes you care about.
If your goals include passing down a financial legacy to future generations of family members, it may make sense to get started sooner rather than later. Giving gifts throughout your lifetime allows you to reduce the value of your taxable estate while also having an opportunity to see the impact of your gifts on the lives of those you care about.
In 2025, you can gift up to $19,000 per recipient without incurring gift taxes or using up your lifetime estate tax exemption ($13.99 million per individual, as of 2025). If you’re married, both you and your spouse can give up to $19,000, for a total gift of $38,000 per recipient.
Another way to align your money and your values is to give to charitable causes that matter to you. While donating cash is one of the most common methods of giving, you may be able to maximize your impact with the following strategies.
Donate appreciated securities.
If you have appreciated securities you’ve held for at least a year, it may make sense to make an in-kind donation rather than selling the securities and donating cash. That’s because you can claim the securities’ fair market value as a deduction when you file an itemized tax return while also avoiding capital gains tax on the sale. And because charitable organizations are tax-exempt, the charity can sell the securities without paying taxes on the proceeds.
Establish a financial legacy with a donor-advised fund (DAF).
A DAF is a charitable giving vehicle that allows you to make an irrevocable contribution and receive a tax deduction in the current year while making grants to various charities over time. You can contribute to a DAF as often as you’d like then allocate donations whenever you want.
One strategy is to “bunch” multiple years’ worth of donations into a single year. This is a particularly effective tax planning strategy during years in which you experience a large taxable event. By bunching multiple years of donations, you can maximize your deduction in order to minimize your tax exposure for the year. This can be a great way to both fulfill your charitable giving objectives and positively impact your tax return.
Not only does a DAF offer you an effective way to support charities over time but it also allows you to establish a legacy of giving for future generations of family members. Because assets can remain in the account indefinitely, you can leave the DAF to your children and grandchildren after you pass away, giving them the opportunity to have a say in how assets are donated to various charities over time.
Consider a qualified charitable distribution (QCD).
If you are retired and have assets saved in tax-deferred retirement accounts, you’ll need to begin taking required minimum distributions (RMDs) once you reach age 73 (RMD age varies based on your birth year). When you withdraw the funds, they’re taxed as ordinary income. If you find that you don’t need RMD assets to pay for your living expenses, you may decide to donate a portion — or all — of your RMD directly to a charity, which can help you save on taxes while also maximizing your charitable impact. This strategy is referred to as a QCD.
Beginning in 2025, the IRS will allow individuals to contribute up to $108,000 per year from an IRA directly to a charitable organization. This is a great way to have a significant impact on a charitable cause that matters to you while also lowering your tax exposure.
#4 – Consider values-based investing.
The two main objectives of investing are typically capital appreciation and income generation. However, a third objective is gaining ground among investors: values-based investing, which is when you choose investments in line with your moral values. Common strategies include focusing primarily on environmental, social and governance (ESG) investments, choosing faith-based investments or investing for impact (e.g., investing in sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, conservation and affordable services). Another option is to exclude certain investments that don’t align with your values, such as firearms, tobacco, etc.
