Why Charity Is One of the Best Activities for Couples

This time of year, money can feel tight. Anticipating the holidays, potential travel, gifts to buy, big dinners to cook, and another year where you didn’t save as much as you’d hoped. BUT this season also helps to remind us that there are good reasons to shift the focus off of our own finances and commitments to share what we have with others. There are many benefits of giving.

Our mission at The Money Couple is not to just improve your finances, but your relationships too. What good is your money if you fight about it all the time and the thought of discussing dollars and cents makes you queasy?

So, we talk a lot about Love & Money. That’s why we’ve identified 3 “love” benefits to sharing and 3 “money” reasons why it’s good to give.

6 Good Reasons to Make Charitable Donations Part of Your Relationship

Building a Stronger Marriage

1. Less Stress. Better Health.

Helping another helps you. Call it karma, call it blessings, or get fancy and quote John F. Kennedy, “The rising tide lifts all boats.” We like to say that it’s sowing and reaping.

Helping others improves their life, helps everyone. When one person’s life is improved, that positively affects the next person, and the next, and the next …

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Tennessee found that people who make charitable donations experience reduced rates of stress and lower blood pressure compared to those who do not give. Better mental health can hardly help improving your relationship, making supporting charities one of the best activities for couples to share.

2. Your Children Learn to Give.

Teach your children that life is not about amassing as much money as you can. Show them it pays to be considerate and helpful to your fellow man. Imagine the freedom you give your child if they learn, early on, that money isn’t everything.

3. Serving Helps to Build a Stronger Marriage.

Ever feel you’re stuck in the same rut or you’ve had the same fight ten times? It helps to take your eyes off of your “problems” and focus on someone else.

Serve with your spouse to help others out. In the process, you: a. spend time together, b. get to see your spouse in a new way, and c. you both might see that your “huge” issue isn’t so “huge”. Giving back benefits not only the recipients but also the givers in a multitude of ways.

Here are some ideas for charitable donations and other ways to give back:

• buy grocery gift cards and hand them out to folks in need,
• prepare toiletries and snack bags and drive around town giving to others,
• have fun buying balloon bouquets and flowers together to drop off at the hospital with directions to give to patients who haven’t had visitors.
• volunteer together – clean hiking trails, hold babies, visit elderly folks, etc.

3 Financial Perks to Giving

1. Write Off Donations.

Even our government thinks giving is a good thing. They encourage us to make charitable donations by offering us a tax break when we donate to qualifying organizations. You can write off some donations on your taxes.

Kathy Pickering, executive director of H&R Block’s Tax Institute. “In order to get the deduction come next April, keep a receipt of the donation, a note of the organization’s name, and the date and fair market value of all non-cash goods.”

2. Avoid Taxes on Stock Gains by Donating.

If you’re considering a big gift and have sizable capital gains on winning stocks you’ve held for at least a year, get a double benefit by donating them instead of selling. Claim a full deduction for their current market value, pay the capital-gains tax and then donate only the diminished proceeds.

However, you can only deduct such stock gifts up to 30% of your adjusted gross income, even if they’re made to a public charity. (To read more see, “Can I donate stock to charity?”)

3. Advance a Cause You Believe In.

Lots and lots of people could use our help. There are many worthy causes that need our financial assistance to carry out their mission. Supporting a good cause has many indirect benefits: whenever your local community benefits, you’re inevitably going to see good results in your own life.

Improved services for mental health patients, a political issue, research for a cancer cure, advances in fighting a rare disease, education for women in third world countries. What organization needs your help?

During this season of giving thanks, please remember to help share with others. Your heart, your family, our world, and your finances benefit from your generosity.

How to Build a Stronger Marriage Through Charity

Giving back is certainly one of the best activities for couples, but this is only true if you’re able to communicate openly and respectfully about financial issues. Do you and your significant other have tension related to giving to charities? That’s right – giving. Supporting a good cause is, of course, a good thing in general but only if you and your spouse are on the same page about it. We want to share with you three ways to do good together by giving.

This is what we often hear from other couples: “The fact that he gives the panhandler on the street corner $5 makes me nuts!” or this, “The fact that she just called in with her credit card and pledged $50 dollars without even talking to me about it just fires me up!”

What a bummer! Giving is so “right”, but it can turn so “wrong” so quickly.

America tops the list of countries that give to churches, world aid, and other philanthropic activities. Yet, we have seen couples go toe-to-toe when it comes to their own charitable donations.

To complicate it more, we mix in Money Personalities. A Saver doesn’t say anything for fear he’ll look too “cheap”;  a Spender wants to give even though she has credit card debt. Many of us deal with similar thoughts and feelings.

Great news! You can agree about your giving!

Here are three tips to better understand each other’s attitudes about giving back:

 1.  Prioritize

There are so many great organizations to support. How do you know which ones to give to? Start by each of you picking one and give to those – then build from there.

2.  Passion

Make sure you’re linking your passion with your money. What causes mean a lot to you? To your family?

3.  Compromise

Make sure both of your giving needs are being met.  Both of you should have equal say in what organizations you support and what amount you give.

We talk regularly at our Money Huddles about what amount to give and what causes mean a lot to us. Stick with it and keep working on it. You WILL get there. For more awesome information on how to have the best Money Relationship – pick up a copy of The 5 Money Personalities: Speaking the Same Love and Money Language.

We are thankful for you. (And thankful for comments, leave them below!)

Taylor and Megan Kovar

The Money Couple

If you’re having trouble letting go of money, take our FREE Money Personality Assessment to learn how you can work towards a healthier dynamic!