Another part of planning your estate intelligently includes maximizing the taxes you save and potentially increasing the dollars you give. Does charitable giving play a part in your retirement's financial plans?

Many individuals would prefer to see IRA assets go to charity than to see their retirement savings reduced by taxes. Proper estate planning can reduce or eliminate estate taxes, leaving more for heirs. Did you know:

• IRA beneficiaries may be burdened with up to 4 taxes (federal estate tax, state inheritance tax, and federal and state income taxes)?
• Withdrawals from an inherited IRA are taxed as ordinary income?
• Heirs may be better off receiving stocks or mutual funds held outside an IRA since stocks or bonds may receive a step up in cost basis?

As part of your plan, you may wish to leave some of your assets to one or more charities. As part of your will or trust document, you will designate which charties are to receive what assets, and sometimes how they are supposed to be used. By naming a public charity as beneficiary to your retirement assets, you can reduce or potentially eliminate estate taxes and spare heirs from future tax associated with required IRA withdrawals. To accomplish this goal, consider a charitable trust.