How much should you actually be giving this year?Generosity is rarely budgeted, but instead often shows up as a rough patch here, a birthday there, a "we'll just cover it" moment that felt small enough at the time. None of those decisions are wrong by themselves. Add them up over a few years, though, and the total can be more than you originally intended. Treating giving like a line-item in your budget can help bring more intention and clarity to the process. Pick an annual amount you're comfortable committing to separate from what goes toward retirement. Then split it: planned giving for the life events you know are coming and a smaller, as-needed pot for the medical bill or rough patch that shows up without warning. Keep a little reserve in that second pot so one request doesn't turn into a decision made under pressure, in the middle of a phone call. The goal isn’t necessarily to give less. Instead, the goal is to align your generosity with both the people you care about and the future you’re planning for. If you haven't checked what you're giving each year against your retirement timeline, that's a good next conversation to have with me. As your financial professional, I can look at your specific numbers instead of a generic percentage.
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