As I've written previously, Katie and I both enjoyed Bill Perkins' Die With Zero. One of the more interesting concepts in the book is the idea of intentional vs. unintentional giving. As big givers, we put a lot of time and effort into giving the best way we can, whether it's to charities or individuals we care about. I know many WCIers also give a lot, so I thought it would be worth spending some time understanding the difference between intentional and unintentional giving.
Why Giving at Death Isn't Really Giving at All
Plenty of people who don't seem all that charitable during their lives become amazingly charitable at death. In fact, ALL OF US become amazingly charitable at death. We give everything we have away. Kind of. You certainly can't take any of it with you. Your hearse will not have a trailer hitch. But leaving money to heirs and charities at death isn't really giving, is it? The instant you die, you no longer own anything. You're dead. Everything you had was taken from you by death. Your estate owns some stuff, but you don't own anything. It's really no longer yours to give. If you don't have a choice in keeping it, it's not even really giving, is it? That's like saying you're “giving” when you pay taxes.
If a prize for giving existed, those who just left money to others in their will should definitely receive fewer points toward that prize than those who actually gave while the assets were still theirs to give. Whether there is a prize is a religious question, but it does lead one to ponder the words of Jesus Christ as recorded by that great physician, the evangelist Luke. Per the King James version of the New Testament:
“[Jesus] said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
I can't tell you how many times I reflected on that parable as we renovated and enlarged our home back in 2019-2020.
More information here:
Charity — How to Give, Why to Give, and the Tax Benefits You Can Receive
What Does Intentional Giving Look Like?
Now with that rebuke of covetousness out of the way, let's discuss what intentional giving looks like. When giving intentionally, you control
- How much you give
- Who you give it to
- When you give it
- Under what circumstances it is given
That all seems smart, right? We're all control freaks. Why wouldn't you want to control something as important as transferring a significant portion of your life energy to people or organizations you support?
What Is Unintentional Giving?
Leaving assets to others at death is really none of those four things above, because the date of your death is unknown.
You don't control how much you give, because the value of assets fluctuates over time. It may be more or less than you intended to give on the day of your death.
You don't completely control who you give it to. Maybe your heir dies with you or even precedes you in death, and you failed to revise your will. You also don't know what that person is like when they receive the gift. Maybe they're now an alcoholic internet troll.
You don't control when the gift is given, unless you're into active, voluntary euthanasia.
If you give at death, you have precious little control over the circumstances in which the gift is given.
Now, a trust might give you a little more control over these sorts of things, and I suppose a testamentary trust wouldn't be created until your death. But if you are really into living intentionally, you should also be really into giving intentionally. And that means giving PRIOR to your death.
More information here:
You Want to Start Donating to Charity? Here’s How to Find the Motivation to Actually Do It
2026 Changes to Charitable Giving Tax Deductions Due to OBBBA
A Mix of Intentional and Unintentional Giving
In reality, few of us can do all of our giving prior to death. If you're truly trying to Die With Zero, maybe you've annuitized and reverse-mortgaged all your assets. But most of us are going to retain some of our assets until death in case they're needed, at which point they will be given away taken from us. This is the unintentional giving portion. But why not try to make that a minority portion of what you give?
Perkins would argue that the younger your heirs are, the more useful your gift would be to them—even if it is a smaller gift. He makes the same argument with charities. Your favorite charity needs your money now, not later. “But I can give more later,” you might say. Well, there's a time value to money. Ten thousand dollars now is the equivalent of $40,000 in two decades. Unless you believe you're a far better steward of the funds than the charity, there is little reason not to give money you know is going to charity eventually right away. Plus, you'll get a tax break now for giving it away. Not to mention the pleasure (or even recognition if you don't give anonymously) for giving now.
It brings us a fair amount of joy to see the money we give away actually being used to improve lives. You don't get to see that in the same way once you're dead, no matter your religious beliefs. Surveys show most people think the best age to receive an inheritance is between ages 26-35, but most inheritances are received around age 60. How would inheriting money at 60 change your life? If you're like most WCIers, it wouldn't change your life at all.
So, give your money away now, at least some portion of it. Give with warm hands rather than cold hands. See the good your money can do. Even if you feel the money given needs to be managed by a trustee, fund the trust now. Figure out how much money you are likely to need for yourself, and give the rest away. Now.
If you're young and have no idea how much money you need (and even if you did, you're nowhere near that amount), then give yourself a little grace. Make small, affordable gifts to people and causes you care about. But make plans so that when you get to enough, you'll recognize it and you can start using your money to make the world a better place. Intentionally.
What do you think? How are you trying to give more intentionally? Is that important to you? Why or why not?