Consider charitable giving or volunteering this holiday season

We’re well into the holiday season, if store displays are any indication, the traditional time for charitable giving and volunteering (and this annual column).

Donating money and time reflects the holiday spirit. Financial gifts made before the end of the year might qualify for tax benefits. There are many ways for people to give money. Cash is simplest. People with substantial resources often turn to more complicated strategies, such as donating appreciated stock and other assets and making a qualified charitable distribution from individual retirement accounts.

To be sure, the tax calendar matters less than before. The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act lowered individual income tax rates and significantly increased the standard deduction. These changes, along with several other provisions, combined to reduce the number of itemizers and, therefore, the number of taxpayers taking a deduction for charitable contributions, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Tax Policy Center.

The impact of giving is far greater than tax incentives. The opening remarks by Brad Hewitt, then chief executive at the financial services firm Thrivent Financial, at an event years ago made the point well. Hewitt quoted from a proverb that he said meant much to him: “The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller.”

Generosity moves people to support their religious beliefs and institutions (religion is the main beneficiary of individual giving), as well as arts and culture, the environment, animal welfare and other community needs. Research strongly suggests generosity is good for our health and wellbeing. Acts of generosity connect us to the wider community, and those connections are critical to building true wealth.

“Spending our precious currency — time — in ways that are meaningful and fulfilling is what makes us feel wealthy,” write Richard Leider and David Shapiro in “Who Do You Want To Be When You Grow Old?: The Path of Purposeful Aging.” “Being able to give of ourselves to others — family, friends, strangers in need — is what makes time meaningful. The more of ourselves that we give away — the more generous our actions — the richer we become.”

Thing is, you can’t control the business cycle, the ups and downs of the markets and political outcomes. You can control your giving, volunteering and service to others. Giving and generosity are also an underappreciated foundation for any long-term financial plan, much like investing for retirement and children’s college education.

Make a difference this holiday season.