The Employer Match: How Charitable Giving is Like Your 401k
A common piece of personal finance advice is to “take free money. Even if you can’t do anything else, contribute to your 401k enough to get a company match.” Many employers will match up to a certain percentage of your salary (usually 3-5%) as an additional contribution to your 401k. For example, let's say you are earning $50,000/year and the match is 5%. When you contribute (tax-deductible) to your 401k of $2,500, your company will also put in $2,500. If you don’t contribute, you are missing out on free money. Surprisingly, the same holds true for donations to charity. A less common piece of financial advice, but more important than ever during years like 2020, is this: find out if your employer will match your charitable donations so you can…
