Generosity is often a foundation of financial success as well as an essential key to living a happy life, according to Wade Chessman, Certified Financial Planner, CEO, and founder of Chessman Wealth Strategies.
He co-authored a book on the topic designed to inspire and enlighten readers with quotes, illustrations, essays, and short stories that explore the transformational power of giving. Entitled Giving Transforms You – 52 Ways Giving Transforms You, Your Family, Your Business and Your Community, Chessman’s book includes practical tips on reducing taxes and generating lifetime income to create a legacy through charitable giving.
Generous People are Happier People
“It’s a collaborative book with lots of different advisors coming together,” Chessman told RewardExpert. “The main intention was to inspire readers to have a greater impact on the communities in which they serve.”
While Chessman noted that a U.S. study of philanthropy found that more than 90 percent of high net worth households in the country donate to charity compared to only 60 percent of households in the general population, he also said he has personally observed that “generous people are happier people.”
“We know that giving can help others,” he said. “It can make a difference in the causes we care about. But being generous can help the individual in many ways as well.”
One of these ways is to take us outside of ourselves.
“It helps you take the focus off yourself,” he continued. “This is important because our society is so self-focused right now with cell phones, selfies, and all that. Giving helps you focus on others.”
Being generous also triggers a chemical response in the body. “It causes the release of endorphins and neurotransmitters such as dopamine,” Chessman added. “This makes us feel physically happy.”
Charitable actions encourage collaboration as well. “I love what Zig Ziglar said about generosity,” Chessman said. “He said that you’ll get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want. To be truly successful today, you need connections and lots of people working together. Generosity deepens those connections and can create future reward.”
Donor-Centric Charitable Tools
If you’d like to explore the power of charitable giving for yourself, Chessman suggests his book as a useful source of motivation. “You don’t have to read it in one sitting,” he noted. “Just pick it up and read a few pages whenever you’re looking for inspiration. It’s very encouraging and will help you understand the many rewards of giving—not just the financial ones.”
However, if you’d like to go further and use donor-centric charitable methods to improve your financial situation, he said it’s important to turn “tax dollars into giving dollars.”
“Explore tools like charitable gift annuities and trusts,” he said. “They can generate a certain amount of income per year as well as benefit your charity and reduce your taxes. You might be surprised that even a lot of our high net worth clients aren’t aware of all the tools they can use to satisfy their charitable intent and also get benefits back.”
A Systematic, Repeatable Approach
Founded in 2004, Chessman Wealth Strategies is an independent financial advisor. Chessman and his team serve investment clients nationwide, providing comprehensive financial wealth management services including financial planning, risk management, tax planning, business planning, retirement planning, and estate planning utilizing the firm’s trademarked Smart Choices Advance Planning Solution approach.
“It’s a systematic, repeatable, proven process that we developed to make sure we’re covering every important wealth management area in an organized fashion,” Chessman explained. “One of the foundations of our solution is charitable giving.”
To learn more about Chessman Wealth Strategies and Giving Transforms You – 52 Ways Giving Transforms You, Your Family, Your Business and Your Community, visit www.chessmanwealth.com.