The Giving-While-Living Shift
Three times the number of donors adopted giving-while-living timelines in the last decade.
3 min
A sense of urgency to solve global environmental and social issues is driving profound changes in how wealthy families are structuring their philanthropic plans. Traditional models, which aim to pay out charitable gifts for generations, are increasingly being replaced by plans that emphasise immediacy over perpetuity.
Three times the number of donors adopted giving-while-living timelines in the decade beginning in 2010, compared with the 1990s—38% of respondents versus 12%, according to a 2020 survey by Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors in New York City. Of those, 76% chose to spend down philanthropic assets within 15 years, the survey found.
This trend is likely to continue, says Olga Tarasov, Munich-based director of knowledge development for Rockefeller Philanthropy. “There’s anecdotal evidence that the inequalities brought to the surface by the pandemic have accelerated this trend,” she says.
While the issues addressed by donors are the same regardless of time frame, environmental causes are particularly benefiting by the rising spend-down trend, Tarasov says. “When you look at reasons for giving, the environment is a higher priority for spend-down philanthropic plans.”
The giving-while-living trend is driven by a desire by donors to witness the impact of their gifts, says Dien Yuen, assistant professor of philanthropy at the American College of Financial Services. “The Gates Foundation started this and many have followed. They want to push money out the door now to see things in action.”
Tax planning is also a factor, especially during the longest bull market in history, when investors are sitting on enormous investment gains.
“There’s a big tax benefit to using securities to make gifts while alive,” says Andy Rosenberger, head of tax managed solutions at Orion Advisor Solutions in Omaha, Neb. “You don’t have to realize gains when you give them away and you create a charitable deduction that can offset income elsewhere.” When bequeathed at death, a charitable deduction isn’t permitted.
For folks who have a multigenerational charitable foundation but want to shift to a spend-down strategy within a shorter time frame, legal issues may have to be addressed.
“Charters of a foundation or family office often stipulate a timeline, and the default setting is in perpetuity,” says Tarasov. “But changing is difficult if a family is divided.”
Embracing Lifetime Giving
Most wealthy families aren’t committing to sunsetting all philanthropic assets by the end of their life expectancies, but are doing some of both—giving now and setting up foundations for giving over generations—says Caroline Hodkinson, head of philanthropic advisory at Bessemer Trust in New York. “There’s a spectrum, and most of our clients are in the middle.”
There is a notable difference in how clients approach giving during life versus at death, most notably, a stronger desire for both control over how gifted assets will be used and evidence of impact, says Crystal Thompkins, head of philanthropic solutions at BNY Mellon Wealth Management. “The lifetime mission involves a more dynamic conversation. Clients want to see diversity in leadership. Track records on success,” she says.
The Lifetime Giving Tool Kit
Lifetime donors must carefully weigh various charitable tools, Thompkins says. “It used to be that the uberwealthy focused on private foundations and donor-advised funds were considered only good for chequebook philanthropy,” she says. “But that’s shifting, because you can use donor-advised funds in really creative ways to meet lifetime planning goals.”
Charitable lead trusts are attractive when interest rates are low. Donors get a larger income tax deduction for the amount transferred to the trust when rates are low, Thompkins says.
The trust pays annual income to charity, and at the end of its term, remaining assets go to beneficiaries. They require in-depth planning because they have tax, estate-planning, and legal implications, Thompkins says. “That trust conversation has been deprioritized at a time where there is a sense of urgency around meeting need.”
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The latest trend in wellness travel is somewhere between a spa trip and a doctor’s appointment
4 min
For some vacationers, the ideal getaway involves $1,200 ozone therapy or an $1,800 early-detection cancer test.
Call it the longevity vacation. People who are fixated on optimising their personal health are pursuing travel activities that they hope will help them stay healthier for longer. It is part of a broader interest in longevity that often extends beyond traditional medicine . These costly trips and treatments are rising in popularity as money pours into the global wellness travel market.
At high-end resorts, guests can now find biological age testing, poolside vitamin IV drips, and stem-cell therapy. Prices can range from hundreds of dollars for shots and drips to tens of thousands for more invasive procedures, which go well beyond standard wellness offerings like yoga, massages or facials.
Some longevity-inspired trips focus on treatments, while others focus more on social and lifestyle changes. This includes programs that promise to teach travellers the secrets of centenarians .
Mark Blaskovich, 66 years old, spent $4,500 on a five-night trip last year centred on lessons from the world’s “Blue Zones,” places including Sardinia, Italy, and Okinawa, Japan, where a high number of people live for at least 100 years. Blaskovich says he wanted to get on a healthier path as he started to feel the effects of ageing.
He chose a retreat at Modern Elder Academy in Mexico, where he attended workshops detailing the power of supportive relationships, embracing a plant-based diet and incorporating natural movement into his daily life.
“I’ve been interested in longevity and trying to figure out how to live longer and live healthier,” says Blaskovich.
Vitamins and ozone
When Christy Menzies noticed nurses behind a curtained-off area at the Four Seasons Resort Maui in Hawaii on a family vacation in 2022, she assumed it might be Covid-19 testing. They were actually injecting guests with vitamin B12.
Menzies, 40, who runs a travel agency, escaped to the longevity clinic between trips to the beach, pool and kids’ club, where she reclined in a leather chair, and received a 30-minute vitamin IV infusion.
“You’re making investments in your wellness, your health, your body,” says Menzies, who adds that she felt more energised afterward.
The resort has been expanding its offerings since opening a longevity centre in 2021. A multi-day treatment package including ozone therapy, stem-cell therapy and a “fountain of youth” infusion, costs $44,000. Roughly half a dozen guests have shelled out for that package since it made its debut last year, according to Pat Makozak, the resort’s senior spa director. Guests can also opt for an early-detection cancer blood test for $1,800.
The ozone therapy, which involves withdrawing blood, dissolving ozone gas into it, and reintroducing it into the body through an IV, is particularly popular, says Makozak. The procedure is typically administered by a registered nurse, takes upward of an hour and costs $1,200.
Longevity vacationers are helping to fuel the global wellness tourism market, which is expected to surpass $1 trillion in 2024, up from $439 billion in 2012, according to the nonprofit Global Wellness Institute. About 13% of U.S. travellers took part in spa or wellness activities while traveling in the past 12 months, according to a 2023 survey from market-research group Phocuswright.
Canyon Ranch, which has multiple wellness resorts across the country, earlier this year introduced a five-night “Longevity Life” program, starting at $6,750, that includes health-span coaching, bone-density scans and longevity-focused sessions on spirituality and nutrition.
The idea is that people will return for an evaluation regularly to monitor progress, says Mark Kovacs, the vice president of health and performance.
What doctors say
Doctors preach caution, noting many of these treatments are unlikely to have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, producing a placebo effect at best and carrying the potential for harm at worst. Procedures that involve puncturing the skin, such as ozone therapy or an IV drip, risk possible infection, contamination and drug interactions.
“Right now there isn’t a single proven treatment that would prolong the life of someone who’s already healthy,” says Dr. Mark Loafman, a family-medicine doctor in Chicago. “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”
Some studies on certain noninvasive wellness treatments, like saunas or cold plunges , do suggest they may help people feel less stressed, or provide some temporary pain relief or sleep improvement.
Linda True, a policy analyst in San Francisco, spent a day at RAKxa, a wellness retreat on a visit to family in Thailand in February. True, 46, declined the more medical-sounding offerings, like an IV drip, and opted for a traditional style of Thai massage that involved fire and is touted as a “detoxification therapy.”
“People want to spend money on things that they feel might be doing good,” says Dr. Tamsin Lewis, medical adviser at RoseBar Longevity at Six Senses Ibiza, a longevity club that opened last year, whose menu includes offerings such as cryotherapy, infrared sauna and a “Longevity Boost” IV.
RoseBar says there is good evidence that reducing stress contributes to longevity, and Lewis says she doesn’t offer false promises about treatments’ efficacy . Kovacs says Canyon Ranch uses the latest science and personal data to help make evidence-based recommendations.
Jaclyn Sienna India owns a membership-based, ultra luxury travel company that serves people whose net worth exceeds $100 million, many of whom give priority to longevity, she says. She has planned trips for clients to Blue Zones, where there are a large number of centenarians. On one in February, her company arranged a $250,000 weeklong stay for a family of three to Okinawa that included daily meditation, therapeutic massages and cooking classes, she says.
India says keeping up with a longevity-focused lifestyle requires more than one treatment and is cost-prohibitive for most people.
Doctors say travellers may be more likely to glean health benefits from focusing on a common vacation goal : just relaxing.
Dr. Karen Studer, a physician and assistant professor of preventive medicine at Loma Linda University Health says lowering your stress levels is linked to myriad short- and long-term health benefits.
“It may be what you’re getting from these expensive treatments is just a natural effect of going on vacation, decreasing stress, eating better and exercising more.”
This stylish family home combines a classic palette and finishes with a flexible floorplan
Just 55 minutes from Sydney, make this your creative getaway located in the majestic Hawkesbury region.
