Doing so is a powerful tax strategy to optimize your charitable giving.

A qualified charitable distribution, or QCD, allows you to distribute funds from your IRA to an eligible charity (a 501(c)(3) organization) as long as you’re 70 1/2 years of age or older. Since the gift will go directly to the charity, you can exclude the dollar amount of the gift from your taxable income up to $100,000 each year.

Having a desire to give and a philanthropic mindset are both important qualities to possess in modern society. With so many economic and social challenges in society, contributions to charities and philanthropy efforts are needed now more than ever. While you likely may appreciate the value of giving, you also want to give wisely.