Page 24 - Pakistan Link - March 26, 2021

P24 – PAKISTAN LINK – MARCH 26, 2021 COMMENTARY
How to Be Generous to Family and Yourself

n By Saghir Ahmed Aslam plans recently? Are you seeing the op- Consider the Tax Implications
Rawalpindi, Pakistan portunity for assets you had earmarked As tax rules change, it’s important
for transfer later to instead be given to- to work closely with both your Financial
(The following information is day? Advisor and tax professional to make FOUNDATION
provided solely to educate the Muslim Your Financial Advisor can help sure any gifts you make don’t trigger an
community about investing and finan- you explore how parting with certain as- unexpected tax bill. These gifts are called P.O. BOX 5481, Santa Clara, CA 95056 | (408) 244.3282 | www.hidaya.org
cial planning. It is hoped that the Um- sets now might affect your future finan- annual exclusion gifts. Noncash gifts
mah will benefit from cial independence. Together, you can such as securities or real estate could also One Million Meals
this effort through discuss options for minimizing the im- be given instead of cash.
greater financial em- pact of removing those assets from your With the right planning, you and
powerment, enabling nest egg now. your team of professionals can develop
the community to live “It’s critical for individuals to prior- a gifting strategy that is likely to achieve
in security and dignity itize their own financial security before your desired goals without putting your 50 C $1 $5 $10
and fulfill their reli- making gifts to family members,” Lauer finances in jeopardy. provides provides provides provides
gious and moral obligations towards says. “Nobody wants to become a bur- Don’t forget that your gifts don’t
charitable activities). den to their family, which can happen if need to be monetary. After talking with 1 meal 2 meals 10 meals 20 meals
Graduations, holidays, birthdays, you give away the assets you’ve acquired your family, you may discover offering
and weddings are just some of the life to support yourself.” your time is what’s really needed. Regu-
events that can make us think about Keep Talking lar child care to working parents or lend-
large gifts to children and grandchildren. Communication about money is ing your time and expertise to helping a
“Often, we want the next and future gen- critical within families. Once you’ve grandchild apply for college scholarships
erations to have a better and easier life established limits for yourself on your can be invaluable. These don’t cost mon-
than we’ve had,” explains Deborah Lauer, ability to give, share with your fam- ey but can buy your family real peace of
a Vice President in Wells Fargo Advisors’ ily members the help you’d like to offer. mind.
Life Event Services team. Invite them to also talk with you about Talk with Your Financial Advisor
“This can take the form of bequests their needs. about:
to heirs. But periods of unemployment, Maybe you already know your • Reviewing your current and Donate online via check or card at
volatile incomes, and other economic grandson and his fiancée are saving for long-term financial picture and estate
circumstances among younger genera- a first home. Find out what their short- plans, focusing on assets www.hidaya.org
tions are inspiring many people to give fall is. • Communicating effectively
assets during their lifetimes, when there Is what you’re being asked to sup- with family members about the wealth
is a need and while the giver can see it port in line with your priorities? If you you’d like to share or call us at (408) 244-3282
being enjoyed,” says Lauer. value education and are committed to • Working with a tax profes- Hidaya Foundation is a non-profit 501 (c)(3) charitable organization with Tax ID # 77-0502583
It’s important to make sure your developing your granddaughter’s aca- sional to make sure financial gifts don’t
generosity doesn’t jeopardize your demic talent, you may want to offer to trigger additional taxes
own financial security. After all, you’ve pay tuition directly to her school rather (Saghir A. Aslam only explains
planned carefully for your own retire- than giving a lump sum of cash to her strategies and formulas that he has
ment. Financial gifts you make now can parents. been using. He is merely providing Exchange Rates for Currency Notes*
reduce the assets you have to rely on later If the conversation hasn’t come up information, and NO ADVICE is
in life. yet, but you’ve seen a need or simply given. Mr Aslam does not endorse Countries Buying Selling
How can you manage these com- want to share wealth during your life- or recommend any broker, broker- Rs. Rs.
peting priorities? With open commu- time, prepare for a longer discussion. It age firm, or any investment at all,
nication and an awareness of tax impli- may take a few conversations with family nor does he suggest that anyone will
cations, you may be able to provide the to figure out exactly how they are com- earn a profit when or if they purchase USA 155.25 156.00
help you want to give in a way that works fortable being assisted and how you can stocks, bonds or any other invest- UK 213.50 216.50
for the recipient and you. appropriately supply that assistance. ments. All stocks or investment ve- S.Arabia 41.20 41.70
Assess Your Situation Pride and a sense of independence hicles mentioned are for illustrative Japan 1.48 1.51
“Secure your own oxygen mask can play an important role here – on purposes only. Mr Aslam is not an at- Euro 184.50 186.50
first before assisting other passengers” is both sides. Before you start the conver- torney, accountant, real estate broker, UAE 42.10 42.60
an instruction every frequent flier knows sation, recognize you may have differing stockbroker, investment advisor, or
by heart. It also applies to your finances. values and consider how those might in- certified financial planner. Mr Aslam (*March 25, 2021)
Have you also reviewed your estate fluence your decisions about giving. does not have anything for sale.)

TIME FROM P23 Linlithgow acknowledged the strength Francisco, the author writes, “[Our raised in Karachi… We had got rid of rienced: Only 4 out of a subset of 8,183
a rich man’s third class. There was of Jinnah’s position. It was a fair assess- ship] docked at San Francisco late at the British and the Hindus and had participants in the larger clinical study
a fifth class if one counted the ser- ment, although it would have infuri- our own homeland…I was in Madi- experienced fevers above 104 degrees
vant’s compartment attached to the ated the likes of Nehru, Gandhi and son, Wisconsin with my brother Hu- (and two of them were in the placebo
first class. That’s the way society was Azad had they read it. In the Viceroy’s mayun on that day and it struck me group), according to data published in
divided in India as well.” opinion: “Congress is essentially a that we had ceased to be British Indi- the New England Journal of Medicine
Remembering his father’s post- Hindu party, though it contains Mus- an…That evening, my brother took me and posted on the CDC website.
ing in China, the author writes, “Dur- lim elements... there is no justification to a fancy restaurant, not too fancy, by In fact, besides arm pain, the most
ing World War I, the Great War, my on a broad view for regarding (the the way of celebration, just the two of common side effects after the second
father had been posted in Tientsin Muslims within Congress) as of any us. The next day was the morning-after dose were fatigue and headache.
in North China. Three of my brothers very decisive importance... at the pres- the night before.” While there have been a few in-
have been born there, one of whom, a ent time the only organization which Once Upon a Time is not only an stances of severe allergic reactions with
baby of few months, had died and was can speak on behalf of the Muslims of autobiography of Omar Kureishi, but both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna
buried there in the Muslim graveyard. India is the Muslim League under Jin- also a mini-course on the British Raj vaccines, they are exceedingly rare. Just
(When I went to China in 1956, I had nah… The Quaid-i-Azam was playing in India. The book is an interesting to be safe, the CDC advises people to
made a special point of requesting my his cards right. Any future settlement read for all book lovers and students of be monitored for 15 to 30 minutes after
hosts that I wanted to visit Tientsin of India would have to have the con- history. Omar Kureishi traveling back receiving their shot so they can get im-
and see if my brother’s grave was still sent of the Muslims, not as a minority in time, had masterfully juxtaposed mediate treatment if necessary. Anyone
there. I did get to Tientsin but was told but as a nation.” his personal story with the British Raj’s experiencing symptoms such as throat
that the graveyard has been shifted. (A On his voyage to the United political, social, and cultural implica- swelling, itchiness, hives or trouble
likely story!) … During my family’s States, the author remembers visiting tions. breathing after leaving the vaccination
stay there, China had had great floods, Shanghai, “A civil war was raging in (Dr Ahmed S. Khan – site should seek emergency medical
and my father being a doctor had been China and we were told that the roar of Omar Kureishi (at microphone) and dr.a.s.khan@ieee.org – is a Fulbright care immediately, experts said.
prominent in relief work, above and the guns could be heard in Shahghai… Jamshed Marker (behind), pioneers of Specialist Scholar-2017-2022) Those who have an “immediate al-
beyond the call of duty and for which as we disembarked, we were body- cricket commentary in Pakistan, seen lergic reaction” to a first dose of either
he had received a high civilian award searched by a soldier…The Street was during the visit of the Pakistan cricket DOSE FROM P20 the Moderna vaccine or the Pfizer-
from the Chinese Government…” lined three-deep with women, some team to East Africa in 1956 vanished (except for a sore, swollen BioNTech vaccine should not receive
Remembering the post-war po- with babies in their arms. They were bump at the injection point). a second dose, the CDC says. But for
litical scene, the author observes, “He yelling, imploring, beseeching; “good night. I was up at first light to catch Choi described her experiences everyone else, the experts agree: Get the
[Churchill] himself had said that he time Joe, five dollars.” …these were a glimpse of the United States. I saw in an essay published in December in second shot.
had not become prime minister of not prostitutes, these were the victims houses on top of a hill. They looked JAMA Internal Medicine. Since then, Compared with suffering through
His Majesty’s Government in order of the civil war, the crumpled rose- like dolls houses, like something out of she said she’s received emails from an actual bout with COVID-19 — not
“to preside over the liquidation of the leaves. We went to a café owned by an a fairy tale. I had arrived. One chapter hundreds of people, many of whom to mention the possibility of contend-
British Empire.” He nurtured an in- American called Blackie who told us of my life had been firmly shut. An- said they came across her account and ing with long-term complications from
tense hatred of the Congress Party and that “Shanghai ain’t fit for humans”… other one was beginning…” said it was comforting to know these the disease — there’s really no contest,
of Gandhi in particular… The Quaid- the next morning we went out again. The author concludes the book reactions were common, and OK. said Lee, the pediatric infectious dis-
i-Azam saw in the war an opportunity The official rate of exchange was one with reference to the independence (Choi learned after publication that she eases expert.
to strengthen it further. Patrick French US dollar to 12,000 Chinese dollars, of Pakistan, “On August 14, 1947, the had indeed received the vaccine and “Vaccines are a far safer way to de-
in his Liberty or Death discloses that the open market exchange was 44,000 Union Jack was lowered and the green not a placebo.) velop immunity,” she said.
in a briefing to Amery, the Secretary Chinese dollars.” and white flag with a star and crescent To be clear, it’s rare to have symp- And if you’ve never been infected
of State for India, the Viceroy, Lord Reflecting on his arrival in San of the sovereign state of Pakistan was toms as intense as the ones Choi expe- DOSE, P28
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