Bernice writes, I'm retired and living comfortably with enough money to last my lifetime.

Instead of waiting for an inheritance, I'd like to give my children some money now, while they really need it and can enjoy it.

What are the gifting tax rules that I should know?

Bernice, what a generous and thoughtful goal.

There's certainly a lot of confusion about gifting

that I think makes some people scared to give money away.

This podcast will review six things you should know

about giving gifts to family or friends.

Hey, everyone, welcome to episode 1001 of Money Girl. That's right, we just celebrated our

1,000th episode. And to celebrate, you might notice that we've got new show art. This is

Finance Friday, where I answer your burning money questions. I'm Laura

Adams, an award-winning author, spokesperson, speaker, and founder of the money stack. That's my

sub-stack newsletter. You can sign up for the money stack and learn more at laura d.adams.com. That's

laura d.adams.com. All right, when we're talking about gifts,

I want to make sure that we're on the same page, that you understand what is a gift technically.

When it comes to taxes, a gift is something of value that you give someone else without

receiving an equal value in return.

For instance, you might transfer cash from your checking account to someone else's bank account

or write them a paper check. You might pay someone's mortgage or their credit card debt for

them by sending money directly to their lender. That's still considered a

gift even if the recipient never physically received your money. However, there are some exceptions

for certain direct payments that I'll review. Another way you might give a gift is by giving

...