The Story Behind February’s Month of Love and How Charitable Giving Ties In

February is widely recognized as the month of love, not just for romantic partners but also for family, friends, and cherished clients.

Valentine greetings with words of love were popular as far back as the Middle Ages, though written Valentine’s didn’t begin to appear until after 1400. The oldest known Valentine still in existence today was a poem written in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt.

Several years later, King Henry V hired a writer named John Lydgate to compose a Valentine note to Catherine of Valois. Historians say Henry’s marriage to Catherine was not just a strategic political move to unite the kingdoms of England and France, but was about his and Catherine’s genuine love for one another

Birds Do It, Bees Do It

But why February? Blame it on the birds.

During the Middle Ages, it was commonly believed in parts of Europe that February 14 was the beginning of the birds’ mating season. This somehow added to the idea that Valentine’s Day in the middle of the month should be a day for love.

In fact, the English poet Geoffrey Chaucer was the first to record Valentine’s Day as a day of romantic celebration in his 1375 poem “Parliament of Fowls,” writing, “For this was sent on St. Valentine’s Day / Whan every foul cometh there to choose his mate.”

Speaking of finding mates, Cupid is often portrayed on Valentine’s Day cards as a naked cherub launching arrows of love at unsuspecting lovers. But the Roman God Cupid has his roots in Greek mythology as the Greek god of love, Eros.

According to the ancient Greek poets, Eros played with the emotions of Gods and men, using golden arrows to incite love. It wasn’t until the Hellenistic period that Cupid began to be portrayed as the mischievous, chubby child he’d become on Valentine’s Day cards.

However, there are more ways to communicate love than with cards with hearts and cupids.

The Five Love Languages

Not everyone communicates love in the same way, and likewise, people have different ways they prefer to receive love. The concept of love languages was developed by Gary Chapman, Ph.D., in his book The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love That Lasts, where he describes these five unique styles of communicating love, categories he distilled from his experience in marriage counseling and linguistics.

The five love languages are five different ways of expressing and receiving love: words of affirmation, quality time, giving of gifts, acts of service, and physical touch.

For Safeguard Investments, one of our love languages is acts of service. Our Safeguard Cares program exists to enhance our involvement in the community, fostering a culture of service and gratitude among our staff and clients. Each quarter, we will be taking a day to volunteer alongside our peers and clients, engaging with local causes and organizations that are close to our hearts.

 By dedicating this time, we can make a tangible difference in the California communities we proudly serve. We launched this initiative with our first ever toy drive, with over 200 toys being donated across all six of our offices to families in need within our local communities.

A Love Language You Might Consider Is A Charitable Gift

Love is often considered the overarching emotion, while charity represents the act of expressing that love through selfless giving, essentially making acts of kindness and generosity a gift to others.

If you love a certain charity, a qualified charitable distribution (QCD) from the IRS allows individuals who are 70½ years old or older to make gifts of up to $108,000 total to one or more charities directly from a taxable Individual Retirement Account ( IRA) instead of taking their required minimum distributions.

According to the IRS.gov website, people who hold IRAs are required to take required minimum distributions (RMDs) each year beginning at age 73. That’s even if they don’t need or want the funds. And nobody loves the fact that required distribution increases the donor’s total taxable income.

Here are many more reasons to love a QCD. It may reduce required minimum distributions in future years. QCDs are also not counted toward the maximum amounts deductible for those who itemize their giving on their taxes. On top of that, a QCD can potentially enable a donor to give a bigger charitable gift than they could if they just donated cash or other assets

If you love the idea of a qualified charitable contribution, please contact your advisor for a conversation of how this might work you.

What The World Needs Now Is Love

February is an excellent month to reflect on those you love and the love languages they appreciate, be it words of affirmation, quality time, giving of gifts, acts of service, or physical touch. But consider going beyond the Golden Rule of treating others the way you want to be treated.

In their thought-provoking book The Platinum Rule, authors Tony Alessandra and Michael O’Connor argue that the Golden Rule is not always the best way to approach people. Rather, they propose the Platinum Rule: “Do unto others as ‘they’d” like done unto them.’ In other words, find out what love language makes them tick and go from there.

To quote the song by Jackie DeShannon, “What the world needs now is love, sweet love; It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of.”