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Red Bird Missionary Conference Planned Giving |
What we do with our assets may be the most eloquent statement of all regarding
what we truly believe.
Consider prayerfully the many options you have to give a gift that goes on
giving through God's mission.
Outright Gifts: A common Choice
The most popular method of making a charitable gift is through an outright transfer.
Usually, outright charitable gives are in cash, but any type of property,
including stock, bonds, real estate and collectibles may be given.
Real Estate: A Valuable, Often Overlooked, Opportunity for Giving
Any type of real estate can be given. In fact, a gift of a personal residence or
farm may be made to a charity now, while you continue to live there during your
lifetime. A Current income tax deduction may still be available. Outright gifts
of other real estate can also qualify for an itemized charitable
income tax deduction.
Life Insurance: An Opportunity to Give Beyond Your Means
Many individuals name their Church as the owner or beneficiary of a life
insurance policy. This gift they might otherwise be able to make.
Some individuals, who want their life insurance proceeds paid to their
family, name a church or charity as the contingent beneficiary to receive
the proceeds if the family members do not survive the insured. A charity
may also be named as the recipient of annual dividends from insurance
policies. All of these gifts occur without probate or other
administrative delay.
Retirement Funds: An Increasingly Popular Item To Give
More and more people are naming their church as a contingent beneficiary
of their retirement plans or individual retirement accounts, to succeed
other family members. If you and other family members die before receiving
all of the funds, the church would receive the remaining property.
Bank Accounts: An Inexpensive, Flexible Gift Opportunity
A popular way to make a charitable gift is to open a bank account in
trust for a charity. The person who opens the account has the right to
make deposits, to make withdrawals, or to close the account at any time.
The balance remaining in the account at death automatically becomes
the property of the named charity. This occurs without probate or
other administrative delay.
Deferred Gifts: Set Up To Provide Income or Life Use to Your
Beneficiaries or The Church
There are five primary types of deferred life income gifts.
- The Charitable Remainder Unitrust is an irrevocable transfer of
property to a trustee, who pays you and/or your chosen beneficiaries
an income for life. The income is a fixed percentage of the annual
fair market value of the trust. Thereafter, the trust assets become
the sole property of the charity.
- The Charitable Remainder Annuity Trust is similar to a Charitable
Remainder Unitrust, except the annual income paid to the beneficiary
is a fixed annual amount.
- A Pooled Income Fund provides annual income for your life or the
life of your chosen beneficiaries. The amount will be what the charity
gets when investing your funds together with the gifts of others who
make similar gifts.
- A Charitable Gift Annuity provides for a fixed annual payment for
the life of the beneficiaries.
- A Charitable Lead Trust provides the income to the charity for a
period of years, with the remainder coming back to you or going to
your chosen beneficiaries.
In each of the above cases, itemized income tax deductions result.
Responsibility for investing your gift may also be shifted to the charity.
Discuss these advantages with your tax advisor.
Charitable Bequests using Wills or Trusts Can Leave A Charitable Legacy
Outright gifts at death through a Will or Trust are perhaps the most common
method of making a bequest at death to a charitable institution. This
may be a fixed dollar amount, a percentage of the estate, a distribution
as a successor to a deceased beneficiary, or a fit as the final taker if
all named beneficiaries are deceased.
(parts reprinted with permission from GBOD; "Giving is an Act of Faith"
copyright 1995.) |
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