Giving Tool Box | Planned Giving & Trust

Giving Tool Box

What makes up an estate plan?

• Estate Plan (when you no longer need it)
  One of the simplest yet most powerful ways to give, while taking care of family is to put God’s work into your estate plan. This allows you to make a substantial gift after you no longer need the assets. It is also very simple, and can be done for free through the planned giving department.
• Appreciated Assets (major tax savings)
  Increase your giving power by gifting appreciated securities. Have stock that has appreciated? Gift the stock, take a deduction for the full current value, avoid all capital gains. And if you still like the stock, repurchase it with cash and raise your cost basis.
• Charitable Gift Annuity (guaranteed income for life)
  Tired of low CD rates or the variations in the stock market? A CGA can give a guaranteed income (much of it income tax-free) for one or two individuals as long as they live at very attractive rates, and then give again to God’s work. Can be funded with appreciated assets, saving capital gains as well.
• Retained Life Estate (gift real estate now, enjoy it for life)
  Do you want to make a significant gift that doesn’t affect your lifestyle now? Consider a retained life estate — you enjoy making the gift, receive a tax deduction, and you know it will go where you want it — but continue to enjoy the full use and enjoyment of the asset as long as you live.
• Bargain Sale (part gift, part income)
  This tool provides a split benefit for those who want to gift property, but also need to benefit from it. The property is sold at a discount — meaning you receive proceeds from the sale, a tax write-off for a partial gift, and we deal with marketing the property — and God’s work benefits when it is sold for full value.
• Life Insurance (gift an unneeded or new policy)
  A very easy gift to set up that makes a big impact at little to no cost. You receive an income tax deduction for gifting paid-up policies.
• Cash Gift (OK, what could be easier?)
  Simple, fast, immediate benefit to God’s work. Also removes taxable assets from your estate.
• Retirement Plans (use the beneficiary designation)
  Consider adding God’s work as a beneficiary on a retirement plan — you can always specify percentages that split it up between individuals and non-profits. Tax-deferred accounts given to non-profits avoid all taxation (this can be a great asset to gift if you anticipate your family would cash it out — instead, give them other, non-taxable assets).
• Personal Property (give a gift you no longer need or want to maintain)
  Gift artwork, collectibles, valuable coins, equipment or vehicles with significant value. If it is a gift that we can use, rather than sell, you may receive an even higher deduction for it.
• Charitable Remainder Trust (benefit yourself or others, then God’s work)
  Consider a special Trust that can pay you an attractive income and benefit God’s work. Set up a Trust for yourself or others for a number of years or for life, receive a steady income stream, then benefit charity.
• Charitable Lead Trust (advance God’s work, then a gift to family)
  Want to benefit family down the road, but interested in putting money to work for God’s cause now? Consider this unique tool where your money is invested in God’s cause for a stated amount of time, then passes to family (or even reverts to you), with estate tax savings potential.

Charitable Gift Annuity

A Charitable Gift Annuity or CGA is a split gift — one that benefits you (or someone you care about) with predictable lifetime income, and benefits your favorite charity with the remainder when you pass away. A CGA is a contract between you and your charity, whereby you transfer cash or another asset to the charity in exchange for lifetime income. Additional benefits include an immediate tax deduction, the potential for a portion of the lifetime income stream to be tax-free, a possible reduction or elimination of capital gains on appreciated securities, and supporting an organization you care about. Your Trust Services Department can provide a free illustration of what this would look like in your case.