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Charitable Gift Annuities

Joyce and Burton had been married for forty-seven years. Not long before he died, Burton looked into converting some of their certificates of deposit into a charitable gift annuity. He and Joyce met with their advisors and found out it was a wonderful idea.

Joyce: We met with our tax advisor and looked at the idea. When I saw the income we would have for the rest of both of our lives and compared to what we were receiving from our CD's, I was amazed! Plus there were tax benefits that helped us immediately. And now, I don't have to do a thing - it's all taken care of.

The development officer explained how they could use our support and what it meant to them. It was something Burton and I did together, and I'm happy; really happy we did it when we could do it together!"

A charitable gift annuity can provide tax benefits now and a life-time income for the donor and a beneficiary if desired. Perhaps also it brought peace of mind to Burton knowing that Joyce would have the resources she needed if he was no longer there.

A deferred gift annuity is a variation on a gift annuity. A gift is made and the charitable organization promises in return to pay you an income stream that begins on a future date you specify. The annuity rate is calculated based on your age when the payments begin and will be greater than an immediate annuity based on your current age. The charitable deduction, which you get to take in the year of the gift (subject to your tax circumstances), will also be based on when the payments begin and will also be greater than if it was an immediate annuity.

A flexible deferred gift annuity allows you to pick a range of dates when the annuity payments will begin. For example, you might choose to begin quarterly payments on March 31st of any year not earlier than 2013 or later than 2018. The payment amount will be based on the year you choose in the future to have payments begin. The charitable gift deduction is based on the earliest possible beginning date (2013 in this case) and is taken in the year of the gift, subject to your tax circumstances.

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An attractive benefit of deferred gift annuities is that they enable a donor to make a gift now and take a charitable income tax deduction now while in a high tax bracket. Income may be deferred, for instance, until after retirement, when the rate of tax will presumably be lower. Deferred gift annuities are creative ways to delay income to pay for children's or grandchildren's college expenses, supplement your retirement income, or assist with assisted-care living arrangements that may be inevitable.

A part of each payment, as in any gift annuity, may be tax-free for a period of years. However, the precise amount of each payment will depend on the tax rules in effect when the payments start.

Charitable gift annuities are the gifts that keep on giving. Rates on charitable gift annuities are based on age and whether the contract is immediate or deferred. If you would like an illustration of this life income to address your particular situation, please click here and fill out the response form and send us the appropriate information. To look at some specific rates on current gift annuities, click here. A generic example of a charitable gift annuity is available as well as a graphic example.

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