Planning for your financial future should involve thinking about your legacy—how you will provide for your family and how to maximize your life’s impact on the things that matter most to you. Your legacy will be reflected in your children and grandchildren, in your work, and in the causes and organizations you choose to support with your time and finances.
Donating money or assets to ministry is one of the simplest ways to have an impact, but figuring out where to start with your giving can often be a challenge. Planned giving offers a solution. By creating a plan for long-term giving, you can support the growth of the ministries and causes that matter to you, while also providing for you and your family. Even if you think that you don’t have much to give, the right giving tool can help you create an income stream while also allowing you to donate to the ministries of your choice.
Some planned giving options are straightforward and allow you to designate a charitable organization to receive money upon your death. Other gifts require a little more planning and can provide you with lifetime income streams, potential capital gains and immediate tax deductions, as well as the chance to give to ministry.
The funds you allocate for a planned gift may be given to a ministry or charitable organization over time or after your lifetime, depending on the type of gift. Your planned gift may be created with cash or an outright gift of assets, such as real estate or appreciated stocks.
One of the many benefits of a planned gift is that it can be designed to meet your specific needs, helping you organize your giving and make financial plans for the support of your loved ones. There are a variety of tools you can use to achieve your giving goals.
A Donor Advised Fund (DAF) works like your personal savings fund. You contribute money or assets to the fund, receive an immediate tax deduction, and then recommend distributions to charities or ministries. The funds in a DAF grow tax-free, generating even more money for donations. With a DAF, you have the ability to do all or a portion of your charitable giving through one simple fund.
A Charitable Remainder Trust (CRT) creates a lifetime income stream for you and your spouse, as well as a third party, for a term of up to 20 years. This highly customizable trust can be funded with cash, appreciated stocks, bonds, and a variety of other assets, such as land and real estate. A CRT provides an immediate tax deduction, as well as a potential capital gains tax savings. At the end of the term or the death of the last beneficiary, the remaining assets are then distributed to the charitable organization or ministry of your choice.
A Charitable Gift Annuity (CGA) enables you to receive fixed payments for life and give generously to ministry. You transfer cash or securities and in exchange, you receive fixed payments for life. A portion of your income stream may even be tax-free and you will receive a tax deduction on the good portion of the annuity.
With an Endowment, you can create a lasting legacy that will a provide a continual blessing to ministry beyond your lifetime. Endowments can be a great way not only to support the ministries that matter most to you, but also allows you the opportunity to establish scholarships that impact the future through education. This tool allows you and others to continue to add assets to the fund, and payments to ministry are made from the ongoing interest and provide funding for an unlimited number of years.
If you are unable to find a single gift option to meet your specific needs, you can combine planned giving tools into what’s known as a blended gift. A blended gift can help you see the impact of your giving today, while continuing to provide support for your chosen ministries in the future.
If you are interested in finding the right tools to meet your financial, tax, estate planning, and ministry goals, our consultants make it easy to find the planned giving solution to fit your specific needs.
Contact us at 877.616.5202 or email us to start the conversation or simply to learn more about planned giving. We look forward to helping you plan your legacy.
Gift Annuities are available in most states, but there are a few exceptions. Depending upon the laws of the state in which you live, your Assemblies of God Charitable Gift Annuity will be issued by the General Council of the Assemblies of God or Assemblies of God Foundation and will be a general obligation of the issuing organization. Assemblies of God Foundation is an affiliated entity of AGFinancial. Charitable Gift Annuities are not available in Alabama, Hawaii, Montana, New Jersey, New York, or Washington.
Additional information for California residents: Annuities are subject to regulation by the State of California. Payments under this agreement, however, are not protected or otherwise guaranteed by any government agency or the California Life and Health Insurance Guarantee Association. AG Foundation does not practice law and no legal advice is provided. If you need legal advice, you should consult your own legal counsel.
Additional information for Oklahoma residents: A Charitable Gift Annuity is not regulated by the Oklahoma Insurance Department and is not protected by a guaranty association with the Oklahoma Insurance Department.
Additional information for South Dakota residents: Charitable Gift Annuities are not regulated by and are not under the jurisdiction of the South Dakota Division of Insurance.
