Understanding Gift Planning
With maturity and wisdom often comes an interest in ensuring that the people we care about, as well as the values that have played important roles in our own lives, are protected both now and in the future.
With strategic planning you may find a planned-giving vehicle that lets you address your own financial concerns and challenges while also allowing you to create a legacy that will extend the benefits of your generosity far into the future and on a much broader scale.
So where do you begin?
With all the options available, which is the best one for you? Since the various gift plans offer tremendous benefits for you, the donor, just as you have with all of your financial planning, your strategy will be based on your indiviual situation. Below are some ways to begin.
Familiarize yourself with the options and their benefits by comparing the gift plans side by side.
Or see the various strategies as they apply to people with similar goals and concerns as yourself by using our interactive Life-Stage Gift Planner.
Do you have specific concerns you would like addressed first? Then look below to find the starting point for your philanthropic strategy.
- Do you have a specific asset that you would like to give, and want to know the gift vehicles and benefits that apply? Click on one of these links to start: cash, retirement funds, securities, closely held business stock.
- Do you want to give, but also need to make sure loved ones are provided for either now or after you are gone? Try looking at these options: charitable gift annuities (immediate and deferred), charitable lead trusts.
- Do you want to make a gift, but can’t afford to change your lifestyle? Look into a bequest.
- Are you worried about your income in the years to come? A gift to us in the form of a charitable gift annuity or charitable remainder trust can actually provide you with a guaranteed, risk-free income for life.
Next Steps
- I’d like to have a confidential conversation with a gift-planning
officer about this gift plan or other options - Read about other donors and the gifts they’ve made
Please note: Because the federal estate tax has been repealed for 2010, there is no current estate tax in 2010 for the gifts described on this page. However, the consensus opinion among professionals is that Congress will enact an estate-tax law that may be retroactive to January 1, 2010. It is very important that you seek the advice of your estate-planning attorney to determine what changes, if any, need to be made to your existing estate plans, and then again if Congress reinstates the estate tax sometime later this year.
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