You love the opera. You give to every cause that helps children. You have walked every foot of Central Park for Breast Cancer. Because of your deep passions, it may be time to focus your giving and plan it. By planning your giving you make your giving more effective by working with a cause or a charity or two you truly care about. You decide upon and then fulfill your philanthropic goals.

By planning your giving you may –

• Make a larger charitable gift than you thought possible.
• Retain a stream of income for life for yourself and in some case for your beneficiaries.
• Increase your current spendable income.
• Reduce the costs and time in your estate settlement and reduce income tax through a deduction for your gift.
• Avoid capital-gains tax on your gift of long-term appreciated property.
• Eliminate federal estate tax on property passing to charity upon your death.

Appreciated stock, publicly traded or closely held, are the most common type of noncash gift. You save in income taxes through a charitable contribution deduction and may avoid capital gains tax.

Real estate is the second most common type of noncash gift. You may receive a charitable income-tax deduction for the full fair-market value of your property and you may also avoid tax on the capital gains element of your gifted property.

Bequests are the most popular planned giving method. You simply include a written statement in your will directing specific assets, or a percentage of the estate, to be transferred to your charity.

Your will is integral to your financial and legal planning. Planning can reduce the taxable amount of the estate and in some cases eliminate estate taxes that would otherwise be payable by your heirs. And remember single gals if you do not decide what to do with your assets, the government will.

Your retirement plan assets may be the single largest asset in your portfolio. You simply obtain a beneficiary designation form from the retirement plan administrator and name your charity as the entire or partial beneficiary of the retirement plan. You also may avoid federal estate-tax liability.

Life insurance is similar to a retirement plan designation. Your gift to your charity is accomplished by naming it as a beneficiary of the policy. You retain ownership of the policy and have access to the policy’s cash value. Again, you may avoid federal estate-tax liability.

For immediate tax benefits, in New York State, you may name a charitable organization as the owner of your life insurance policy. You are allowed an immediate federal charitable income-tax deduction. Income-tax deductions for contributions you make each year so your charity may pay subsequent premiums are allowed, too.

Please remember in making noncash or planned gifts to always work with your own attorney, tax professional, or investment professional to complete the gift.

Now go walk Central Park.

Rita Fuerst Adams, President, Charitable and Philanthropic Management Counsel specializes in new and emerging not-for-profit organizations and in establishing fundraising programs. Rita has served charitable and philanthropic organizations in a variety of fields in Canada and the United States.

She has more than twenty-five years experience in not-for-profit management, organizational development, and fundraising. Rita works with volunteers to start new charitable and philanthropic organizations, volunteers and staffs of established organizations to start development programs, and experienced fundraising volunteers and staff to revitalize existing development programs and structure and direct campaigns.

Rita is the author of several articles and the editor of a book on fundraising regulations and laws.

Rita Fuerst Adams, CFRE
President
Charitable and Philanthropic Management Counsel
257 Bolton Street
South Boston, Massachusetts 02127-1303
617-268-4960
rita@rita1st.com
www.rita1st.com