financial services

You May Be Able to Give More than You Ever Thought Possible

I meet people everyday who say they have very little left to give to the ministries they care deeply about. It’s not that they don’t want to give more, but they have limited cash from which to give. There is a deep misunderstanding that giving can only be done from what’s in a checking or savings account, yet most people have no more than 6-10% of their net worth in cash.

Planned Giving is the process of making significant charitable planned gifts from the other 90%-94% of non-cash assets that one owns. It is the giving of non-cash assets during life, or at death, that become part of a complete financial and estate plan. With planned giving, an entirely new world of possibilities opens up to fund the ministries you care deeply about since it is not based on the small percentage of net worth sitting in cash.

Planned giving is methodical, well thought out in advance, and is usually deferred to a trigger date or event. This trigger event may be the sale of a large asset such as real estate, highly appreciated stocks, a business interest, or when a believer goes to be with with the Lord. Planned giving does not affect your present lifestyle.

Using an estate plan as part of a planned giving strategy can be very efficient. Most people never think about including their favorite ministries as a partial beneficiary of some of their estate plan, in addition to their children. One of the reasons is many attorneys never mention planned giving when they are drafting a will and other estate planning documents.

An Estate consists of:

  • Real estate
  • Automobiles
  • Investments like stocks, bonds and mutual funds
  • Bank and saving accounts
  • Annuities
  • IRAs, 401ks and other types of qualified retirement accounts
  • Life insurance death benefits
  • Business interests
  • Precious metals like gold and silver
  • Miscellaneous valuables like collectible art, antiques or a classic car
  • And almost anything else you can think of that’s not listed

 

Any of these assets can be chosen to benefit your favorite ministry(s) after your demise to help further its long term mission. A few of my favorites for tax purposes is giving what’s left in an IRA, annuity, or business interests to a charity instead of the children, because they would have to pay income taxes on these types of inherited assets. A charity doesn’t have to because of their tax exempt status.

In reference to children and inheritance, if they love the Lord they will, or should, be joyful you are including your favorite ministries as part of your overall estate plan. Speaking from experience, my wife and I included charities as 20% of our estate plan and our children think it’s great.

If you would like to learn more about helping your favorite ministries and leaving a legacy with planned giving, contact myself or Pat Hail at 830-609-6986. We offer a complete team approach including an attorney, CPA, Certified Wealth Strategist, and Planned Giving Specialist to assist you in your unique giving journey using non cash assets.