Have you ever used the phrase “timing is everything” to help explain a positive—or negative—outcome in your life or in someone else’s? As with most significant decisions, when it comes to making a significant gift to a ministry you care about, good timing has advantages.
Transferring assets to a ministry via a beneficiary designation, such as establishing Payable on Death provisions for bank accounts, is an excellent way to make a charitable gift at death. However, it does not provide you any tax benefits during your lifetime.
If, for example, you guarantee during your lifetime that a piece of property will be distributed to a ministry at your death, you can receive an income tax charitable deduction today, though the actual distribution will not occur until the time of death.
During your lifetime, you’ll have the full benefit of the property, including the income it produces. Or if you wish to make a future gift of a home or farm, you can retain the right to live in it or receive the rental value from it.
With proper planning, you can receive an income tax charitable deduction in the year that you guarantee your future gift while continuing to receive the benefit of the property.
If you’d like to learn more about the benefits you may receive when you guarantee a future gift to a ministry you care about, email us at contactcenter@cdfcapital.org or call us at 888-540-7112.
