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Gift Annuity

A Charitable Gift Annuity (CGA) is a contract between you and the LCMS Foundation for the benefit of LCEF. In exchange for your charitable gift, you or you and your spouse receive a fixed income for your lifetime(s). Upon your passing, the annuity ceases, and the remaining principal supports the work of The Church.

Discover which assets are best to leave to support family and which assets are best for ministry.

Benefits of a Charitable Gift Annuity

Receive fixed payments to you or another annuitant you designate for life
Receive a charitable income tax deduction for the charitable gift portion of the annuity
Benefit from payments that may be partially tax-free
Further the charitable work of Lutheran Church Extension Fund with your gift

How a Charitable Gift Annuity Works

A charitable gift annuity is a way to make a gift to support your church, LCEF, and other ministries.

A CGA is a contract between you and the LCMS Foundation for the benefit of LCEF.
In exchange for your charitable gift, you or you and your spouse receive a fixed income for your lifetime(s)
You will receive a charitable income tax deduction for the gift portion of the annuity.
Upon your passing, the annuity ceases, and the remaining principal supports the work of The Church.

If you decide to fund your gift annuity with cash, a significant portion of the annuity payment will be tax-free. You may also make a gift of appreciated securities to fund a gift annuity and avoid a portion of the capital gains tax. Please contact us to inquire about other assets that you might be able to use to fund a charitable gift annuity.

Gift Annuity Options

Current charitable gift annuity (payments begin within one year). With a current gift annuity, you may transfer cash or property in exchange for our promise to pay you fixed payments beginning as early as this year. You will receive an income tax charitable deduction this year for the value of your gift to Lutheran Church Extension Fund.
Deferred charitable gift annuity (for payments at future date). Perhaps you are not ready to begin receiving payments until a future date, such as when you retire. With a deferred gift annuity, you establish the gift annuity today, receive a charitable income tax deduction this year, but defer the payments until a designated date sometime in the future. Best of all, because you deferred the payments, your annual payment will be higher when the payments start than they would have been with a current gift annuity.
Flexible deferred charitable gift annuity (gives you flexibility as to when the payments will start). With a flexible deferred gift annuity, you retain the flexibility to decide when the annuity will begin making payments. As with a deferred gift annuity, you establish the annuity today and receive a charitable deduction this year, but the payments are deferred until such time as you elect to begin receiving the payments.

CGA Rate Increase Brochure

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Calculate Benefits

The charitable gift annuity calculator generates a printable presentation that shows how you can benefit from fixed payouts that may be partly tax free plus a charitable tax deduction.

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Number of Beneficiaries

One Two

Click the appropriate button for a presentation of one or two beneficiaries. Selecting one beneficiary will cause the second beneficiary and the associated name and birthdate fields to be hidden from view.

First Beneficiary

Enter the name of the person. You may use such titles as "Mr.", "Mrs.", "Dr.", "Rev.", "Jr.", "Sr.", etc. For the remainder unitrust the first person is the first income recipient or beneficiary of the agreement.

First beneficiary is required

Birthdate

Month:

Day:

Year:

Please enter a valid birthdate for the first beneficiary

Birth month of the first beneficiary is required

Birth day of the first beneficiary is required

Birth year of the first beneficiary is required

You may enter the age of the person instead of the birth date. However, if the birth date is known, enter the birth date. Since ages are to be rounded up if the gift date is within six months of the next birth date, entering the birth date is the most accurate method.

Second Beneficiary

Second beneficiary is required

Birthdate

Month:

Day:

Year:

Please enter a valid birthdate for the second beneficiary

Birth month of the second beneficiary is required

Birth day of the second beneficiary is required

Birth year of the second beneficiary is required

Income Tax Rate

Select the current federal income tax rate of the donor. This will be used to project possible income tax savings. If you are uncertain about the correct rate, you may choose one of the middle rates. For many people, this will be close to their actual income tax rate.

Property Value $

Please enter a valid property value

Property value is required

Enter the amount of cash or the fair market value (FMV) of the asset(s) used to fund the CGA. For assets such as real estate, closely-held stock and other hard to value assets, the FMV is the appraised value of the property on the date of the gift.

Cost Basis $

Please enter a valid cost basis

Cost basis is required

Enter the cost basis of the asset being used to fund the trust or annuity. If the asset is cash, the cost basis is equal to the gift amount. If it is appreciated property, the cost basis will most likely be the amount you originally paid for the property. The cost basis is used to determine the capital gains tax which will be bypassed as a result of selling the asset. If the cost basis is not known or cannot be proven, the IRS assumes the cost basis to be $0. If cash funds the gift annuity, enter the same value as "Value of Property."

Payment Frequency

Select either monthly, quarterly, semiannual, or annual income payments to the beneficiary(ies) of the income. The choice of payment frequency does affect the amount of the charitable deduction as the more frequent the payment (i.e. monthly as opposed to annually), the smaller the donor's tax deduction.

Under the Internal Revenue Code, the charitable income tax deduction must be at least 10% of the initial value. The payout amount has been lowered to qualify under the IRS 10% deduction test. This calculation includes a safety factor of 0.04%. The deduction factor will be 0.10040 or greater. The Maximum Payout Rate by Crescendo 10% Deduction Test: cres_calc_maxrate10

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