Planned gifts are most often considered to be gifts arranged at one point in time then come to fruition at another. Planned gifts enable you to ensure the charitable legacy you want, even if you can’t implement your plan until later.

A Gift in Your Will or Trust

A general form of planned giving is a charitable bequest in your will or trust, which can create or add to existing funds, such as Designated Funds to benefit specific charitable organizations, Field of Interest Funds to address particular causes or Unrestricted Funds to Cobb Community Foundation to deploy based on the most critical current needs that exist. Your bequest may be a specific amount, a percentage of your estate or even the residual balance of your estate after all of the other bequests have been made. Please contact us for the appropriate language for your estate planning documents.

 

A Gift of Retirement Funds

Perhaps the simplest and most tax advantageous bequest is to name Cobb Community Foundation as the beneficiary of your IRA, 401(k) or 403(b). Retirement benefits are usually taxed as ordinary income upon distribution to a beneficiary. As a public charity, however, Cobb Community Foundation does not generally pay income tax. Gifts of retirement assets are worth 100% of their value for public charities, while individual beneficiaries may only enjoy 60-80% of the value on an after-tax basis.

 

A Gift of Life Insurance

As with your retirement funds, your life insurance beneficiary designation regulates who will ultimately receive your life insurance proceeds. You can designate Cobb Community Foundation as the beneficiary of all or even just a portion of your life insurance.

 

Charitable Remainder Trust

Charitable Remainder Trusts can be ideal for the individual or couple who have a need for current income, or want to provide someone else with current income, but want the balance remaining upon their passing or after a designated time period to be paid to a charitable organization. These trusts also provide you with an immediate tax deduction as well as allow you to avoid capital gains taxes on the assets contributed to the trust. You or the trust’s current beneficiary can receive a fixed dollar amount every year or a certain percentage of the trust’s assets each year.

 

While we also encourage our donors to work with their financial advisors as they develop their charitable giving plans, it is particularly important to consult your estate planning and tax advisors as you consider which planned gift is best for you.

 

Let us help you get started.  Contact us at CCFTeam@cobbfoundation.org or 770-859-2366.