The Rewards of Creative Giving
Design a Plan that Fits Your Needs

As we confront the challenges of the future, we know that the generosity of those who financially support LLBN will make all the difference in our success.  That's why we prayerfully seek your support. 
But we also want to make sure that you benefit from making a gift to LLBN.

How does this happen?  Of course, you have the satisfaction that comes from knowing you've made a difference in the lives of others.  But in fact, the best gift plans also improve your financial and tax situation, often right away.

There are many ways that your philanthropic giving can blend with your own financial needs and tax planning.

Seek Professional Counsel
To design a gift that benefits you, your family, and LLBN we recommend that you obtain the professional counsel of your financial planner, your tax consultant, or your attorney who specializes in gift and estate planning.  LLBN can work with your advisors to help you plan for tomorrow and receive maximum benefits today. 
Our volunteer executive director of planned giving, Edwin (Bud) Racine, can help to prepare you for your visit with counsel.  Call our toll free telephone number, 1.866.552.6881, or by E-mail: plannedgiving@llbn.tv. 

Benefits:
    • Current income tax deduction
    • Avoidance of long-term capital gains tax
    • Increase in income and effective rate of return
    • Reduction in estate and gift taxes

The Will
Benefits:
    • Lets you provide for your family after your death
    • Allows you to distribute your assets according to
      your wishes
    • Saves on estate taxes, with proper planning
    • Lets you leave a legacy to LLBN without giving up
      assets

Have you put off making or updating your will?  Maybe you think it costs too much to make a will.  Perhaps you're having a hard time deciding about how to leave your money.  Or you may simply have an aversion to confronting your mortality.

Drafting a will may seem like a daunting task at first, until you realize all the good that comes from having a will.

A Bequest Through Your Will for LLBN
A bequest in your will lets you pass any amount you wish to LLBN free of estate tax.  You can give cash or specific property, a dollar amount or a percentage of your estate, with or without restrictions.

To make sure your will accomplishes your goals according to your wishes, we recommend that you obtain the professional counsel of an attorney who specializes in probate and estate planning. 

Prepare for Your First Visit
LLBN's volunteer executive director of planned giving can prepare you for your first visit with your attorney.

A Living Trust
Built in Flexibility

A living trust lets you provide for yourself and your family before and after your death.  It has built-in flexibility that can work very well with your overall estate plans, because it allows you to stay in control of your assets.

Like wills, living trusts are fully revocable, so you can change or terminate them at any time during your life.  But unlike wills, the terms of a living trust can be put into effect immediately.

You can also arrange a contribution to LLBN through a living trust by naming LLBN as the ultimate beneficiary.  This method of giving is attractive because you still have complete control of the assets during your lifetime.

Benefits:

    • You or a beneficiary receive the income from the
       trust assets
    • You're in charge, but a professional trustee may do
       the detail work
    • You name who will ultimately receive the trust
       remainder
    • The trust assets bypass probate, so the terms are
       private
    • Assets in the trust are removed from your probate
       estate, so estate expenses may be less

What to Give - Assets Worth Donating
Benefits:

    • Gifts of cash result in a current income tax deduction

    • Gifts of securities also provide relief from capital 
      gains tax

    • Donations of personal property allow for meaningful
      gifts

    • All contributions to LLBN are used to help fulfill its
      mission

Life Insurance a Versatile Tool for Many Purposes

When you first obtained your life insurance policies, you obviously felt a need for them.  But perhaps you don't need all that coverage today. 

Yet you still have those policies. Insurance could be a sensible as well as generous course of action.

You can also use life insurance to replace the value of a deferred gift.  For example, you could donate stock to us because of the tax advantages and purchase life insurance to benefit your heirs in the amount they would have received had you left them the stock.

Benefits:
     • Charitable deduction when you name LLBN as
       beneficiary and assign us ownership
     • Flexibility through naming LLBN the beneficiary but
       keeping ownership
     • Security for your family by naming LLBN the contingent
       beneficiary
     • Reduction in estate taxes because proceeds are
       removed from your estate

Donating Retirement Plan Assets
Benefits:

    • Naming LLBN the primary beneficiary avoids all income
      and estate taxes
    • Partial savings when you give LLBN a specific amount
      before giving family the remainder
    • Naming LLBN the contingent beneficiary allows for
      greater flexibility
    • Donating retirement plan assets could be the most cost-     
      effective gift you can make

Did you know that your retirement plan assets may face double taxation?  If you leave the assets, you might generate income in respect of a decedent.  So not only is the amount diminished by estate taxes, but the recipient also must pay income taxes on it.

If you can make other provisions for your family, there's a better option for your retirement plan assets---a charitable gift to LLBN.

To implement your wishes, simply advise the plan administrator of your decision and sign whatever form is required.  For an IRA or Keogh plan you administer personally, notify the custodian in writing and keep a copy with your valuable papers.

Donating Real Estate
Benefits:

    • Income tax charitable deduction for the full fair
      market value
    • Avoidance of tax on the property's appreciated
      aspect
    • No hassle from trying to sell the property
    • No gift tax, plus a reduction of your taxable estate

Are you thinking of selling land or a building?  Beware of capital gains tax.

If you sell your primary residence, you can exclude up to $250,000 ($500,000 if you're married) of the gain.  But this tax break doesn't apply to other types of real estate, so you may have a better alternative.

A charitable contribution of real estate---whether it's your personal residence, a vacation home, a farm, commercial real estate, or vacant land---will give you numerous advantages.

When you give your home or other real estate to LLBN, you create an enduring testimonial of your interest in LLBN's mission.  And what's more, your personal satisfaction is complemented by valuable tax benefits.

Retained Life Estate

Let's assume you like the tax advantages that a charitable gift of real estate would offer, but you want to continue living in your personal residence for your lifetime.  Did you realize you can give LLBN your home, even though you continue living there?

It's true.  It's called a retained life estate.

A gift of your home, farm, vacation home, or condominium, even with stipulations about occupancy, results in a charitable deduction on your income tax.

The retained life estate may also provide you with a way to let someone other than you or your spouse (perhaps a sibling or child) have life occupancy of your home with reduced tax obligations.

Benefits:
    • Lifetime use of the residence for you and/or another
      person
    • Income tax savings through charitable deduction
    • Estate tax savings for you and/or another person (if      
      the other person is your spouse)
    • Ability to gift only partial interest in property and
      receive tax advantages

Donating Closely Held Stock
Benefits:

    • Income tax deduction for the charitable contribution
    • No capital gains tax on the appreciation in value
    • No second tax on accumulated earnings by
      avertising a dividend distribution
    • You maintain control of the corporation

If you own a sizable block of stock in a closely held corporation, you may have a gift option that makes everyone happy.

Suppose you decide to donate some shares (few enough that you retain 50 percent ownership) to LLBN.  And then we present the stock to your corporation for redemption.  Your corporation uses retained earnings for the purchase.

LLBN wins because it receives much-needed funds.  But you and your corporation also win.

There's one caveat: the IRS has ruled that you cannot legally bind a charitable organization to go through with the redemption at the time it receives the shares.  But a charitable organization may independently offer the donated stock for redemption.

It becomes a favorable option that benefits you and LLBN.

Charitable Remainder Annuity Trust

If you're disappointed in the yield from your current investments in the stock and bond markets, yet you want to avoid the capital gains tax should you sell, consider a charitable remainder annuity trust.

This plan will pay you, year after year, the same dollar amount you choose at the outset.  The income payments are fixed, based on the starting valuation.  Then after your lifetime (and the lifetime of a surviving beneficiary, if desired), the trust remainder is available to support LLBN's mission.

The charitable remainder annuity trust is more than an eventual gift to us.  It lets you give away the tree and still keep the fruit, because you receive an increased income from your donation.

Benefits:
    • A fixed dollar income paid annually, semiannually, or
      quarterly
    • Immediate charitable deduction
    • A way to increase income from a low-yield holding
    • Freedom from investment management
    • Avoidance of capital gains tax on appreciated assets
      used to fund the trust

Charitable Remainder Unitrust
Benefits:

    • Lifetime income (often greater than your previous
      yield)
    • A sizable income tax charitable deduction
    • Avoidance of capital gains tax if you donate
      appreciated securities
    • Professional management of the assets frees you      
      from investment responsibilities

A charitable remainder unitrust is like a combination of a gift and an investment plan.  You place assets in trust and you (and/or another beneficiary) receive lifetime income from them, then LLBN ultimately receives the remainder.

With a unitrust, the amount you receive as income is a set percentage of the value of the trust assets, redetermined annually.

You also have the option of choosing one of five variations of unitrusts.  A unitrust with a net income plus makeup provision, for example, pays only the actual trust yield, even if it is below the stated percentage.  Then in later years, when performance is better, those deficiencies are made up.

This option is excellent for devising a supplemental retirement plan---LLBN can provide you with more details.

Example: 
Mary, age 60, has stocks currently valued at $100,000 and yielding a 1.5 percent dividend.

Gift Vehicle: Charitable remainder unitrust

How it works:

Mary transfers the stock to the unitrust and arranges to receive in quarterly payments three percent of the unitrust assets as determined annually.

Benefits:
    • Mary receives an income tax charitable deduction.
    • The first year she receives $3,000
      (three percent of $100,000), a $1,500 increase in
      income.
    • If the value of her trust increases, so will her income
      payments, so Mary will have a built-in hedge against
      inflation.

Charitable Lead Trust

Benefits:
    • Can be funded during your lifetime or through your
      will
    • You support the LLBN mission through annual
      income payouts
    • Reduces your taxable estate and potential gift taxes
    • Assets can be kept in the family

Are you concerned about the possibility of the IRS taking a huge part of the assets you were planning to leave your heirs? 

There's a way to pass assets to your family with significant estate tax savings while at the same time making a gift to us.  It's called a charitable lead trust.

After LLBN receives income from assets in the trust for a period of years, the principal goes to your family, with estate or gift taxes usually reduced or even eliminated.
The lead trust is an exceptional way to transfer property to your children or other heirs at minimal tax cost.  It's ideal if you're willing to forgo investment income on an asset but don't want to force your heirs to surrender the principal.

With a lead trust, you carry out your philanthropic plans over the coming years and save on taxes.

The Charitable Gift Annuity

The concept of a gift annuity is simple.  You donate assets that LLBN's gift annuity administrator reinvests.  You and the administrator agree on fixed payments to you for life (and, if desired, for another beneficiary's lifetime).  Then, the funds are available for LLBN to use. 
A charitable gift annuity is particularly attractive because the rates (based on your age) typically produce higher yields than you would receive in the stock and bond markets.  And when this aspect is combined with partially tax-free funds, the effective rate of return could be even higher.

Benefits:
    • Lifetime payments for yourself and possibly another
      person
    • Charitable deduction for a portion of the value of the
      gift
    • Part of the annual payments is considered a tax-free
      return of capital
    • Capital gains tax savings when you contribute
      appreciated securities

LLBN Uses the American Council on Gift Annuity Rates.

A Sampling of Single Life Gift Annuity Rates (Effective July of 2010)

     Age        Rate
       60            5.2
       70            5.8
       75            6.4
       80            7.2
       85            8.1
       90+          9.5

To obtain your specific gift annuity rate and/or additional planned giving information contact LLBN's executive director of planned giving, Edwin (Bud) Racine.  Call LLBNs toll free telephone number, 1.866.552.6881 or by E-mail: plannedgiving@llbn.tv  Thank you.