Charitable Gift Annuity - Immediate, Deferred, College, Flexible Annuity

For some people, a Charitable Gift Annuity (CGA) is a convenient way to donate funds to an educational, religious or other charitable organization. A Charitable Gift Annuity works very similar to other annuities you might purchase through your insurance company, but in this case you will receive an annuity payment directly from the organization. Typically, you donate a monetary amount to the organization of your choice and then begin receiving payments either immediately or at a predetermined date in the future.

Donations to charities are subject to the charitable tax deduction, and you are entitled to make this deduction on your income tax return for each year you make a new donation. You can choose to receive your annuity payments yearly, quarterly, or monthly, although most people choose quarterly payments. Quarterly payments from a Charitable Gift Annuity are received on the last day of the quarter, not the first.

Similar to other annuity options, Charitable Gift Annuities are subject to state and federal regulations. The American Council on Gift Annuities (ACGA) sets uniform gift annuity rates for use by charitable organizations. These rates set the recommended limits for payout rates to the donor.

If a charity stays at or below these rates, they are not required to justify that their rates are within state regulatory laws. If the charity chooses rates above those set by the ACGA then an actuary is necessary to ensure compliance to the individual state laws. Rates are determined by the age of the annuitant and when the withdrawal period for the annuity begins.

A charity may spend a portion of a donation immediately but must retain enough money in its reserve to satisfy its annuity agreement with the donor. The agreement for Charitable Gift Annuities states that the annuitant will receive fixed payment amounts for their lifetime only and not an additional period of time thereafter for their beneficiaries.

This means that once an annuitant dies, payments cease and the remainder of the annuity is absorbed by the charity. The donor can opt to extend the annuity agreement to an additional annuitant, as with the joint and survivor or two lives in succession options, but the annuity payments will be split between the two individuals and will cease after both parties have died.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF CHARITABLE GIFT ANNUITIES:

IMMEDIATE GIFT ANNUITY

1. If you choose an Immediate Gift Annuity, payments will begin in the payment period immediately following the final contribution date. As mentioned previously, the annuitant can choose to receive payments annually, quarterly, monthly, etc. Depending on when the contribution was made, you can request your first payment to be for the full, and not prorated amount.

DEFERRED GIFT ANNUITY

2. With a Deferred Gift Annuity, the annuitant is allowed to receive payments at a future date predetermined by the donor. The date chosen must be at least one year from the contribution date, but the payout schedule offers the same flexibility as the Immediate Gift Annuity.

COLLEGE ANNUITY

3. A parent or grandparent may want to establish a college fund for a child to offset the rising cost of higher education. In this case, they would donate money for a College Annuity which will only pay out over the lifetime of the child (annuitant). Payments usually begin at age eighteen, or when the child/annuitant is old enough to attend college. The annuitant may choose payments for life or receive larger payments spread out over the number of years they attend school.

FLEXIBLE ANNUITY

4. A Flexible Annuity allows the annuitant to decide the starting date for payments. Usually the annuitant chooses retirement or another date of importance to begin receiving payments. Keep in mind that one factor for the annuity payment rate is age, so you will receive larger payments if you wait until you are older.

HOW DOES A CHARITABLE GIFT ANNUITY WORK?

You may be asking how this works in a real life example. Let's assume you just turned seventy-five and have $25,000 that you would like to donate to your alma mater as a Charitable Gift Annuity. You opt to receive immediate annuity payments on a yearly basis, and your calculated annuity rate is eight percent. Based on your annuity agreement with your alma mater, you will receive a payment for $2000 every year for the rest of your life, and an immediate tax deduction of over $9000!

This is only an estimate, and your actual deduction will vary according to changing tax laws and changing rates established by the ACGA. You should always consult with a knowledgeable financial advisor such as Estate Street Partners before donating or investing large sums of money to guarantee your rights are protected.

Author bio - Rocco Beatrice, CPA, MST, MBA
Award-winning estate planning & trust expert
MS - Taxation, Master of Science Taxation
MBA - Management / Taxation
BSBA - Management / Accounting
CPA - Certified Public Accountant
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Charitable Gift Annuities

Charitable Gift Annuities are a contract where the donor(s) give an irrevocable gift of cash or other assets to a qualified charity and receives a charitable deduction. In return, the charity agrees to pay a fixed amount of money to the annuitant(s) for their lifetime. The annuity payments are not "income", a portion of the payments are considered to be a partial tax-free return of the donor's gift, which are spread over the lifetime of the annuitant(s). The contributed property becomes a part of the charity's assets, and the payments are a general obligation of the charity. The annuity is backed by the charity's entire assets, not just by the value of the contribution. Where the donation is in the form of other assets, securities for example, the value of the gift is determined by the fair market value on the gift date.

Most states that regulate charitable gift annuities require the charity to supply the state with a published gift annuity rate chart of the maximum annuity rate the charity offers each annuitant, listed by actuarial age (age to nearest birthday) on the gift date. While the charity may spend a portion of the contribution immediately, it must maintain sufficient reserves (as determined by state laws) to meet the annuity obligations and satisfy regulatory requirements of the state in which the charitable gift annuities were issued.

Charitable Gift Annuity Agreements

There are several types of charitable gift annuities, and not all states permit the use of each type. Generally the charity must submit a sample of each different type of agreement it wishes to offer to the residents of that state before it issues that agreement. The types of gift annuities are:

Immediate Gift Annuities

Periodic annuity payments can be made monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or annually, as defined in the agreement. With the first payment to start at the end of the period (month, quarter, etc.), immediately following the contribution. Deferred Gift Annuities

Where the annuity payments at a future date chosen by the donor. Deferred annuities payments must be more than one year after the date of the contribution.

Tuition Gift Annuities

The annuity payments start upon the annuitant(s) attaining a specified age. Generally these types of gift annuities are created by a parent or grandparent for a young child, with the donor deferring the payments until the child is expected to enter university. The annuitant(s) then has the option of accepting the annuity payments for his or her lifetime, or elect to receive much larger payments for a term of four or five years, as defined in the annuity contract.

Flexible Gift Annuities

The annuity payment starting date is chosen by the annuitant(s). The donor would choose an initial "target date" for the payments to start. The charity would then offer a range of payouts with differing fixed payment amounts and differing starting dates. Since the charitable deduction remains fixed, the annuity rate for each starting date would have to change. The payments would be lower if the starting date was earlier and higher if the starting date was later. Each annuitant would have to determine on an annual basis whether or not they wish the annuity payments to start that year.

Versions of Agreements

Generally, there are three versions of each type of agreement, they are:

"single life" agreement - annuity payments for the lifetime of the annuitant(s),
"two lives in succession" agreement - annuity payments for the lifetime of the annuitant and then pay a second person if he or she survives the annuitant, and
"joint and survivor" agreement - annuity payments to a husband and wife simultaneously, each getting half of the payment, and upon the death of one of the annuitants, pay the survivor the full annuity.

Russell Hill writes articles on a variety of subjects including fixed annuities, variable annuities, indexed annuities and other retirement investment vehicles. More information on annuities can be found at: http://www.annuity-strategies.com

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