How You Can Help Educate Leaders For Our Changing World
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	Planned Giving

Common wisdom has it that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. So when people hear of the tax and income benefits of charitable trusts, their reaction is often not "Where do I sign?" but "What's the catch?"

How can the IRS, that relentless pursuer of earned income, suddenly become a beneficent financial colleague when it comes to the transfer of assets like cash, stocks, or real estate into charitable trusts? The multiple benefits of charitable trusts are rooted in two longstanding American traditions: the requirement to contribute to the common good and respect for individual choice.

In this country, we support the common good compulsorily through taxes and voluntarily through gifts. Either way, within certain limits is fine with IRS. With taxes, the government decides where our money goes. With charitable contributions, we decide. When it comes to selling appreciated assets -- real estate or stocks -- we have the same choice. But the stakes are higher. We can sell our property ourselves. The IRS will collect the tax on the appreciation, the government will determine where the tax goes, and we get whatever is left to invest for ourselves and our families. At our death, the IRS sees if it can get another share for the government through estate taxes.

OR we can have a charitable trust sell the property. In that case no tax will be paid on the appreciation, so the full amount can be invested to provide income for ourselves and our families. We also get an immediate deduction when the trust is funded. And we, not the government, determine the cause that the trust principal, free of estate tax, will go to after our death.

There's no magic here. In either case, we make an irrevocable contribution to the common good. When we do so through a charitable trust, the government rewards us with tax benefits and allows the trust to pay us lifetime income.

Is there wisdom in establishing your own charitable trust, be it with a few thousand dollars in cash or through appreciated real estate worth hundreds of thousands? To find out you must look at the precise income and tax benefits you would receive through a trust.

In some cases, the tax and financial advantages are more than enough for you to benefit yourself, provide for your family, and support the Franciscan School of Theology. In other cases you would be better off waiting or using another strategy.

You and your advisor may want to consult with a planned giving specialist to determine whether a charitable trust meets your financial and philanthropic objectives. All information is provided confidentially and without cost of obligation. Please do not hesitate to call.