Fortune magazine predicts that the United States is on the verge of the largest transfer of wealth in history because of death (US Trust Corporation estimates five trillion dollars in the next 20 years). Your Department of Stewardship Ministries is responding to this reality and has established a tax exempt foundation with spiritual and fiscal oversight provided by the Executive Committee of the Church of God.

This foundation specializes in estate planning, planned giving, and trust management. The Church of God Foundation (Foundation) will assist members and friends of the Church of God in maximizing their ability to care for themselves, their loved ones, and the ministries they love. It will, also, make loans to churches as they need to borrow money for expansion or improvements. Finally, it will assist local churches in educating their people on estate planning.

Estate planning is more than simply writing a will. Some people have the mistaken belief that by writing a will they are fulfilling their duty to their loved ones. Unfortunately, every day, millions of dollars are lost through unnecessary taxes, estate expenses, litigation, poor investments, or are wasted by beneficiaries all of which could have been avoided by sound planned giving.

Whether a person's goal is to make significant charitable gifts, minimize estate taxes, reduce income taxes, increase personal cash flow, provide for a child with special needs, or simply maximize wealth for future generations, the Church of God Foundation exists to assist in meeting those goals. The Foundation is committed to integrity, stability, long-term relationships, and the highest standards of quality and performance.

Wayne Barrett in his book Prescriptions For A Financially Healthy Congregation states that "[p]lanned giving may be the purest measure of whether we are having success in teaching Christian Stewardship. It is a tragic judgment upon much of our work when thousands of people each year live their lives as Christians and die as agnostics because they have made no provision for the cause of Christ in their estates."

Real Life Example Of A Frequently Overlooked Method Of Giving

Richard is 58 years old and Jane is 55 years old. They have not made a lot of money over the years. They have lived very simply, have given sacrificially to the church, and have been able to set aside some modest investments for the future. Their paychecks take care of their basic needs, and they feel comfortable that Richard's pension and their social security checks will take care of their simple life style when Richard retires. Richard and Jane have talked about a desire to travel when they retire; as a result, they would like to squeeze more income out of their assets. Over the years, their modest stock investment that had cost them $25,000 has become worth $100,000. The stock portfolio pays Richard and Jane only about $2,500 per year in dividends. They had thought about selling the stock, but their accountant told them they would pay capital gains tax if they did.

By giving the appreciated stock to the Church of God Foundation in return for a gift annuity, Richard and Jane will save $15,000.00 in up-front capital gains tax and receive a charitable deduction of $15,000.00 they can use to save on income taxes. In addition, they will receive annuity payments of $5,800.00 - over two times their current return on their investment (of which $640.00 is non-taxable). The results for you will be different based upon the facts in your case.

By working with the Church of God Foundation, Richard and Jane have avoided taxes on the sale of the asset, reduced taxes on their income, increased spendable cash, and given to the work of the Lord. This was all accomplished with a Charitable Gift Annuity. This is merely one of several options available through the Foundation.