Redeemer Foundation

Many Christians do not realize a statement of their Christian faith can be included in their wills and living trusts. Martin Luther, Michelangelo, George Washington, and thousands of others have included a personal statement of faith in their wills and living trusts.

The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod encourages members to include a Christian preamble in their wills and living trusts. This act of faith can be of great comfort to your loved ones at the time of your death. An LCMS Foundation gift planning counselor is available to assist you in working with your attorney in drafting a Christian will or living trust.

Enjoy income and tax benefits today - provide for family tomorrow!

Since 1969, Americans have used Charitable Remainder Unitrusts to benefit themselves, their families and, ultimately, charity. Simply put, you transfer assets into a Unitrust created with the LCMS Foundation, and the Unitrust makes payments to you. This transfer often allows you to increase your income and enjoy tax advantages. When the trust terminates, the remainder of its value is distributed to your designated ministries.

Two Ways to Save on Taxes

• A unitrust is especially attractive if you have a highly appreciated asset producing a relatively low return. Often people keep a stock or piece of property instead of selling it and paying taxes on its value. By transferring your low-yield asset to a unitrust, you can avoid capital gains tax and receive income, too!
• When you transfer an asset to your unitrust, you get a charitable deduction - which may mean significant cash savings when tax-time rolls around.

"Pour-over" Option

• Instead of establishing a unitrust and receiving income now, you may choose to create a pour-over unitrust that begins at your death. For a couple, the pour-over unitrust can start when both spouses are deceased.
• You establish your pour-over unitrust as a part of your will. The funding “pours-over” from your estate into your unitrust to benefit family and ministry at your death.
• Your pour-over unitrust is revocable during your lifetime. This means you can change your mind about establishing it any time before your death.
• Using a pour-over unitrust to complete your Lifetime Plan for Giving™ gives you the opportunity to provide an income stream for your heirs for 5-20 years. This is an excellent option for your heirs who may not be able to handle lump sum distributions from an estate. Like the unitrust, the pour-over unitrust provides a gift to your favorite ministries at the time period of income payments stated in the unitrust.

Your LCMS Foundation Gift Planning Counselor can answer your questions and help you establish your own unitrust or other gift planning tool. Contact the LCMS Foundation Today! 800-325-7912 or LCMSFoundation.org

How can you find financial security today and touch lives tomorrow?

Through an LCMS Foundation gift annuity, you can receive regular, fixed payments for life, make a gift for future ministry, and save on taxes.

Six Ways You Can Save on Taxes With a Gift Annuity

1. A portion of your payments is tax-free. A larger percentage will be tax-free if you transfer cash to your gift annuity; a lesser percentage if you transfer appreciated securities.
2. A portion of your gift annuity is a charitable contribution. You can claim this deduction during the year you establish your annuity.
3. Your estate will incur no additional estate taxes if you are the sole recipient of your gift annuity payments.
4. Assets in your gift annuity bypass probate court.
5. If you transfer appreciated securities to establish your gift annuity, you will pay less capital gains tax than if you sold your stock. The capital gains tax is deferred and paid over your life expectancy as you receive annuity payments.
6. You can choose either the highest tax deduction for the year you establish your gift annuity or the greatest amount of tax-free income as you receive your payments. You note your preference on your gift annuity application. If you prefer, the LCMS Foundation will provide information to help you make that decision.

Your age at the time you establish your gift annuity determines your annuity rate and tax savings. The older you are, the higher your rate, income tax deduction and tax-free portion of your cash payment.

Contact the LCMS Foundation Today! 800-325-7912 or LCMSFoundation.org

Build a tradition of giving with your children while supporting ministries!

A Family Gift Fund is your personal ministry fund. It provides you and your family the opportunity to recommend ministries you will benefit as well as the amounts and timing of your gifts. A Family Gift Fund can help you witness to your children about the faithful generosity of God’s caring love in our lives.

Any asset may establish a Family Gift Fund. The LCMS Foundation administers the fund and makes the distributions, no matter how many organizations you want to help.

Contact the LCMS Foundation Today! 800-325-7912 or LCMSFoundation.org

You probably own life insurance to protect your loved ones. As your children grow up, their need for protection changes. Your life insurance can be an excellent way to include a gift to the Lord's work in your estate plan.

Your gift can be made by simply including Redeemer Lutheran Church or Redeemer Foundation, Inc. as a beneficiary on your life insurance. By making a charity the owner of the policy, you may also benefit from some income tax savings now.

Do you own shares of stock that have appreciated in value?

If yes, you may want to consider using some of those shares as gifts to the Redeemer Foundation. It is particularly important to consult your tax professional when planning to gift shares of stock. You will have joy in knowing that you have used the assets that God has given you to manage to further the work of His kingdom.

Many Christians are planning for their retirement years with some sort of tax-deferred savings plan. These types of plans are an excellent way of accumulating assets to provide an income for you, but they are not the best means of providing an inheritance. When your children or other heirs receive your tax-deferred plans, they must pay federal and state income taxes as they receive the distributions. They may also have to pay federal and state estate taxes if your estate is large enough.

Tax-deferred plans are described as one of the best assets to grow an inheritance, but one of the worst gifts for children. "A tax-deferred retirement plan such as a traditional IRA or 401(k) is among the priciest of gifts for heirs to receive." (Coombes) The Redeemer Foundation recognizes the need for help in gifting qualified plans and recommends working with experts at the LCMS Foundation.

Coombes, A. (2014, June 2). The Most Valuable Assets to Leave for Your Heirs. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-most-valuable-assets-to-leave-for-your-heirs-1401726302.

For those who have never married, unique issues may arise concerning your estate plans. You may have heirs to whom you could give your estate, but you may have questions as to the age of the heirs, what amount to give them, and how the inheritance will be used.

The LCMS Foundation has developed several special trusts that can be used in this type of estate planning. These trusts are used for single individuals to provide a stream of income payments to their heirs and also to provide a gift to ministries of their choice.

As a parent, one concern you may have is how your children will manage their inheritance. Stories of heirs who have squandered their money often bring to mind Jesus’ lesson about the prodigal son. In the book of Ecclesiastes, King Solomon bemoaned that his heirs would inherit property for which they had not worked.

The LCMS Foundation has developed charitable trusts that can provide a series of regular income payments to your heirs instead of a large lump-sum amount. These trusts also provide a way to make gifts to the ministries that are important to you.

Would you sell your rental property if you could avoid paying the capital gains tax? Many people tire of the ongoing management problems often associated with this type of asset.

The LCMS Foundation has developed charitable trusts that provide you with certain tax benefits. Property gifted to the Foundation can be sold without paying the capital gains tax and the money from the sale is invested to provide a lifetime income to you. Upon your death the principal money goes to the ministry of your choice.

Would you sell your farmland if you could avoid paying the capital gains tax? Many people get tired of the ongoing management problems that this type of asset may have associated with it and the relatively low income that it provides.

There are special charitable trusts that provide you with tax benefits. Farmland gifted to The LCMS Foundation can be sold without paying the capital gains tax and the money from the sale is invested to provide a life-time income for you and an income for your children for up to 20 years. Planning now can provide financial security for you and your family, as well as leaving a gift to the ministries of your choice.