Life Income Plans
We consider the ACLU as the prime defender of democracy in our beloved country and other areas on this globe. The ACLU takes on a wide range of issues with a track record of many successes, and we are grateful for that. The staff of well-trained professionals are fully committed to the ACLU’s mission, and our experience with them shows that their work is more than ‘just a job.’ We feel very fortunate and thankful to have discovered long ago such a worthy, viable organization that truly deserves our support.
—Joe & Yvonne Hammerquist, ACLU members and charitable gift annuity donors
With a life income gift, you donate cash, appreciated securities, real estate, or other assets to the ACLU Foundation of Northern California. In exchange, we pay you or another beneficiary income for life or for a fixed term of years. Income may be fixed or variable.
The ACLU Foundation offers a number of life income plans that offer you various benefits:
- Payments to you and/or another beneficiary for life or a term of years
- An immediate federal income tax charitable deduction
- Potential increase in income
- Reduction or possible avoidance of capital gains tax on appreciated property
- Potential reduction of your taxable estate
- The satisfaction of helping to secure individual liberties for future generations
There are a number of popular life income plans:
Charitable gift annuity
A charitable gift annuity provides income for yourself or others. It is a contract under which a charity, in return for a transfer of cash or securities, agrees to pay a fixed sum of money for a period measured by one or two lives. The payments you receive from a charitable gift annuity are fixed, regardless of fluctuations in interest rates or the market. You receive an immediate income tax charitable deduction (based on the projected value of the ultimate gift to the ACLU Foundation of Northern CA) and a significant reduction in capital gains tax. The minimum contribution to establish a charitable gift annuity is $10,000.
Charitable remainder trust
A charitable remainder trust is an irrevocable transfer of cash, securities, or other property to a trust, managed by a trustee of your choice, to generate income for you or others for a set number of years or for life. You receive an immediate income tax charitable deduction (based on the projected value of the ultimate gift to the ACLU Foundation of Northern CA). When appreciated property is transferred to the trust, no capital gains tax is incurred. When the specified time of payments ends, the trustee pays the remaining principal in the trust to the ACLU Foundation of Northern California.
There are two basic types of charitable remainder trusts:
A charitable remainder unitrust provides a fluctuating annual payment based on a percentage of the trust’s assets as revalued each year. If the assets grow, the beneficiaries will receive a larger annual payment.
A charitable remainder annuity trust pays a fixed dollar amount each year, regardless of how the investments perform. This arrangement ensures stable income to the designated income beneficiary.
