You may make a gift now, availing yourself of certain tax advantages, but keep the income for the rest of your life. The same arrangement may be used for yourself and a spouse, with the income to continue for the lives of both or the survivor.

Ultimately, when income is no longer to be paid, the Church will have full use of your gift, for the purposes you have designated. A life income gift is an irrevocable gift.

Life income gifts can be designed to accomplish a variety of goals:

• Provide lifetime income for yourself and/or others.
• Provide retirement income, while taking advantage of tax savings now.
• Reconfigure your investment portfolio with minimal or no capital gains tax. (If, for example, you own stock in which you have very little cost basis and which comprises an overly large part of your holdings, a life income plan may allow you to diversify your investments without paying the capital gains tax.)

Although you may make a life income gift using cash, for maximum tax benefit it is normally advisable to use appreciated assets such as stock or real estate.

There are several basic types of life income gifts, and some can be modified within certain legal limits to specifically suit the needs and desires of individual donors. The basic plans available for a life income gift are:

• Gift annuities
• Pooled income fund
• Charitable reminder or annuity trusts

As with any gift to the Church, you may specify whether your life income gift will be unrestricted or will be used for a particular project or purposes.

To explain the details of these types of gifts is beyond the scope of this article. Please consult with your tax and/or financial advisor to determine if this is something that may fit your situation. If you are going to develop such a gift, please notify the Church!