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Consider an IRA Gift to Ministerial Assistance

IRAs are excellent vehicles for accumulating assets for your use during retirement, but less attractive for passing an inheritance to loved ones. When you name anyone other than your spouse as the beneficiary of your IRA, the income they receive is taxed as ordinary income and depending on their tax bracket can be as high as 35%. If your estate is subject to estate taxes, the percentage can be higher.

If you are considering a gift to the Fund for Ministerial Assistance, consider giving your IRA assets to us and giving other assets that are not as heavily taxed to family members.

As a nonprofit religious organization, 100% of your gift will go to our Ministerial Assistance program to assist retired clergy and lay church employees.

It’s easy to make an IRA gift:

  • Decide what percentage you would like us to receive.
  • Contact your IRA administrator for change of beneficiary form.
  • Name the United Church Fund for Ministerial Assistance as a beneficiary.
  • Indicate the gift percentage on the form and return it to your IRA administrator.
  • Let us know about your plans so we can thank you.

For additional information, please call us toll-free at 1.800.642.6543, ext. 2718.

Create a Legacy

Over the years, a number of individuals have supported the United Church Board for Ministerial Assistance by creating charitable gift annuities.

If you would like to support the mission of Ministerial Assistance and receive steady payments during your retirement years, a charitable gift annuity might be right for you.

It’s easy to establish. You can fund a charitable gift annuity by donating cash or stock. In return, you receive a fixed amount each year for the rest of your life. Upon your death, the remaining amount of the gift annuity is placed in the Ministerial Assistance Fund.

The older you are, the larger your annual payments will be, because your lifetime annuity rate is based upon your age at the time the gift annuity is created.

Example: Frances, age 70, establishes a $10,000 charitable gift annuity. Based on her age, she would receive an annuity rate of 5.8 percent. If she were 75 years old, the rate would be 6.4 percent based on current rates. At her death, the remainder of the gift annuity would be placed in the Ministerial Assistance Fund.

In addition to providing a gift that will benefit the work of Ministerial Assistance while receiving fixed payments for the rest of your life, you may also receive the following benefits:

  • Your payments are not affected by the fluctuations of the economy–your initial rate continues for your lifetime.
  • A part of your initial gift is income tax-deductible.
  • Your annuity payments are partially income tax-free.
  • A portion of the capital gains tax is usually eliminated if you use appreciated stock to fund your charitable gift annuity.

To learn more, please contact us at 1.800.642.6543, ext. 2688.

Does Your Legacy Include Ministerial Assistance?

Details

As a 36-year veteran UCC minister, I thought I knew almost everything about the UCC in general and the Pension Boards in particular.

You can imagine my surprise to learn that on average the Ministerial Assistance Board distributes $3 million annually. These gifts take the form of supplements to small pensions, mini-grants to meet health and emergency needs, as well as one-time Christmas checks to make the lives of our retired clergy and lay employees a bit easier.

Imagine my shock upon discovering that less than half of the annual supplements come from contributions to the Christmas Fund Offering for the Veterans of the Cross and the Emergency Fund. The rest comes from the Ministerial Assistance Fund. I did not know the Fund existed.  

I was surprised and pleased to learn that over half of the gifts to the Fund came from UCC clergy, their children and lay church workers through bequests. What wonderful examples of commitment to the Gospel and recognition of a generous God who calls us to faithful discipleship in this life and the life everlasting.

Have you considered a bequest to the Ministerial Assistance Fund? Perhaps you would like to help those who will follow you into a variety of ministries, but feel you cannot make a significant gift today. Your solution may be a charitable bequest.

Is a charitable request the right gift for you? Most choose a bequest because it:

    • is not payable until your or your spouse’s/partner’s death, so it does not affect your assets or cash flow during either of your lifetimes,
    • is revocable – you can change the provisions in your will at any time, and
    • is private – your will is not filed or made public until your death.


Your giving options are increased because:

  • a bequest can be for a specific dollar amount,
  • a bequest can be for a percentage of the estate or a percentage of the residue, and
  • your gift will become a part of the Ministerial Endowment Fund where only the earned interest is used to carry out its ministries.

For more information about how to make a bequest to the Ministerial Assistance Fund, contact us at 1.800.642.6543, ext. 2718.

Paying Forward

Create a meaningful legacy that is right for you.

The Fund for Ministerial Assistance provides over $2 million annually which, when combined with the Christmas Fund, provides the resources to:

  • supplement low pensions,
  • supplement health benefits,
  • provide other direct assistance to retired UCC clergy and lay employees,
  • provide Christmas gift checks to low-income retirees,
  • fund a robust Annuitant Visitor program that serves retired clergy and lay employees 

The Fund for Ministerial Assistance came into existence thanks to legacy gifts given over the past century. Nearly half of those gifts were bequests from clergy and the children of clergy. Over the past century, the Fund has grown to approximately $50 million.

Former Congregational/Unitarian minister, Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his essay Compensation, points out that often we cannot pay back those family members, ministers, educators, mentors and friends who have supported us through their encouragement. We can though, “Pay Forward” to honor their gifts to us.

Create a meaningful legacy that is right for you. Consider a legacy gift to The Fund for Ministerial Assistance, an endowment providing for retired ordained and lay workers of the United Church of Christ.

For more information about legacy gift opportunities, contact us at 1.800.642.6543, ext. 2718.

 

Create a Meaningful Legacy That Is Right for You

If you have been considering a legacy gift to the United Church Ministerial Assistance Fund, here is a great opportunity to support the fund that provides:

  • Supplemental pension payments to ordained and lay church workers receiving small retirement incomes,
  • Supplemental health grants for those experiencing unexpected health setbacks,
  • Emergency grants for those experiencing unexpected financial setbacks.

The new tax law, signed by President Obama on December 17, 2010, revives the tax break for people who transfer required minimum IRA distributions directly to charitable organizations like the United Church Board for Ministerial Assistance.

Effective for both 2010 and 2011 tax years, the law allows anyone 70½ years or older to make an outright charitable gift of up to $100,000 directly from their IRA to a qualified charity without paying income tax on the distribution.

This legislation allows for gifts to be made retroactively for 2010 if completed by January 31, 2011 and for 2011 if completed by December 31, 2011.

Check with your tax or legal advisors about the best ways to take advantage of this giving opportunity. 

For more information about planned giving and the IRA Charitable Rollover, please contact us at 1.800.642.6543, ext. 2718.

Securing the Mission of the Veterans of the Cross

Each year, the United Church Board for Ministerial Assistance relies on the Christmas Fund Offering for the Veterans of the Cross and the Emergency Fund to provide 60% of the annual funding needed to:

  • supplement low pensions;
  • supplement health benefits;
  • provide other direct assistance to retired clergy and lay employees;
  • provide Christmas gift checks to low-income retirees.

A number of donors are ensuring that their financial support continues in perpetuity by making gifts to the Christmas Fund through bequests in their wills.

The bequest is placed in the Christmas Fund of the United Church Board for Ministerial Assistance and only the earnings of the principal are used to support the mission of the Christmas Fund.

This is a great way to make a lasting gift to the Fund for Ministerial Assistance to ensure that its mission continues to meet future needs.

Language for your will should read:

“I give and bequeath to the Christmas Fund of The United Church Board for Ministerial Assistance, Inc., incorporated in 1885 under the laws of the State of Connecticut and having an office at 475 Riverside Drive, 10th Floor, New York, NY   10115, the sum of

____________________ ($______________) for its uses and purposes.”

For more information contact us toll-free at 1.800.642.6543, ext. 2738.

Support Our Mission and Receive Predictable Lifetime Income

Consider a Charitable Gift Annuity that provides additional income for one or two persons and creates a charitable gift that continues the mission of the United Church Board for Ministerial Assistance.

Charitable Gift Annuities represent a well-proven method for donors to arrange a charitable gift while receiving attractive fixed payments for life. For those between the ages of 76 and 86, the regular fixed payments are from 6% to 8% for life.

Read more …

Considering a Bequest?

Are you considering a gift to The Fund for Ministerial Assistance?

Making a charitable bequest is:

  • Simple. Just a few sentences in your will is all that is needed. (Click here to view the official bequest language for the Fund.)
  • Flexible. Because you are not actually making a gift until after your lifetime, you can change your mind at any time.
  • Versatile. You can structure your bequest to leave a specific dollar amount or you can structure it to leave a percentage of your estate as a gift.

For more information, contact us toll-free at 1.800.642.6543, ext. 2738.

Planned Gifts

We work with individuals, churches and conferences to facilitate a variety of gifts which are planned and/or funded now, but whose benefit is not received by the Church until after the death of the donor(s). For more information: 800.642.6543,  ext. 2714.

The types of Planned Gifts

  • Wills and bequests
    A properly executed Will or Living Trust is the only way to assure that your estate is distributed according to your wishes, and is the most common way that deferred gifts to the Church are made. You can designate a percentage or a dollar amount, or direct that the Church receive the residual amount of your estate. A Will or Living Trust can also be used to set up life-income gifts that benefit heirs during their lifetimes, with the remaining principal constituting a gift to the Church. See Bequest Language.

  • Life-income gifts
    Life-income gifts are those which pay you income for life, with the remaining principal paid to the UCC-related entity you designate. You receive a tax deduction for the charitable portion of the gift in the year the gift is made. Life-income gifts may significantly increase your spendable income. Such gifts may be established in a will for the benefit of heirs and ultimate benefit of the Church.

  • Charitable Gift Annuities
    A Gift Annuity's rate of return is based solely on your age at the time of the gift. Annuities may be funded with cash or appreciated securities, and provide fixed income payments for life to you and/or another person, successively. A significant portion of the income may be tax-free. You may defer income payments to a later date, such as retirement age, which may produce a substantial increase in the rate of return. Minimum gift is $1,000.

  • Charitable Remainder Trusts
    Trusts may be funded with cash, securities or real estate and income payments may be fixed or flexible. The most common type, the Unitrust, is valued annually and the donor is paid a fixed percentage of the value over the following year. Minimum gift is $50,000.

  • Pooled Income Fund
    The Pooled Income Fund is like a mutual fund; it accepts gifts from many donors, manages them, and distributes each gift's portion of the earnings to the designated one or two life-income beneficiaries, successively. Minimum gift is $2,000.

  • Life insurance
    The Church can be named as the beneficiary of your life insurance, or the policy itself can be donated to the church. If the policy is paid up, your tax deduction will generally be the replacement cost of the policy at the time it is donated.

  • Retirement assets
    Retirement assets may be expensive for heirs to inherit. Naming the Church as the beneficiary of your retirement fund may provide a significant tax savings to your estate.

  • Charitable lead trust
    This gift provides current income to the Church during your lifetime or for a specified term of years, after which the remaining principal is returned to you or your heirs. Payments to the Church may be fixed or variable, depending on the terms of the Trust. Minimum gift is $100,000.

Methods of funding

  • Cash (all Outright and Planned Gifts)
    Cash gifts provide an immediate and direct benefit to the Church, and are usually fully tax deductible by the donor, subject to IRS limits of 50% of Adjusted Gross Income.

  • Securities (all Outright and Planned Gifts)
    Appreciated securities (those which have increased in value since they were purchased) are transferred to the United Church of Christ to avoid capital gain tax on the appreciation. Depreciated securities are sold by the donor so the loss may be deducted from on his/her tax return, and the cash proceeds are donated. Gifts of securities are generally tax deductible at fair market value if owned for longer than a year, in amounts up to 30% of Adjusted Gross Income.

  • Real Estate (some Outright and Planned Gifts)
    Donation of real estate that has appreciated in value provides a charitable tax deduction for the appraised value of the property, and avoidance of capital-gains tax. As with appreciated securities, appreciated real estate must be transferred to the United Church of Christ, not sold by the donor.


How does it work

First of all, we urge you to do your gift planning within the context of family and professional advisors; discuss your charitable goals with your family; consult your attorney, financial planner, accountant.

We provide the following:

  • Detailed information on each gift type
  • Bequest language
  • Instructions for stock transfer
  • Life-Income Gift illustrations
  • Gift Annuity Agreements (other life-income gift contracts are produced in conjunction with our Planned Giving attorney in Boston)
  • Documentation for income tax filing

  • The Pension Boards does not offer legal, tax, or financial/estate planning services. Please don't hesitate to contact us - we welcome your phone calls and e-mail!


"Gifts" for the giver

People choose to make charitable gifts for a variety or reasons, primary of which is a desire to support work they believe in. Giving also provides benefits to you, the donor. A gift to the Church may include some or all of the following:

  • Fulfillment of charitable goals
  • Charitable tax deduction
  • Avoidance or reduction of capital-gain tax
  • Income payments for life
  • Tax-free income
  • Reduction of federal estate tax
  • Expert investment management by the United Church Foundation
    Socially responsible investment

The Pension Boards are exceedingly grateful for the inspired generosity of its members and friends. You have provided millions of dollars to assure and enhance the mission and ministry of the Pension Boards and The United Church Board for Ministerial Assistance now and into the future. Your support is vital in continuing the work of the Boards and are eager to assist you in developing financial resources for the mission and ministry dear to your heart!

(Adapted from, and used with permission of, the United Church of Christ Financial Ministries Team)