Making a Life Income Gift
By establishing a life income gift, you can receive significant tax benefits and lifetime income.
For donors with appreciated assets—such as real estate or stocks—charitable remainder trusts are an excellent option.
A charitable remainder trust (CRT) can help you:
• Avoid capital gains tax on appreciated assets
• Receive a significant and immediate income tax deduction
• Arrange for annual or quarterly cash payments for you or your designees
• Realize substantial estate tax savings
To establish a CRT with POST, you select an asset that has appreciated in value and contribute that asset to a trust. The trust then sells the asset, reinvests the proceeds, and provides you and/or your designees with a specified annual percentage payout over a period of time. This payout can be set up for lifetime payments or payments over a term of years. At the end of that period, the trust dissolves and the trust assets go to POST.
There are many types of charitable remainder trusts that can meet a variety of personal, income, tax and charitable gift goals. We would be pleased to provide a confidential proposal outlining the tax and financial implications of such a gift, which then should be reviewed by your own counsel.
Betty and Steve Salveter
Imagine going to a routine doctor’s visit and having a heart attack while taking the treadmill test! That’s what happened to Steve Salveter in 1987, a time when he was working hard and getting no exercise. A quadruple bypass saved his life, but the true road to recovery led him to the beauties of open space.
“My cardiologist suggested the stationary bicycle,” says Steve. “I tried it out at the YMCA, but it was boring. I knew I couldn’t keep it up. Betty and I lived just down the street from Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve. At first, I could only walk about ten feet into the preserve. I was just too fatigued. Gradually, I was able to go farther, where the paths are more challenging. We realized how beautiful it is, and that motivated us to take docent training with Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District and to learn about other open space lands.”
The Salveters have lived on the Peninsula for 35 years and have supported POST since 1991. “We became interested in POST after hearing Audrey Rust speak. I remember she talked about POST’s ability to move fast. I was impressed. Any chance to thwart bureaucracy is fine with me!”
An important part of the Salveters' support is a charitable remainder trust (CRT) with POST as a beneficiary.
“If more people understood, more people would go for CRTs,” declares Steve. “It’s an amazing way to give and receive multiple benefits, especially if you have a house you’ve owned for many years.”
For more information about life income gifts, please contact Adelaide Roberts, Director of Planned Giving, at (650) 854-7696 or aroberts@openspacetrust.org.