Gift Planning

What It Is:

A charitable remainder annuity trust ("annuity trust") is a gift plan defined by federal tax law that allows you to provide income to yourself or others while making a generous gift to Wilson College. The income may continue for the lifetimes of the beneficiaries you name, a fixed term of not more than 20 years, or a combination of the two.

As an annuity trust donor, you irrevocably transfer assets, usually cash or securities, to a trustee of your choice (for example, Wilson College or a bank trust department).

During the trust's term, the trustee invests the trust's assets. Each year, the trustee distributes a fixed dollar amount to your income beneficiaries. The payments must be between 5% and 50% of the trust's initial value and are made out of trust income, or trust principal if income is not adequate. Payments continue until the trust term ends or until the highly unlikely event that the trust distributes all its assets. Payments may be made annually, semiannually, or quarterly.

When the annuity trust term ends, the trust's principal passes to Wilson College, to be used for the purpose you designate.

Benefits:

1. You will qualify for a federal income tax deduction.  Note that deductions for gifts of long-term appreciated property will be limited to 30% of your adjusted gross income and gifts of cash and non-appreciated property will be limited to 50% of your adjusted gross income.  You may, if necessary, take unused deductions of either kind over the next five years, subject to the same 30% or 50% limitation.
2. The income beneficiaries you name will receive annual income for life, or for the period you designate.
3. If you fund the trust with an appreciated asset and the trust sells it, there will be no immediate tax on the capital gain. If you were to sell such an asset yourself, you would owe tax on all the capital gain realized in the sale.
4. Your estate may enjoy reduced probate costs and estate taxes.
5. You will provide generous support of Wilson College.
6. Your gift will benefit from expert asset management, provided by the same professionals who manage Wilson College's endowment.

What It Is:

A charitable remainder unitrust ("unitrust") is a gift plan defined by federal tax law that allows you to provide income to yourself or others while making a generous gift to Wilson College. The income may continue for the lifetimes of the beneficiaries you name, a fixed term of not more than 20 years, or a combination of the two.

As a unitrust donor, you irrevocably transfer assets, usually cash, securities, or real estate, to a trustee of your choice (for example, Wilson College or a bank trust department).

During the unitrust's term, the trustee invests the unitrust's assets. Each year, the trustee distributes a fixed percentage of the unitrust's current value, as revalued annually, to your income beneficiaries. If the unitrust's value goes up from one year to the next, its payout increases proportionately. Likewise, if the unitrust's value goes down, the amount it distributes also goes down. For this reason, it may be to your advantage to choose a relatively low payout percentage so that the unitrust assets can grow, which in turn will allow the unitrust's yearly payments to grow.

Payments must be between 5% and 50% of the trust's annual value and are made out of trust income, or trust principal if income is not adequate. Payments may be made annually, semiannually, or quarterly.

When the unitrust term ends, the unitrust's principal passes to Wilson College, to be used for the purpose you designate. You may add funds to your unitrust whenever you like.

Benefits:

1. You will qualify for a federal income tax deduction.  Note that deductions for gifts of long-term appreciated property will be limited to 30% of your adjusted gross income and gifts of cash and non-appreciated property will be limited to 50% of your adjusted gross income. You may, if necessary, take unused deductions of either kind over the next five years, subject to the same 30% or 50% limitation.
2. The income beneficiaries you name will receive annual income for life, or for the period you designate.
3. If you fund the trust with an appreciated asset and the trust sells it, there will be no immediate tax on the capital gain. If you were to sell such an asset yourself, you would owe tax on all the capital gain realized in the sale.
4. Your estate may enjoy reduced probate costs and estate taxes.
5. You will provide generous support of Wilson College.
6. Your gift will benefit from expert asset management, provided by the same professionals who manage Wilson College's endowment.

What It Is:

A deferred gift annuity is a simple contract between you and Wilson College.

In exchange for your irrevocable gift of cash, securities, or other assets, Wilson College agrees to pay one or two annuitants you name a fixed sum each year for life, with payments starting at least one year after your gift. The older your designated annuitants are at the time of gift and the longer payments are deferred, the greater the fixed income Wilson College can agree to pay.

In most cases, part of each payment is tax-free, increasing each payment's after-tax value. If you give appreciated property you will pay capital gains tax on only part of the appreciation. In addition, if you name yourself as an annuitant the capital gains tax will be spread out over many years and the first installment will not be due until you receive your first annuity payment.

Payments are usually made annually, semiannually, or quarterly.

Benefits:

1. You will qualify for a federal income tax deduction. Note that deductions for gifts of long-term appreciated property will be limited to 30% of your adjusted gross income and gifts of cash and non-appreciated property will be limited to 50% of your adjusted gross income. You may, if necessary, take unused deductions of either kind over the next five years, subject to the same 30% or 50% limitation.
2. The annuitants you name will receive fixed annual income for life, guaranteed by the general resources of Wilson College, starting in the year you choose.
3. If you fund the annuity with an appreciated asset, you will incur tax on only part of the gain. If you name yourself as an annuitant, this tax will be spread out over many years and the first installment will not be due until after you receive your first payment.
4. Your estate may enjoy reduced probate costs and estate taxes.
5. You will provide generous support of Wilson College.

What It Is:

A non-grantor charitable lead annuity trust is a gift plan defined by federal tax law that allows you to transfer assets to family members at reduced tax cost while making a generous gift to Wilson College.

As a lead annuity trust donor, you irrevocably transfer assets, usually cash or securities, to a trustee of your choice (for example, Wilson College or a bank trust department).

During the lead annuity trust's term, the trustee invests the trust's assets and provides a fixed dollar amount each year to Wilson College. These payments are used for the charitable purpose you designate and continue until the trust term ends or until the highly unlikely event that the trust distributes all its assets.  The trust's term may be for a specific number of years (10-20 years is common), one or more lifetimes, or a combination of the two. The payments are made out of trust income, or trust principal if the trust income is not adequate. If trust income during a given year exceeds the annual charitable payment, the trust pays income tax on the excess.

When the lead annuity trust term ends, the trust distributes all of its accumulated assets to family members or other beneficiaries named by you.

Benefits:

1. You will qualify for a federal gift tax deduction.
2. Wilson College will receive fixed annual payments from your trust for a term of years, or for another term you designate.
3. The beneficiaries of your trust (for example, family members) will receive all of the trust's assets when the trust terminates. Any asset growth that occurs within the trust will be distributed to your trust's beneficiaries free of gift or estate tax.
4. Your gift will benefit from expert asset management, provided by the same professionals who manage Wilson College's endowment.

What It Is:

A non-grantor charitable lead unitrust is a gift plan defined by federal tax law that allows you to transfer assets to family members at reduced tax cost while making a generous gift to Wilson College.

As a non-grantor lead unitrust donor, you irrevocably transfer assets, usually cash or securities, to a trustee of your choice (for example, Wilson College or a bank trust department).

During the lead unitrust's term, the trustee invests the unitrust's assets.  Each year, the trustee pays a fixed percentage of the unitrust's current value, as revalued annually, to Wilson College.  If the unitrust's value goes up from one year to the next, its payout to Wilson College increases proportionately.  Likewise, if the unitrust's value goes down, the amount it donates also goes down.  These payments are used for the charitable purpose you designate.

The lead unitrust's term may be for a specific number of years (10-20 years is common), one or more lifetimes, or a combination of the two.  Payments are made out of trust income, or trust principal if the trust income is not adequate.  If trust income exceeds the charitable payment in a given year, the trust pays income tax on the excess.

When the lead unitrust term ends, the unitrust distributes all of its accumulated assets to family members or other beneficiaries named by you.  You may add funds to your unitrust whenever you like.

Benefits:

1. You will qualify for a federal gift tax deduction.
2. Wilson College will receive annual payments from your trust for a term of years, or for another term you designate.
3. The beneficiaries of your trust (for example, family members) will receive all of the trust's assets when the trust terminates.  Any asset growth that occurs within the trust will be distributed to your trust's beneficiaries free of gift or estate tax.
4. Your gift will benefit from expert asset management, provided by the same professionals who manage Wilson College's endowment.

What It Is:

A charitable gift annuity is a simple contract between you and Wilson College.

In exchange for your irrevocable gift of cash, securities, or other assets, Wilson College agrees to pay one or two annuitants you name a fixed sum each year for life.  The payments are guaranteed by the general resources of Wilson College.

The older your designated annuitants are at the time of the gift, the greater the fixed income Wilson College can agree to pay.

In most cases, part of each payment is tax-free, increasing each payment's after-tax value.  If you give appreciated property you will pay capital gains tax on only part of the appreciation.  In addition, if you name yourself as an annuitant the capital gains tax will be spread out over many years rather than be all due in the year of your gift.

Payments are usually made in annual, semiannual, or quarterly installments.

Benefits:

1. You will qualify for a federal income tax deduction.  Note that deductions for gifts of long-term appreciated property will be limited to 30% of your adjusted gross income and gifts of cash and non-appreciated property will be limited to 50% of your adjusted gross income.  You may, if necessary, take unused deductions of either kind over the next five years, subject to the same 30% or 50% limitation.
2. The annuitants you name will receive fixed annual income for life, guaranteed by the general resources of Wilson College.
3. If you fund the annuity with an appreciated asset, you will incur tax on only part of the gain.  If you name yourself as an annuitant, this tax will be spread out over many years.
4. Your estate may enjoy reduced probate costs and estate taxes.
5. You will provide generous support of Wilson College.