Video Block
Double-click here to add a video by URL or embed code. Learn more

Individuals and Families with No Dependents (Page 2)

Charitable Giving and Tax-Wise Planning Topics

If God has called you to support the church and other ministries or charities during your life, it makes sense to include them when transferring stewardship through your estate.

Charitable Giving and Tax-Wise Planning

In a sense, you could look at these ministries as dependents if you have provided support for any length of time. Scripture tells us to live generous lives and excel in the gift of giving (2 Cor 9:6-11) and to be generous and willing to share (1 Tim 6:17-19). The early church in Acts was full of believers generously providing for the community’s needs, and Paul used the rich generosity of the church in Macedonia to inspire others to excel in the grace of giving (2 Cor 8:1-7). Giving to ministry through your will or estate is called legacy giving and is often your opportunity to make your largest gift to charity in your lifetime, which can leave a lasting legacy for your family.

multigenerational family happily enjoying their time together

How Much to Give?

When it comes to how much you should give to the Lord’s work from your estate, there is no biblical mandate, formula, or correct answer for everyone. This decision is between you and the Lord.

As you pray through this consideration, you may be looking for a starting point on which to base the conversation. If you currently tithe or otherwise give to your church or ministry, you may already measure this as a percentage of your income. When giving from your estate, consider that many of the assets within it have appreciated in value, which is a form of income. Another starting point that many Christian families consider is a giving concept called a child called ministry. With this approach, you divide your estate into as many shares as you have children, plus one more for ministry. For example, a family with three children could split their estate four ways, with 25 percent going to each child and the remaining 25 percent split among their favorite ministries.

“Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
2 Corinthians 9:7 (NIV)

Legacy Advised Funds

We know that you may have multiple charities and ministries dear to your heart that you would love to support, and that those may change throughout your life. If you are interested in charitable giving through your estate plan but anticipate the specifics will change over your lifetime, a Legacy Advised Fund (LAF) is a great tool to utilize. By setting up an LAF with Orchard Alliance, you can manage your charitable estate giving all in one central document. Your LAF will name all your charitable beneficiaries and what percent will bless each organization. Once the fund is set up, you can name your LAF as the beneficiary of a portion of your will, living trust, retirement accounts, and other financial accounts. At any time, when you have changes to your charitable beneficiaries, simply contact Orchard Alliance to update the beneficiaries on your LAF. You will not need to make any changes to your will or other accounts with beneficiaries, which saves you time and money, and simplifies the distribution of assets.

If you are interested in using an LAF in your will or other estate plans, please review the related Legacy Advised Fund information and application. If you have any questions about setting up an LAF, please contact our Gift & Estate Design team.

Tax-Wise Giving

When a tax-deferred asset passes into your estate or to another person, the government will want its cut and the recipient will have to pay taxes. However, charities are not subject to this taxation, so giving these assets to ministry ensures that more money will go exactly where you want.

The most common tax-deferred assets are traditional IRA and 401k accounts. It’s likely that you’ve saved these assets to sustain you throughout retirement, so they weren’t intended as an inheritance for your children. If the Lord calls you home before your tax-deferred retirement funds are spent, pray about leaving those remaining assets to your church or other ministries you care about. You can accomplish this by setting up one or more ministries as beneficiaries of your tax-deferred assets. To learn more about tax-wise ways to maximize your giving to ministry, please read our article on Tax-Wise Concepts for Effective Planning.

Click here if you are interested in making a tax-effective non-cash charitable gift now.

Prayer and Action Items

☐ Pray over and determine how much of your estate to leave to the Lord’s work

☐   Start to gather the names, addresses, and EIN numbers of your chosen charities, and note any specific designations for assets you gift to them

☐   Set up a Legacy Advised Fund with Orchard Alliance if you choose this method to simplify and centralize your legacy giving

☐   Consider how you would update your beneficiary designations to take advantage of tax-wise giving

To download the Prayer and Action Items PDF, click here.

Next Step: Ways to Transfer Stewardship

Click the button to learn about your options for how to transfer stewardship of your resources.

  • "You should have two financial goals in life: to make a little money first, and then to make a little money last."

    Unknown

  • "If we command our wealth, we shall be rich and free; if our wealth commands us, we are poor, indeed. We are bought by the enemy with the treasure in our own coffers."

    Edmund Burke

  • "Every man ought to have money on his mind. No man ought to have money on his heart."

    Anonymous

  • "How much better it is to get wisdom than gold! And to get understanding is to be chosen above silver."

    Proverbs 16:16

  • "The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage, but everyone who is hasty comes surly to poverty."

    Proverbs 21:5

  • "Divide your portion to seven, or even to eight, for you do not know what misfortune may occur on the earth."

    Ecclesiastes 11:2

  • "Almost any man knows how to earn money, but not one in a million knows how to spend it."

    Henry David Thoreau

  • "We are not to jude thrift soley by the test of saving or spending. If one spends what he should prudently save, that certainly is to be deplored. But if one saves what he should prudently spend, that is not necessarily to be commended. A wise balance between the two is the desired end."

    Owen D. Young

  • "There's no reason to be the richest man in the cemetery. You can't do any business from there."

    Colonel Sanders

  • "A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, and the wealth of the sinner has stored up for the righteous."

    Proverbs 13:22

  • "Planning one's finances must take place under the sovereignty of God, recognizing His omnipotence, wisdom, purposes, and plans."

    Ron Blue

  • "If a person gets his attitude toward money straight, it will help straighten out almost every other area of his life."

    Billy Graham

  • "God can have our money and not have our hearts, but He cannot have our hearts without having our money."

    R. Kent Hughes

  • "Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share."

    I Timothy 6:18

  • "Ultimately, financial planning is the predetermined use of financial resources in order to accomplish certain goals and objectives. The difference in financial planning between the Christian and the non-Christian is the belief as to whom the financial resources belong and the source of the goals and objectives."

    Ron Blue

  • "…every spending decision is a spiritual decision"

    Ron Blue

  • "Stewardship is the use of God-given resources for the accomplishment of God-given goals."

    Ron Blue

  • "A wise man should have money in his head, but not in his heart."

    Jonathan Swift

  • "Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can."

    John Wesley

  • "A man's treatment of money is the most decisive test of his character - how he makes it and how he spends it."

    Moffat

  • "Financial planning is allocating limited financial resources among unlimited alternatives."

    Ron Blue