There is another way you can help My Brother's Table. We are looking for ways to develop a stable source of long-term funding. Planned gifts provide an opportunity both to realize your personal financial goals and to strengthen the future. Through a planned gift, you may be able to increase your current income, or provide additional retirement income, while reducing income and estate taxes. The following summaries provide additional information on these opportunities:

Bequests
You can make a gift to My Brother's Table through your will or via a codicil to your will. This is a bequest. You can bequeath a specific sum, or a percentage of your estate or specific property. A bequest enables you to make a lasting gift to My Brother's Table while providing the security of knowing that you have complete access to your assets should you need them for medical or other expenses. A bequest may also enable you to reduce estate taxes.

Charitable Gift Annuities
A charitable gift annuity is a contract between you and My Brother's Table Endowment Fund whereby you transfer cash or securities to the Endowment and, in exchange the Endowment agrees to pay you (and/or another beneficiary) a guaranteed fixed income for life. You receive a current income tax deduction and a portion of the income you receive is a non-taxable return of principal.

If the gift annuity is funded with long-term appreciated property, capital gains tax is avoided on part of the gift and deferred on the balance.

Charitable Trusts
If you need current income, or future income for your retirement years, a charitable remainder trust can provide income to you (and/or a loved one) for life or for a term of years. You may also qualify for an income tax deduction and avoid the capital gains tax on the property used to fund the trust. There are two types of charitable remainder trusts. In the unitrust , the annual income to the donor is variable, based on a fixed percentage of the value of the assets in the trust. In the annuity trust , the annual income is a fixed percentage of the trust's initial value and provides income of a fixed dollar amount. Another type of trust, the charitable lead trust , can be established to provide income to My Brother's Table for a period of years, before passing the assets back to the donor or the donor's family.

Life Estates
When you make a gift of your home now, you can receive a current tax deduction, while retaining the security of knowing that you can live there as long as you wish and having the satisfaction of making a significant gift to My Brother's Table. You continue to care for the property, pay the taxes and even receive any income it generates. Upon your death (or that of a loved one), the property goes to My Brother's Table Endowment Fund without passing through your probated estate, thereby saving unnecessary expense and delay.

Gifts of Appreciated Stock
Many people have securities that have increased greatly in value since their purchase. By using these stocks for charitable giving, donors can conserve cash for other uses and maximize the value of their gifts. Donors can deduct the full fair-market value of appreciated securities and pay no capital gains on their transfer to My Brother's Table. This can reduce the cost of making a gift or increase the amount can afford to give.

Life Insurance
A simple way to make a significant future gift is to name My Brother's Table Endowment Fund as the beneficiary to receive all or a portion of the proceeds of a life insurance policy no longer needed for its original purpose, or to purchase a new fund policy for the benefit of My Brother's Table. You should contact your insurance agent to discuss how best to make such a gift. He or she can work with My Brother's Table staff to meet your charitable giving goals.

Retirement Plan Gifts
You may have accumulated funds in your company pension plan, IRA or other private retirement account which are beyond your needs or potentially subject to the federal excise tax on over-funded retirement plans. It may be convenient and beneficial to make a current or future charitable gift to My Brother's Table from those accounts.

Memorial/ In Honor Gifts
Any of the planned giving ideas discussed here can become an enduring tribute to a family member or other loved one. A member of My Brother's Table staff would be glad to assist you in choosing an appropriate commemoration for your gift in memory or honor of someone special.

In addition, you may want to celebrate a special event . . . a birthday, anniversary, graduation, bar mitzvah, holiday, etc, by making a gift to our soup kitchen in honor of, or memory of a loved one. Such gifts can be large or small. Simply call 781-595-3224 today and we will send a card to your loved one.

This summer we will be publishing a planned giving brochure to provide additional information on the subject of Planned Giving.

Send us an e-mail to request a copy of MBT's Planned Giving Brochure when it becomes available.
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