Testimonial – Rob & Sue M.

“When we decided to sell a rental complex that we owned for 20 years, we were facing a very large tax consequence.  We recalled talking to Brent several years ago about Charitable Trusts, and how they might be used to save taxes.  At the time, he asked: “Would you rather give your resources to God, or give them to the government?”

Considering the fact that we would be, through our monthly tithes and offerings, be giving a certain chunk of the proceeds to God anyway, and considering what we would give over our anticipated lifetime, and the fact that our will established that 10% of our estate would be given to our supported church and missionaries, we established a certain amount that we would gift to the Charitable Remainder Trust, which equated to 40% of the total property.  This cut our income tax liability in half.  That tax savings was transferred into the CRT as well!  Now that the work is done and the Charitable Trust is funded, we are thrilled to be able to direct our giving today, through a donor-advised fund inside the CRT.  Another cool aspect is that the income that the trust generates is distributed to us personally.

Couple of small details that we needed to also consider includes the fact that the property donated could not be encumbered by a mortgage, and the income that the trust generates is taxable to us on our personal tax return.  For us, the decision to do this was a no-brainer.  We were going to give the funds anyhow now and in the future – so to do it in a way that cut our taxes in half only allowed us to give more to God, and less to the government!

Rob & Sue M.

(This testimonial was written by the donors. Their names were changed and available upon request.)