Couple Gives Win/Win/Win Gift
A Gift Annuity Provides Life Income, Tax Benefits and Supports the Zoo
Richard and Nancy Marston are wonderful friends of the Saint Louis Zoo who enjoy belonging to the Marlin Perkins Society and the Heritage Society and serving on the Zoo's Planned Giving Advisory Committee. Coming to the Zoo is a highlight for their family as well as their friends visiting from out of town — they love showing off their Zoo!
Rich is proud that he thinks and does things differently than most people. His methods have brought him great success, so why change? While Rich is quite generous and enjoys doing things for family and friends, he demands value for his money. He worked hard for his resources, has paid plenty in taxes along the way and is decidedly financially prudent.
When recent tax reform eliminated most of his annual deductions in 2018, and IRA required distributions were about to increase his taxable income, he reconsidered a strategy that he had looked at before but had set aside — creating a charitable gift annuity.
A charitable gift annuity provides tax-favorable life income, an immediate tax deduction and the opportunity to itemize. When most other tax deductions seemed to melt away, the charitable gift annuity offered an attractive tax benefit to replace them while providing partially tax-free life income, all while supporting the Zoo.
"The charitable gift annuity is a win/win/win," Rich says. "It allows me to itemize, reduce taxes, get a lifetime income that's mostly tax free and supports an awesome institution — the Zoo!"
In Rich's habit of looking at situations from all angles, he determined that a charitable gift annuity now made sense to do, and he is considering doing one every year to offset annual tax liabilities such as the required minimum distributions of his IRA.
To learn more about charitable gift annuities, request a personalized illustration or discover other ways you can support your Zoo, contact the Planned Giving Office at plannedgiving@stlzoo.org or (314) 646-4973.