The simplest way to support your local parish or the Diocese of Jefferson City is through cash gifts. Creative gifts of assets can include stocks, bonds and property (real estate and personal property). Such gifts can provide both charitable deductions as well as other additional tax savings.

The most common planned gifts are bequests in wills. Bequests are simple and convenient and offer a wide range of options:

• Make a bequest for a specific dollar amount or for a percentage of your estate;
• Make a residuary bequests, giving all or a portion of the residue or remainder of your estate to your local parish or the Diocese of Jefferson City after payment of expenses and any specific bequests to other beneficiaries; or
• Make a bequest for a specific asset, such as securities, real estate, or personal property.

Sometimes a donor is reluctant to make a gift to the Church because of the worry about having enough income or resources to make it through retirement. Life-income gifts, such as charitable gift annuities and charitable remainder trusts, can provide donors with a lifetime income stream, significant tax savings and the satisfaction of supplying to your local parish or the diocese with vital, long-term resources.

Your local parish or the Diocese of Jefferson City can be named as either a full or partial beneficiary of your IRA, 401(k) or 403(b) plan, profit-sharing plans or other retirement fund.

Simply complete a beneficiary designation form (available from the plan manager) and submit the form to the retirement plan trustee, manager or custodian. If you name the Diocese of Jefferson City or your local parish, the beneficiary of the retirement account would receive the full amount, free of taxes, thus creating an estate tax deduction for the donor.

One of the simplest planned gifts is designating you local parish or the Diocese of Jefferson City as the beneficiary on a bank account or security. This will allow you to use the assets during your lifetime and to give the asset remains to the Diocese of Jefferson City at your death.

A charitable trust is a way to serve with current and long-term financial and philanthropic interest. Through a charitable trust, you give cash, stock or other assets to a trust, which is invested an managed by a professional financial institution. Once created, a charitable trust is irrevocable. Charitable trusts take two forms - charitable remainder trust and charitable lead trusts.

A charitable remainder trust allows you to designate the beneficiary of regular payouts from trust proceeds for a period of time, not to exceed 20 years or until you die, and to designate your local parish or the Diocese of Jefferson City as a remainder beneficiary. This allows you to claim a tax deduction for the estimated portion of the assets.

A charitable lead trust appeals to individuals who wish to make a gift but retain the property. You can designate the your local parish or the Diocese of Jefferson City as the beneficiary of annual payments from the trust, allowing you to avoid taxes on the income during a fixed period of time or until the end of your life or another person's life.