Frequently Asked Questions

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A gift annuity contract becomes a legal financial obligation of Avail and is backed up by all our assets.

Both have distinct advantages. A gift of cash will produce a larger tax-free portion of the annuity. A gift of stock can increase your income because of reduced capital gains cost. Both assets produce an equal annuity rate and charitable income tax deduction.

A charitable gift annuity can only be set up for one or two lives. This is typically a husband and wife, but it could be two siblings, or two friends, etc. Beneficiaries must be at least 65 at the time of the gift.

A commercial annuity, typically sold by banks and life insurance companies, will provide the owner with fixed or variable income based on commercial rates of return. These plans establish their annuity payments based on the assumption that all of the assets in the plan will be used up by the end of the income beneficiaries' lives.

A charitable gift annuity is part guaranteed annuity and part charitable contribution. The donor receives a partial income tax deduction based on the assumed value of the portion of the gift the charity will ultimately receive. A gift annuity establishes its payments on the assumption that there will be something left for the charity at the end of the contract. Often annuity rates for gift annuities cannot compete with the annuity rates of a commercial annuity because of the charitable component in the contracts. But then, there are fewer tax benefits with a commercial annuity.

Yes, you can make a gift now for an annuity contract that will defer your payments to a future date that you decide, typically sometime in your retirement years when you will need the income. In this sense, a deferred payment gift annuity can serve as a type of tax-deferred savings plan that will provide you with guaranteed income in the future.

A Deferred Gift Annuity provides lifetime annuity payments commencing at a future date.  Because of this deferral, payments from deferred gift annuities are higher than from annuities whose payments begin immediately, and donors usually receive a larger charitable deduction than they would for an immediate-payment annuity.  Many donors use deferred gift annuities as a source of supplemental retirement income.  They often create their annuity with funds they had already set aside for retirement savings, and set their anticipated retirement as the date to begin receiving payments.  An attractive option is to establish a series of deferred gift annuities over several years, all scheduled to begin payments upon the donor's retirement.

Yes, you may. Choose whatever date makes sense to you. And remember this: the longer you wait, the larger your payments will be.

One is not necessarily better than the other. Both have distinct advantages. A gift of cash will produce a larger tax-free portion of the annuity. A gift of stock will reduce the donor’s capital gain tax and produce income that will likely be at a lower tax rate. Both assets produce an equal annuity rate and charitable income tax deduction.