It would if you were Ben Farmer. He knows all of his cows by name. And every morning and evening he herds them into the barn to be fed and milked. He’s been doing this for 53 years!
Ben has been thinking about his farm and what he will do with it when he gets too old to handle the chores. He could sell the property, equipment and livestock, but that seems even now to be an insurmountable task.
If he could just hand it over to someone else and receive a lifetime flow of income for himself and Mrs. Farmer. And if he could do it without incurring any tax on the transfer.
Then Ben learned about planned giving. It started with a brochure from the college in a nearby small town and later involved a phone call and visit from a planned giving officer.
Before long, Ben knew enough to explain the plan to his wife. And soon after that, he met with his tax advisor and started to make arrangements to create a charitable trust with the local college.
Here’s what he did: He and Mrs. Farmer established what is known as a charitable remainder unitrust. Into this trust they transferred the farm. The trustee (the college) sold the farm and livestock and used the cash to buy stocks and bonds that earn investment income. The Farmers now receive a portion of the trust earnings every quarter, and this will continue for the rest of their lives.
A dream come true! They didn’t have to deal with selling the farm nor did they have any capital gains tax to pay. And after they are both gone, whatever is left in the trust will go to the college to create scholarships for needy students.
Ben likes to think of it as giving the farm and keeping the income. Or, as he says, “We’re giving the cow and keeping the milk.”
If you would like to learn more about charitable remainder trusts, contact Lori Newhouse to request our free brochure. You can reach her at lnewhouse@fils.org or 262-377-6610..