If you want to make an impact now at the Metropolitan Opera and also provide for your family later, consider setting up a charitable lead trust. You transfer cash or other assets to a trust that makes payments to the Metropolitan Opera for a period of time. When the term is up, the remaining trust passes to your family or other beneficiaries you select.
There are two ways that charitable lead trusts make payments to the Met:
A charitable lead annuity trust pays a fixed amount each year to the Met and is more attractive when interest rates are low.
A charitable lead unitrust pays a variable amount each year to the Met based on the value of the assets in the trust. With a unitrust, if the trust's assets go up in value, for example, the payments to the Met go up as well.
How It Works
George would like to support the Met and receive tax benefits. He received a windfall amount of income and needs a large income tax deduction to offset it. Following his advisor’s recommendation, George funds a grantor lead annuity trust with assets valued at $1,000,000. George’s trust pays $60,000 (6% of the initial fair market value) to the Met each year for 15 years, which will total $900,000. After that, the balance in the trust reverts back to George. He receives an income tax charitable deduction of $686,160. Assuming the trust earns an average 8% annual rate of return, George receives approximately $1,619,706 at the end of the trust term.
*Based on a 3.6% charitable midterm federal rate. Deductions and calculations will vary depending on your personal circumstances.
