DEDICATED WARRIOR Faces Difficult Road Ahead

Putting Your Values FRONT AND CENTERSharing your personal goals with professional advisors

T he Burns family knows what it means to face challenges. Michael, the patriarch of the family, has gone through multiple deployments resulting in numerous injuries.

The first incident involved his vehicle hitting an IED. The second occurred when he was flung out of the gunner’s turret. He sustained a third set of injuries during his second tour, this time due to shrapnel from an IED. After being transferred to a medical center to heal, he returned to Iraq just one month later.

Michael is a dedicated fighter for his country, but after returning home to the nation he gave so much to, he wasn’t able to maintain a civilian job due to his injuries. His family was in a tight spot and needed help, so he sought advice from a VA representative.

The representative pointed him to the VFW’s Unmet Needs program. The program approved the Burns family for a grant, ensuring funds for the family’s rent and utilities. Michael’s wife, Robyn, was overwhelmed with relief once the assistance came. She was so grateful to have an organization understand what their family was going through.

“It was so great to feel like we were not being judged and people understood my husband’s injuries,” she said.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE: helping others pays in so many ways • Putting your values front and center

The VFW Grants a Blessing for a Family in Financial Crisis

WHAT YOU CAN DO TODAYRETURN the enclosed survey to request your FREE gift annuity guide and illustration.

VISIT www.vfw.org/plannedgiving to download your FREE Personal Estate Planning Kit.

CONTACT us at (816) 968-1119 or plannedgiving@vfw.org to learn how you can easily support the VFW through your estate plans.

spring 2014© The Stelter Company | The information in this publication is not intended as legal advice. For legal advice, please consult an attorney. Figures cited in examples are for hypothetical purposes only and are subject to change. References to estate and income taxes include federal taxes only. State income/estate taxes or state law may impact your results. 47168BR

VFW BUGLEH ave you ever discussed your values with your attorney, accountant or other professional advisors? If you haven’t, they won’t know how

you’d like to be remembered in your community, and your financial and estate plans won’t reflect what you care about.

Professional advisors naturally concentrate their efforts on the value of your estate and the taxes it will eventually generate. They recommend helpful strategies to reduce the tax bite, but little more than your net worth is shared with them.

A Better Alternative Make sure you discuss your personal values and goals with your professional advisors during the planning process so your long-term plans are built around these important standards. To help your advisors get an idea of your values and goals:

• Share what is important to you. • Document what you stand for in life. • Tell them how you want to be remembered by

your family and community.

Involve Your Family Many families build mission statements as part of this process to help clarify and emphasize the values and legacy they want to leave behind. This mission

statement can then become the core document in all your plans, whether it’s for estate tax planning, capital gains taxes or philanthropy.

To develop a mission statement with your family, sit down and discuss what your family believes are priorities in life and how you want to make a lasting impact as a group.

The Best Outcome By declaring what you care about first, your advisors can build a plan with you that embraces and fulfills your values and goals—all while putting your family’s financial security first.

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No One DOES MORE FOR VETERANS.

SINCE 2004, the VFW’s Unmet Needs program has provided over 3,200 EMERGENCY FINANCIAL GRANTS FOR MILITARY FAMILIES like the Burnses (above) during troubling times.

Assistance for injured veterans and their families is made possible through your donations. Contact us at plannedgiving@vfw.org or (816) 968-1119 to find out how you can help.

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Spring 2014Spring 2014

W hen it comes to supporting the VFW’s long-term future, the charitable gift annuity is one method favored by many

of our donors. When you set up a gift annuity with us, we’ll provide you with lifetime payments that remain constant even with a fluctuating stock market. This offers you the opportunity to supplement your retirement income and continue to make a difference in the lives of veterans.

How a Gift Annuity Works A gift annuity is a simple contract between you and the VFW. You make a donation using cash, marketable securities or other assets and we, in turn, pay you a fixed amount for life. With this

type of gift, you can feel secure knowing you can count on receiving stable payments for as long as you live.

Your age when the payments begin and the amount of your donation determine the size of your payment. The older you are, the higher your fixed rate (see chart, below). You receive payments for life, and, if you choose, you can have the payments continue for the life of another person. After that, the remaining funds are used to support veterans and their families.

Find Your Payment Rate

Your Tax Benefits Charitable gift annuities offer additional benefits besides secure and stable payments. You can also receive an income tax-deduction for a portion of your gift in the year you set up your gift annuity.

Example: Let’s say Roger and Karen, who are both 70 years old, would like to secure their retirement income by creating a gift annuity with

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NO ONE DOES MORE FOR VETERANS.

HELPING OTHERS Pays in So Many Ways 2-MINUTE QUIZGIFT ANNUITY

How much do you know about the benefits of charitable

gift annuities? Take this quiz to test your knowledge.

1. A charitable gift annuity pays you __________.

A. fixed payments for life

B. variable payments for life

C. fixed payments for 20 years

2. If you create a charitable gift annuity this year, you are

allowed to take __________.

A. an estate tax-deduction

B. a charitable income tax-deduction for the entire

amount of the asset donated

C. a charitable income tax-deduction for a portion of the

value of the asset donated

3. You can choose to have a charitable gift annuity make

payments to one or two individuals. True or False

4. Upon the death of the second person receiving payments,

the remaining value of the gift annuity is available to help

support the VFW. True or False

Answers: 1. A 2. C 3. True 4. True

Visit www.vfw.org/plannedgiving and click on “Ways to Give” to find additional information on gift annuities.

Discover a Win-Win Way to Support Veterans

TWO LIVESAges

55/60

60/65

65/70

70/75

75/80

80/85

85/90

90/95+

Rate

3.7%

4.0%

4.4%

4.8%

5.3%

6.1%

7.3%

8.8%

ONE LIFEAge

55

60

65

70

75

80

85

90+

Rate

4.0%

4.4%

4.7%

5.1%

5.8%

6.8%

7.8%

9.0%

the VFW. This will allow them to make the $10,000 cash gift they’ve always wanted and, in exchange, they will receive $460 each year for as long as either one is alive.

Unlike some pension plans, their gift annuity payments do not stop or reduce in size at the death of the first spouse. In addition, approximately $334 of each $460 payment is income tax–free to them. (After more than 20 years, when they reach their combined life expectancy, the entire gift annuity payment then becomes taxable as ordinary income.) They can also deduct approximately $3,288* as an income tax-deduction when they itemize on their tax return.

* Based on annual payments and a 2.4 percent charitable midterm federal rate. Deductions vary based on income earned.

Return the enclosed survey to request your FREE charitable

gift annuity guide and no-obligation illustration of how you can benefit.

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