If an insurance policy is no longer needed, it can be used to benefit a favorite ministry.
Example: When their children were young, Ralph and Marge each purchased a life insurance policy naming the other as beneficiary. The thought was that if death occurred, the surviving spouse would need the additional income to care for the family. Now that their children are grown and no longer dependent up them, and because they have accumulated other assets, Ralph and Marge no longer need the policies.Â
In considering how they might increase their charitable giving to support their favorite ministry, Ralph and Marge learned that they could gift the policies outright to the ministry. Since each policy has a cash value, the ministry can choose to either hold the policies until death or surrender them and put the cash to work doing the mission today.Â
Ralph and Marge will receive a charitable tax deduction per the rules of life insurance contributions and know that they are making a significant gift to the ministry right now. If they choose, they can also make annual gifts of cash to the ministry that will be used to pay any ongoing premium – and receive further charitable tax deductions for the cash gifts.
If you have life insurance policies that are no longer needed for their original purpose, consider with your agent, the possibility of making a gift to ministry. You may find your policy is a perfect tool for increasing your generosity desires.
