Going Above and Beyond with a Gift of Life Insurance

Magid Girgis is a certified financial planner specializing in gift planning.

We all have passions that fill our lives. Be it the arts, health care, education, poverty or the environment. We all have that internal need to give back to institutions that drive our passions. Many donate annual gifts towards an organization’s ongoing operation or programs. Others volunteer their time and service. Some will promise a future gift and a few will do it all.

Life insurance gifts, allow annual donors the ability to not only give today but also tomorrow. This gift allows the donor to build a legacy strategy that creates a substantial gift to your chosen charity using either additional disposable income or a portion of investable assets or a small portion of an estate.

Donors can heighten the value of their annual contributions by creating a substantial charitable gift through life insurance. By naming the charity as the owner, the individual will receive tax receipts for the paid premium. As the named beneficiary, the charity receives the benefit directly.

Donors can also gift existing in-force life policies. If policy ownership is changed to the charity, the donor receives an immediate tax receipt for the value of the policy (cash surrender value) and additional receipts for future premiums paid. As the beneficiary, the charity will receive the benefit directly.

An insurance gift uses a permanent life insurance policy. The life policies can be owned individually or jointly. The premiums can be paid monthly or annually. Premium payments are flexible and can easily be structured over 8 to 10 years. Life insurance gifts allow to go above their regular giving and ensure that giving beyond their life.

To learn more about supporting the ROM with a gift of life insurance, please contact Janice Correa at janicec@rom.on.ca.

Gift Examples: 10-year Strategy based on a 60 yr old male, female or joint insurance options.

Note: This proposal is for illustrative purposes only and all amounts are subject to change. These illustrations use a participating life insurance policy and assume Empire Life’s current dividend scale for all years. Future annual dividends are not guaranteed.