Planned and Endowed Gifts
Life Income Gifts
A life income gift may enable you to provide financial security now for yourself, your family or friends along with reduced income taxes and possible estate tax benefits—and, at the same time, provide future support to the Metropolitan Opera.
You may arrange for current lifetime income payments for yourself, or for a family member or friend, by making a life income gift now. Or, you may do so as part of your estate plan, to take care of others' needs later on.
Your life income gift is invested to pay you (or the person you name) income for life, then the gift principal is transferred to the Metropolitan Opera to be used as you have directed.
When you make your gift, you may take a partial charitable deduction on your income tax return. The amount of your deduction is calculated according to IRS rules, taking into account the age of the income beneficiary(ies), the rate at which income is paid out, and a number of other factors. We will be glad to provide you with an estimate of what your deduction would be.
A life income gift may be particularly attractive if you feel constrained by tax concerns to hold onto low-yielding but appreciated investment assets—for example, a growth stock paying no dividend but now worth much more than you paid for it. By using the stock to fund a life income gift to the Met instead of selling it, you may eliminate or greatly reduce your capital gains tax, diversify your investments and increase your spendable income.
There are several ways of making a life income gift, each with its own advantages. Among the most popular: