Retirees worry about the future as interest rates on their savings accounts and money market funds have decreased below 1 percent in some cases during the recession aftermath.

A return of 5 percent or more on a Charitable Gift Annuity can seem like a rare opportunity.

A New York Times story weighed the benefits of the charitable programs, which The American Council on Gift Annuities defines as a contract under which a charity, in return for a gift of cash or property, agrees to pay a fixed amount over the term of either one or two lives, usually the donors'.

Most reputable charities use rates recommended by the council, which vary with the annuitants' ages and whether there are one or two. Because of the charity, there are tax benefits.

The Church of the Nazarene Foundation is anticipating the changes to the Charitable Gift Annuity rates on July 1, 2011.

In April, the Board of Directors of the American Council on Gift Annuities approved a new schedule of suggested maximum gift annuity rates for gifts established on or after July 1, 2011.

These changes can help donors as they decide on what ministries to support or continue to support.

Generally speaking, the new rate schedule contains slightly lower rates for single-life annuities for ages 69 and younger, and slightly higher rates for single-life annuities at ages 75 and older, with the top rate increasing to 9.8 percent.

Similar changes apply to two-life gift annuity rates. Click here to view the one-life ACGA rate schedule. The two-life schedule and a full explanation of the assumptions underlying the ACGA's new rates will be published shortly on the ACGA web site at www.acga-web.org.

Read the Spring 2011 Nazarene Legacy Partners Newsletter at nazarenefoundation.org/individuals to better understand how a Charitable Gift Annuity could benefit donors and ministries donors care about.

For more information about donations through a Charitable Gift Annuity, contact the Foundation at info@NazareneFoundation.org. Interested persons can reach the Foundation by phone at 913-397-7992 or 866-273-2549.
--Church of the Nazarene Foundation