Dan Bacon is a gift-planning counselor with The LCMS Foundation for the Rocky Mountain District. Dan has helped many people make the gift they wanted to give in just the way they wanted to give it. Sometimes, as in this case, it becomes a "win/win" situation for everyone.
An Aid Association for Lutherans (AAL) district representative called and asked me to meet with a gentleman who wanted to make a gift, but wanted more information about various ministries. After listening carefully to him share his ideas, I learned that he wanted to help build churches and schools.
He wanted the principal to remain intact, but wanted the interest to be distributed and used. During a meeting with him, his financial advisor, his attorney and his AAL representative, it was determined that he and his wife would probably have enough to live on after making the gift, but no one could be sure.
I suggested putting the gift in a Charitable Remainder Unitrust that would pay the donor and his wife an income for the rest of their lives. If, in fact, the donor and his wife did not need the income in a given quarter, they could make direct gifts to help fund current ministry. That way they would be able to see the benefits of their gifts immediately.
If in several years, either of them needed the income to pay nursing home costs or other living expenses, they still had the stream of income. The attorney loved the idea, as did the donors and their other advisors. It was a win/win situation for everyone involved, including God's work in the world!