GIFT ANNUITY SURVEY

The American Council on Gift Annuities has recently released its report of the 2004 survey.  The full report can be had for a nominal charge at ACGA.

829 CHARITIES COMPLETED THE QUESTIONNAIRES THAT WERE THE BASIS OF THE SURVEY.

An interesting trend is that the number of contributions has increased for gift annuities while charitable remainder trusts has decreased. This is probably due to the safety of the annuity and that of the CRT which is typically made up with stocks that took it on the chin in 2002.

The typical  gift annuity donor is a single women age 78.  The fact that of the current annuitants, 55% are female reflects not only that women are more likely to be the original donors, but also that women live longer than men.

The average size of a gift annuity was $59,926 in 2004.

The percentage of total annuities that are deferred is 8.4%. One reasons for this percentage is that it is a source of retirement income beyond the IRA and 401k for the average deferred annuitant of age 60.  The longer the deferral the larger the pay out.

The  payout to the  charity at the death of the annuitant is about 50%.

Planners ought to be focusing on elderly women and workers at about 60 that plan to retire in 5 or so years,.

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