Other Ways to Give

Charitable Remainder Trusts

This arrangement is an individually managed trust that may be tailored to meet your specific financial needs and can provide either a fixed or variable income for the life of the beneficiaries or for a set number of years, not to exceed 20.

The donated assets (typically cash, securities, and/or real property) are irrevocably transferred to a Trustee. There are two variations:

• A charitable remainder annuity trust pays income as a fixed dollar amount that remains constant for the term of the trust.
• A charitable remainder unitrust pays income that varies from year to year.

At the termination of the trust, the remaining assets pass to The Met for its general purposes or for the use you specify. A charitable deduction for a portion of your contribution is available on your income tax return in the year you make the gift.

Our Planned Giving Calculator is designed to provide you with an illustration of the income and tax benefits to which you may be entitled if you establish a charitable remainder trust to benefit The Met. Please use either charitable remainder annuity trust or charitable remainder unitrust (as defined on the calculator page) when indicating "gift type." For proper results, please indicate under "term type" either the birth date(s) of the income beneficiary(ies) or the number of years (up to 20) you wish the trust to last.

Example

Kim Willis is 72 years old and, while he would like to make a significant gift to The Met, he is concerned about providing for his 71-year-old wife. He decides he can do both, by creating a charitable remainder annuity trust from which she will receive the income during her lifetime. He takes $750,000 of appreciated securities and establishes a trust to pay 6% ($45,000) a year to his wife for her lifetime. Mr. Willis knows that if he sold the stock, the capital gains tax on the appreciation would consume a good portion of the proceeds. By establishing the trust, he ensures that his wife will enjoy income from the full $750,000 as well as be eligible to claim a federal income tax charitable deduction. Mr. Willis's greatest pleasure comes from knowing that The Met will receive the principal remaining when the trust ends—a much larger gift than he ever thought possible.

This example is for illustration purposes only. The donor is a composite and does not represent an actual contributor to the Museum. Specific updated examples can be provided on request at no obligation.

Pooled Income Fund

This arrangement operates somewhat like a mutual fund. The Fund accepts irrevocable gifts from many donors, manages them as a common fund, and then distributes the income proportionately to the beneficiaries.

• You can make gifts with cash or marketable (but not tax-exempt) securities. The minimum gift is $10,000.
• The income may be paid to one or two beneficiaries and will vary depending on the earnings of the fund.
• You will receive an immediate income tax charitable deduction for some portion of your gift.
• Upon the death of the beneficiary, the remaining principal passes to The Met for the purpose the donor has stipulated or for the Museum's general purposes.

Our Planned Giving Calculator is designed to provide you with an illustration of the income and tax benefits to which you may be entitled if you make a planned gift to benefit The Met.

Example

Mr. and Mrs. Deitch, who are 57 and 64 years old, have $10,000 worth of stock that they bought in 1974 for $6,000. Although it has appreciated, the annual income from the stock is quite low. If they sell the stock, however, they will have to pay capital gains tax. Instead, they use the stock to make a gift to The Met Pooled Income Fund and receive the following income and tax benefits: payments to both spouses and then to the survivor, for life, at about 3.7% for the first year (future income will vary with fund earnings), based on the full $10,000; and an immediate charitable deduction of about $3,888 on their federal income tax.

The example provided here is based on calculations as of July 2018 and is for illustration purposes only. The donors are composites and do not represent actual contributors to the Museum. Specific updated examples can be provided on request at no obligation.

Charitable Lead Trusts

This arrangement provides income to The Met for a period of years, after which the trust property typically passes to the donor's heirs.

• Income-producing assets that are expected to gain in value, such as stock or income-producing real estate, are irrevocably transferred to a trust. A minimum gift of $100,000 is recommended.
• The Museum receives income from the trust for a specified number of years, after which the property in the trust is transferred to the heirs without the imposition of any additional taxes.
• An immediate charitable deduction on your gift tax return is available for the present value of the total income stream the Museum will receive during the trust term.
• This gift can reduce or effectively eliminate the gift and/or estate tax that would normally be payable on the transfer of these assets to your heirs.

Our Planned Giving Calculator is designed to provide you with an illustration of the income and tax benefits to which you may be entitled if you establish a charitable lead trust to benefit The Met.

Example

Mr. and Mrs. Wheeling, who wish to make a significant gift to the Museum, have a son to whom they would like to transfer a substantial block of stock. He is young and they do not wish to burden him with the management of these assets at this time. They have good reason to expect that the value of the stock will appreciate in the coming years, and would like to remove it from their estates so as to avoid estate tax in the future. Since they do not depend on the income from these assets, they decide that a charitable lead trust may be the way to fulfill both of these objectives.

With this plan, the Wheelings are able to ensure that:

• The Museum can plan for the use of a stream of income for a number of years.
• When the trust terminates, the assets in the trust will pass, with no additional tax, to their son.
• The trust property has been removed from—and therefore is not taxable in—their estate.

This example is for illustration purposes only. The donors are composites and do not represent actual contributors to the Museum. Specific updated examples can be provided on request at no obligation.

Contact Us

For more information on how these gifts might work for you, please call Planned Giving at (212) 570 3796 or email us.

Planned Giving
Development Office
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
1000 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10028-0198