Your planned gift can help to secure a healthy future for us all.

Your planned gift to the Canadian Mental Health Association demonstrates your commitment to the present and future mental health of our community. Your gift, no matter how small or large, will work together with contributions from other forward thinking individuals to enhance mental health support services and programs and promote good mental health within Calgary and area. In many cases, making a planned gift can have significant tax advantages which can be of benefit to you and help maximize the difference that your support can make.

• A charitable bequest left in a will
• Designated beneficiary of a life insurance policy
• Donation of publicly traded stock or mutual funds
• Transfer of a real estate title

Creating a legacy - It starts with a feeling

By Suresh Sharma
Balance, Fall 2007

Here's an idea to reduce taxes, give back, make a difference, play a part. Heroes are made every day when individuals take action to make a difference through a planned gift.

Planned giving can also contribute to good mental health. There is a growing body of study that identifies new issues resulting from consumerism in the westernized world. Dubbed “affluenza,” it seeks to explain the listlessness felt by many, even in the midst of expanding incomes, greater comforts and higher standards of living than ever before. Affluenza can create a deep dissatisfaction, but there are cures, and of those suggested, planned giving is perhaps the easiest of inoculations to self-administer.

When we give, it is possible to attain greater peace of mind, a more durable happiness, and an improved connection with people and the community.

A planned gift is an incredible way to create a legacy, either now or in the future, and this type of charitable gift can have significant tax benefits for you and/or your estate. Here are a few easy ways to make a planned gift:

• CHARITABLE BEQUESTS THROUGH YOUR ESTATE
  By naming a charity such as the Canadian Mental Health Association – Calgary Region to receive a gift in your will, your estate will generate tax credits that may offset any taxes payable.
  
• GIFT OF SHARES
  Gifts of publicly listed securities include stocks, bonds and mutual funds. And good news! Canadians who donate publicly listed securities to a charity do not have to pay capital gains tax on the growth of those shares as of May 2, 2006.
  
• GIFTS OF REGISTERED ASSETS
  A charity of your choice can be named as a beneficiary of either an RRSP or an RRIF, and your estate will receive a tax receipt for the value of your gift.
  
• LIFE INSURANCE
  There are at least five different options to give the gift of life insurance, each of which can amount to a significant contribution to a registered charity at relatively little cost. You or your estate is eligible for a charitable tax receipt.
  
• CHARITABLE TRUSTS
  A charitable remainder trust may be created with cash, securities or real estate. The remainder interest of the fund is donated and held in trust for the charity of your choice. You can retain the income interest for life.

There are many mutually beneficial options for contributing to a charity of your choice. So act now. And then enjoy the feeling.

Suresh Sharma is a private client investment advisor with Bolder Investment Partners, and this article is not meant to constitute or be a substitute for professional tax advice. Please contact a financial advisor for more information.