Many Cato Sponsors choose to contribute to the Institute using a qualified charitable distribution (QCD). This method of giving to your favorite cause allows you to reap the benefits of this investment while also limiting the taxman’s take of your hardearned dollars and setting aside funds for the causes that matter to you most.

This year, a new way to give financial support has emerged. Now individual retirement account (IRA) owners aged 70½ and older may make a QCD of up to $50,000 in exchange for a charitable gift annuity (CGA). If this is an option that interests you, Cato has the ability to create detailed illustrations that you may share with your professional advisors to consider how such a CGA agreement may work best for you. Sponsors who have created CGAs with Cato are welcomed into the Institute’s Legacy Society and invited to become even more involved in our activities.

CGAs are a popular and straightforward way to boost cash flow and are a contract between a Sponsor and Cato. To establish a CGA under the Institute’s responsible management, a Sponsor must be aged 65 or older and contribute at least $5,000. A Sponsor who contributes in return for a CGA receives fixed annuity payments for life, and the amount of the contribution in excess of the value of annuity payments is a charitable gift deductible from income taxes.

Absent an expiration date on this new way to create a charitable gift annuity, Sponsors now may plan for the future while supporting Cato from their IRA and join our community of Legacy Society Sponsors.

Legacy Society Sponsors have created planned gifts—including simple charitable gift annuities, bequests, and beneficiary designations for retirement assets as well as complex trusts and endowed chairs—that are now more important than ever for growing Cato’s ability to pursue its mission for more free and prosperous societies. Please inform Cato if you’ve created a planned gift to the Institute so we can welcome you into our Legacy Society. This community of Sponsors receives the same benefits as individuals contributing at least $5,000 annually, including invitations to special events, such as the upcoming Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty Biennial Dinner on May 18 and Cato Benefactor Summit on May 19–21 in Washington, DC. Legacy Society Sponsors also receive complimentary access to Cato books, research, and commentary, such as our monthly audio magazine. And as a Legacy Society Sponsor, you will enjoy the ultimate benefit of denying the government even more of your hard‐​earned money with a smart planned gift for a cause that matters to you.