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Series Code: TDY
Program Code: TDY220069A
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00:05 ♪ I want to spend my life mending broken people ♪ 00:13 ♪ I want to spend my life removing pain ♪ 00:26 ♪ Lord let my words heal a heart that hurts ♪ 00:36 ♪ I want to spend my life mending broken people ♪ 00:56 ♪ ♪ 01:07 Hello friends, Welcome to 3ABN today. I'm John Lomacang. 01:10 Thank you for taking the time to join us for a program that 01:13 you probably didn't see coming but then when it's over you'll 01:16 say I'm so glad I took the time to stop and listen in. It is 01:20 about the largest responsibility we have as followers of Christ. 01:24 Say the word "Stewardship." What does that mean to each of us? 01:28 How do we fit stewardship into our lives? You know we are 01:31 accountable for four areas in stewardship: Time, Talent, 01:35 Testimony and Treasure. And we're going to talk about that 01:38 today because we live in a world of unpredictable events. Things 01:42 happen that don't always fit into our time table and we can 01:45 make wise decisions about stewardship so that when the 01:48 future comes we can greet it with assurance and God's 01:52 blessing. Well today I have two gentlemen who are not strangers 01:54 to me. Both are church members and both work for 3ABN and first 01:58 of all, we have the director of planned giving and trust 02:01 services Jeff Doerr. Good to have you here Jeff. 02:03 Thank you, Pastor. It's good to be here and it's wonderful to be 02:05 able to have this conversation around the table today because 02:10 with trust services, we do not do direct mailing. We do not do 02:12 cold calling. We just take and respond to inquiries to our 02:16 department. So I'm glad to be able to have the opportunity to 02:19 talk to our 3ABN family and explain to them some of the 02:23 services that we offer and that they can take advantage of in 02:26 their stewardship and in their planned giving through 3ABN 02:30 helping to advance the gospel. 02:32 Okay, that's right and we're going to get into more detail 02:33 about that in just a moment. But to my right, fun guy, Jason 02:38 Bergmann, CFO at 3ABN. Good to have you, Jason. 02:40 It's good to be here and it's always good to talk about 02:42 stewardship and money. You know they say when they see me, Oh 02:48 you're the guy, you're the bean counter. And I usually say well 02:52 I'm better than that, I'm a bean manager. 02:54 Okay, I like that. So beans are in there somewhere. 02:57 That's right, that's right. 02:59 Well good to have you here. You've been here how long now? 03:01 Four and a half years. (Okay) Yep. 03:04 Well Jeff tell them how long you've been here about. 03:06 Well at 3ABN not quite 2 years. But coming to church here about 03:12 19 years. 03:14 Okay, that's why we met you a long time ago, before we moved 03:16 into our new building. (Absolutely) You and Charletta 03:18 are a blessing to our church. (Praise the Lord) We always know 03:21 when you go to our church. You always match somehow and it's 03:25 She does a good job of dressing me. 03:27 That's right. You're a native of Southern Illinois. Where do you 03:29 live? 03:30 Yes we live in Vergennes which is about a 45-minute drive from 03:33 3ABN. So. 03:35 And there's another side to you. Talk about that. You are not 03:37 only a southern Illinoisan but you're involved in a couple of 03:41 other areas that are very interesting. 03:42 Yes, I have been an auctioneer for almost my entire adult life 03:46 as well as a real estate broker and we also own and manage a 03:51 farm. So I have many hats that I wear. 03:53 Okay. Wow, you sure do. Good to have you here. (Thank you) 03:55 All your gifts have been a blessing thus far to the Lord's 03:57 work as well as to our church. Thank you for that. 03:59 (Praise the Lord) And where are you from Jason, originally? 04:02 New Jersey. I'm a New Jersey boy 04:04 Absolutely. (Okay) It's a lot of fun and after that went to 04:10 Andrews University so got my education from there. It's been 04:14 a whirlwind of different conferences around the United 04:17 States. 04:19 And you also work for the world church. (Correct) Yeah. 04:20 It was a good experience working for the General Conference. 04:23 Wow, wow. So you have a lot of financial background, accounting 04:27 and you've been a blessing I hear, here at 3ABN. 04:30 You know I give all the credit to Jesus. 04:32 Amen. Well thank you for the part that you play as far as 04:35 your education and being willing to allow the Lord to use that. 04:38 We're talking about trust services planned giving. First 04:41 of all let's find out, what is trust services. I'll just kind 04:44 of throw that out there. Jeff. 04:47 Since I'll begin with y'all. Well trust services we take and 04:50 have a variety of different products that we have. We have 04:54 different...Some trusts are revocable, some are irrevocable 04:56 We have CRUTs and we have where you can just have a self- 05:00 administered trust. We have cash trust basically like a brokerage 05:04 account if you would have it at another stock brokerage firm. 05:07 But we also take and are the trustee for these people, most 05:11 of the people and we go out after their passing when the 05:14 trust matures, we go out and assist in closing out the trust. 05:20 Which means liquidating all the assets, sell the real estate, 05:25 sell the personal property, divide that up. Then also we 05:28 also have a service where we take and manage or assist people 05:33 in their senior years if they're in assisted living. They take 05:37 their funds, they have them in our cash trust. 05:39 Each month the assisted living 05:41 sends us the bill, the invoice, and then we pay their monthly 05:45 expenses. So the family doesn't have to be burdened with that. 05:49 Or if they don't have any family then the person that's in the 05:52 assisted living does not have to take and worry with that. They 05:55 don't have to write any checks. It's taken care of for them 05:58 every month. 06:00 Well, I like that word trust. Because there's a lot of trust 06:02 needed and it's good to have a Christian organization 06:04 involved in that and 3ABN's been a blessing in that 06:07 particular. What do you want to add to that Jason? 06:09 So you know I look at trust services in two ways. Number one 06:12 I think you said it well that they're trusting us with their 06:18 resources and it's our responsibility to help them 06:21 through their life cycle, to be able to use the resources and 06:25 also to potentially leaving a legacy. And our trust services 06:30 department and Jeff does an awesome job in making sure that 06:34 when someone comes in and says I have this type of estate, I 06:40 would to do these type of things with it. Help me get to that 06:43 ending. 06:45 You know that seems...You want to add something to that Jeff? 06:50 Well you know like what Jason was saying, trust services. You 06:53 have to have trust in the organization or the person that 06:56 is handling your trust whether it is you executor or your 06:59 trustee. If you don't after you've passed you're relying on 07:03 them to follow your wishes and you can rest assured that here 07:06 3ABN whatever you have documented as your wishes will 07:10 be followed to the T. (Amen) 07:12 And you know what's great about this too, since you know writing 07:15 a trust or a will or an annuity or CRUT with 3ABN. 3ABN is going 07:22 to be here until Jesus comes so there's no need to change this 07:26 organization. It's going to continue for a number of years. 07:28 You know I talked with someone recently. They said well I did 07:31 it with so and so but I don't know. They're getting older 07:34 I don't know what's going to happen. (Right) So doing it with 07:38 3ABN whether I'm here or whether Jeff's here, the organization is 07:43 not going to change. It's going to continue with the objectives 07:47 that you have shared with us. 07:49 That's good because a lot of times we choose an executor or 07:51 somebody who's...or a trustee and before something happens 07:57 And the person is left caught holding the bag or they don't 08:00 know what to do. 08:02 Exactly. Yes, we just had one that they had their executor 08:05 named, they had their successor named and both of those 08:09 predeceased the person. So it fell back to the third person in 08:13 line. 08:14 Wow, wow. And it's important. A lot of times people think 08:18 about well I don't really care what happens to my product when 08:20 I die, or my finances. Many of you probably don't really think 08:24 that through very well because what it does it cuts your family 08:27 completely out and if you don't make any decisions about the 08:29 well-being or your property or your finances well the 08:33 government wouldn't hesitate to step in. 08:35 Oh well, they're happy too, they'll be happy too. 08:36 They won't hesitate. I remember helping someone out and you know 08:40 The banker said the day 08:41 that they die if there are no plans the 08:44 government steps in immediately. And we want to make sure as it 08:49 says in the Bible It's appointed unto men...It's important that 08:53 as followers of Christ that we be found faithful. I've been 08:57 here 19 years and I've seen the trajectory of trust services as 08:59 you said used to the Leonard Westfall. And you remember 09:04 Leonard Westfall. (Yes) Very enthusiastic, resilient German 09:09 man who always held things together. He was so excited to 09:13 have...But you know unfortunately, he passed away. 09:16 But then after that, I don't know who we had after that. 09:19 But then here you are now 09:20 I'm going to talk what's happening today. Now let me just 09:22 ask the question: What does a person need to do prior to 09:25 investing in 3ABN planned giving? 09:28 Well most people would think I need money. And that's important 09:31 But I think the most important thing is you need to have 09:34 charitable intent. You need to have in your heart the desire 09:38 to take and be benevolent, to take and want to take and spread 09:43 the gospel, to help in funding the spread of the gospel and 09:48 with 3ABN you're not only just helping 3ABN, 3ABN is helping 09:52 numerous ministries as they broadcast. We know they 09:57 broadcast several different ministries and assist them. So 10:00 when you're supporting 3ABN you're supporting a whole number 10:04 of ministries all across the Seventh-day Adventist. So that 10:08 is very important in my opinion. Money is important because we 10:11 have to take and be able to support and the support is 10:17 financially. So yes, be benevolent and then take and 10:21 have the finances. Real property. If you have property you can 10:26 keep the faith and consider a trust very much so. 10:27 Who does it go to? Jason. 10:30 So I think know what you want to do before you come to us. I 10:35 think that's really important. I think Jeff said it well that 10:39 you know this is a nonprofit organization and we're here to 10:43 serve. And it is a win/win situation for those that want 10:47 to partner with 3ABN. And this is their resources that you know 10:52 the Lord has blessed them for many, many years and now they're 10:57 entrusting it to 3ABN to manage their estate accordingly. 11:02 Yeah, because we've visited people around the world and 11:03 they've said as they're getting older. Some people don't wait 11:07 till they're really older. You know the myth is you have to 11:12 wait until you're at a certain point in life where you're 11:14 barely hanging on to make a will That's not necessary. As long as 11:18 you're breathing you should have a will. What do you think? 11:19 Well we are in our fourth revision of our will. And as a 11:24 young family starts and they have children, they should have 11:27 a will because you have a very valuable asset that you have 11:30 just created and that's a child. And you need to take and make 11:33 plans for that child if something happens to you. So 11:36 it's important for young people to have a will to take and put 11:40 something in place for that child. And then as time 11:43 progresses and your life changes we've adjusted our like I said 11:47 in the fourth revision. So you shouldn't take and wait till you 11:50 have one foot in the grave and one on a banana peel. You need 11:53 to be making preparations. And I run into people that put more 11:57 time in planning for a meal than they do planning 12:01 for their estate 12:02 because they plan for a meal but they take and die without 12:06 planning for their estate when they've passed. 12:08 That's a very important point. When your children, if anything 12:11 happened to the parents. We've heard some horrible stories 12:16 where parents...Oh I don't want to go into the news reports but 12:19 the children were left without parents, see. And then all of a 12:22 sudden family members step in and if things are not done right 12:26 if the family members' hearts are not in the right place it 12:27 (Yeah) could be worse after the parents have passed away. Do you 12:31 want to add anything to that, Jason? 12:32 You know some people they think that when they create a will or 12:35 trust that they're going to die. You know that it, it's a thought 12:42 but when you look at a trust or a will it has its own life cycle 12:45 And Jeff and I have been talking about these type of instruments 12:48 and what they do and what they're able to do for not only 12:55 the person who's creating it but their legacy after they pass 12:59 away. So you know it's good that we think ahead while we have a 13:05 sound mind and while we know what we want to do. It's not the 13:12 wisest thing to just let it go because we don't know what's 13:15 going to happen tomorrow. We don't know how life is going to 13:19 progress and while we have that time we need to take advantage 13:24 of that. 13:26 That's right. So when we think about planning talk about the 13:29 trust versus the annuity. Why would the trust be more 13:33 important and what's the difference? 13:34 So yeah. I have to...I like answering that question. So, you 13:38 know, trust it's a great instrument because it allows for 13:42 a number of things. Number one: You can use a trust to add to 13:48 your estate. It's kind of like adding to a reserve. And as you 13:53 add to that reserve you know when you're younger you're 13:57 building things. When you get to your middle age you think what 13:59 do I need, what do I not need. When you get older you're like 14:02 how much can I get rid of because you don't need all these 14:06 things. (That's true) Well a trust is like that as well. 14:08 As you're getting...and I just created a trust just recently 14:12 and right now I'm in the building mode. Once you get 14:17 older you realize that okay that I know what I need. Now I need 14:21 to think about what is the income I need to generate in 14:24 in order for me to live after I retire? And then from that point 14:30 you're looking at I need help. So you know 3ABN we have a 14:36 service with our trust department where if you have a 14:39 trust with us and you need to have bills paid for because 14:42 you're not able to pay the bills 3ABN trust services can pay 14:45 those bills. (Oh, I like that) And then at the end 14:50 you know of a life 14:51 cycle of a trust we look at okay now they're getting into the 14:57 last years of their life. They're not able to take care of 15:00 themselves, they need to go into another facility, well who's 15:04 going to be helping them with that? You know if we don't have 15:06 relatives, we don't have family members that can help us well 15:09 the trust department will be able to assist find an assisted 15:14 living and then be able to not only pay the bills but make sure 15:18 that everything is going according to plan based on what 15:21 the trustor wanted. 15:24 Okay and that's the difference the advantage over an annuity. 15:26 So if I may add a couple more things. So a trust is great 15:31 because you set up a trust and it's revocable which means at 15:35 any time life changes you can take the money out. (Okay) 15:38 Whereas an annuity it's locked in. It's been basically contract 15:43 and the reasons for that in annuity is that the contract 15:48 says that based on your age based on the life expectancy 15:50 and based on the rates that are given to us by the association 15:58 that deals with annuities that rate is what we give to the 16:05 annuity for the rest of their life. (Okay) And that can't 16:08 change. So there's advantages and disadvantages of a trust 16:12 versus annuity but the great advantage of annuity is it's 16:16 like a paycheck. Every month or every quarter when you get 16:20 that payment it's going to be the same thing for the rest of 16:23 your life. So you have consistency and what we've found 16:26 in managing trusts and annuities is that people who prepare they 16:32 actually live longer because they have that peace of mind. 16:35 Less worry. 16:37 Right less worry. The interesting thing about a trust 16:40 is you can still add to it and you can take it out so if you 16:45 have something that you didn't think of and you need some money 16:50 you can ask, hey you know I need some money. Can you take out and 16:53 send that to me. And we're very quick with it and we built a 16:59 program to make it even faster for us to manage. So those are 17:02 the things. A trust, it grows and it continues to grow 17:06 where an annuity is an irrevocable instrument 17:10 it's very static but for the rest of a life it gives you a 17:17 payment for the rest of your life. Now I will say that a 17:21 trust. You know we have what's called a cash trust and that's 17:26 worked very well. We have a really good interest rate that 17:29 we give our trustors and they really like it and they like it 17:34 so much that they add to it. (Okay) And that's really 17:37 important for a trust because a will you can't add to it. You 17:41 can create a new one but you can't add to it where a trust 17:44 you can. So that can keep growing and growing and your 17:48 interest payment grows. It also has a nice instrument while the 17:54 market is going up and that is it has a market value adjustment 17:57 which means when the market is going up then the trust goes up 18:01 Now if the market is going down and sometimes it does go down 18:06 and then the trust goes down a little bit. However you have to 18:12 look at a trust being a long term instrument. (Okay) This is 18:15 not a short term, it's not a savings account. It's a long 18:19 term instrument and it does a lot of things. So you have to 18:22 think about, do you want a static payment for the rest of 18:26 your life or do you want to be able to grow this trust and be 18:30 able to allow it to move with a lot of things in the trust. What 18:35 happens when you die? Where does the money go? How do you want it 18:39 designated out when you pass away. So all these things in a 18:43 trust. It's a great instrument. It can grow with you and it has 18:47 that life cycle where it grows over time. 18:49 It's trustworthy. (Very) 18:52 The annuity does not have a hedge against inflation where 18:57 the cash trust does. So the annuity you have safety and 19:01 security because you're going to get the same amount every month 19:03 for as long as you live and a lot of the annuities are two 19:08 life, husband and wife, and it goes to the life of the 19:11 surviving spouse. So if the husband dies first the wife 19:13 continues to get the annuity payment until the end of her 19:16 life. And that does not hedge against inflation. But then the 19:20 cash trust does hedge against inflation but it does not have a 19:23 guaranteed interest rate so you have fluctuation. 19:28 Wow. So what if I had real estate in my trust. Can I sell 19:33 it and if yes, if no why not, if yes when. 19:37 No. If you have real estate in your trust you can take and sell 19:39 it at any time that you'd like. You can take and if you want to 19:42 take and relocate you can take your property you have in trust 19:45 you can sell it, move to your new location, put that property 19:49 in the trust. It's very fluid, very easy to do and we do it 19:53 quite frequently. And something we've been trying to talk about 19:56 a little bit here at the table is a will and a trust both as 20:02 long as you are alive and of sound mind can be changed. 20:05 You're not stuck to the terms of either one until you 20:09 become either incompetent or you pass. 20:11 Wow I like that. That's true. You know you could upgrade. 20:15 Circumstances might change. Somebody in your family may pass 20:21 away and give you a large inheritance. Wait a minute. Now 20:24 we have a lot more funds to deal with. We want to include it 20:27 in our trust or in our annuity. But in our will in our plan just 20:30 in case something happens. (Exactly) I mean these are the 20:33 unpredictables of life that are expected. These are the expected 20:36 things that we must plan for. And if we don't plan for it 20:39 somebody already has a plan for it. 20:42 And you know when you think about planning it's really 20:46 helpful because we don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. 20:48 You know I tell my wife you know if I get hit by a bus you know 20:53 you'll take care of these certain things and you know you 20:58 never know whose fault it was. You know you have to look at 21:02 these instruments which are there to guide the assets that 21:09 the Lord has given you and the blessings that the Lord has 21:12 given you. 21:13 So let me talk about two things you mentioned. You mentioned 21:15 this word CRUT. But it's an acronym. What does that mean? 21:18 Charitable Remainder Unitrust. 21:20 Charitable Remainder Unitrust. Explain that a little bit 21:24 because it might be Greek to somebody who's listening to the 21:27 program. 21:28 Yeah so as you were talking about selling property, I just 21:35 talked with a gentleman who has a farm and a very big farm. 21:37 And he wants to avoid capital gains. Well a charitable 21:42 remainder unitrust does just that. It's like the perfect 21:46 instrument to be able to use that asset, to put it into this 21:52 instrument and the way it works is the property is given to 3ABN 21:59 organization. We put it into a CRUT. Then we give a percentage 22:03 back every year until that trustor, that person, dies. 22:08 And it's usually like five percent and for the rest of 22:13 their life they get a five percent based on the value. 22:16 And that value get revalued every year. So if you have a 22:22 million dollar piece of property and your cost basis is like 22:26 $100,000 that means that you're going to be paying capital gains 22:30 on 90 percent of that, $900,000. Well that's a lot of money. 22:35 But if you create a CRUT with it a hundred percent goes into this 22:41 CRUT and then the individual gets five percent for the rest 22:44 of their life. It's a great instrument (way of protection) 22:48 It's kind of like an annuity. It's an irrevocable instrument 22:51 but it gives you a payment for the rest of your life as well. 22:55 It operates while you're alive. 22:56 Correct. And it has the inflation that... 22:58 It earns interest while it's in the CRUT. 23:01 And it, yep, it earns interest and it grows and it's a great 23:06 instrument for those who have appreciated property that they 23:10 want to sell but they really don't want to pay capital gains. 23:12 I like the scenario. I got just find the million dollars 23:14 somewhere _. I love the way that you explained that. 23:18 That's really good because it gives me some protection whereas 23:21 the other way oh well here comes the next tax year the next 23:24 tax year. What happens? 23:26 Exactly. Yes after you pay the taxes it's gone. So on 23:32 appreciated property a CRUT is a tremendous way to...We want to 23:38 pay our fair share of taxes that we are responsible for paying. 23:39 The Bible tells us to do that. But if there is a way that we 23:42 can benefit the ministry and benefit ourself without paying 23:46 that extra tax I think we ought to take advantage of that. 23:49 A charitable remainder unitrust. 23:51 And the great thing which I didn't share is at the end when 23:55 the trustor passes away then it goes to the ministry for its use 23:58 Okay all right. That's why it's important to maintain the 24:01 strength of it rather than just have taxes eat it up. What about 24:05 a SAT? S-A-T. 24:07 A self-administered trust. (Okay) And those can be as 24:10 inclusive or as limited as you would like them to be. Most of 24:14 our SATs are people that have a home, the residence and they put 24:18 it in their self-administered trust, that's your real estate 24:21 where they can take and put it in there and they're still in 24:24 control of it, they still live there, they still pay their 24:26 taxes, their insurance and everything but it has a set plan 24:30 that at some point in time in history whenever they pass how 24:34 that is going to be, those funds that property will turn into 24:39 cash and those funds will be distributed. And you can take 24:42 and put as much into a trust as you'd like or you can put as 24:46 little as you would like. But most people put their real 24:49 estate and then they'll put some personal property in them. One 24:51 thing that our trust that we need to make sure people 24:56 understand because I get calls on this as well, our trusts do 24:57 not protect you against the nursing home. The government and 25:02 the medical bills are still going to be able to access your 25:05 funds whether you have it in a trust or you just have it in the 25:08 bank, so you need to be aware of that. 25:10 Okay, so when is the best time to get a trust, annuity, a SAT 25:14 or a CRUT. 25:16 Well an annuity, I'll start and then let Jason finish up annuity 25:19 you've got to be at least 65 years old. So we're getting 25:22 close to that point. 25:23 Is that like a tax deferred annuity? 25:25 It is. There's tax benefit to the annuity yes and annuity is 25:28 is a guaranteed interest rate for your life. (Okay) So that 25:33 you have to wait to 65. They get more advantageous from 70 on 25:37 and you can also have a deferred annuity where someone younger 25:42 than 65, they say well I've got this inheritance that I just 25:44 received and I want to protect it, they can put it into an 25:47 annuity, a deferred annuity that when they become 65 it's based 25:51 their age prediction at 65. They'll start withdrawing their 25:56 money at 65. 25:57 And then it's taxable then. 25:58 Part of it. Not all of it. (Okay) 26:00 Yeah because the annuity works it's designed that 50% goes back 26:04 to your organization so during the life 3ABN invests the money 26:09 We make sure that it's keeping up with inflation and we 26:12 try to manage the money so at the end of life something left 26:17 for the organization. 26:18 Well Jason when does 3ABN get to use the money in a cash trust 26:22 or an annuity. 26:23 So that's great. So in a cash trust there's multiple 26:25 scenarios to this. So in a cash trust there are two ways that 26:30 3ABN can benefit. Number one: If a trustor says you know what 26:36 I like what's going on with 3ABN and I enjoy what you're doing 26:41 I love the focus. I want to give a portion of my trust right now 26:46 to 3ABN. That is one way. The second way is when they pass 26:52 away. So usually when the trust is created they have 26:56 beneficiaries when they pass away. And of course 3ABN when 27:00 we create the trust you don't have to pay any taxes, I'm sorry 27:04 any fees or any other types of expenses or transferring money 27:13 back and forth. We take care of that and also we pay for the 27:16 attorney fees to create the document. So there are no fees 27:20 but we manage it, we take care of it so at the time of death 27:25 that's when we distribute according to the trust 27:28 instrument. As far as annuities you know we look at the annuity 27:32 and base whatever is left from that annuity. Then 3ABN takes 27:36 that and uses it for its ministry. So we do have a 27:41 situation that we didn't talk about and that's on a CRUT, we 27:45 had a CRUT recently where a gentleman created a CRUT with 27:49 some property and later on he got a little older and he said 27:54 you know what I don't need this money any more and so I just 27:58 want to give that CRUT up and 3ABN you can just take it. So at 28:02 that point we were able to dilute the CRUT and we were able 28:07 to use it to the ministry and praise the Lord because it was 28:09 the perfect time that we needed the funds. 28:12 Wow. It was all in a CRUT. You had the CRUT and got you out of 28:15 a rut. 28:17 That's right, that's right. 28:18 You know I've thought about that one yet. Yes. Now let me 28:20 throw another question out unless you want to add something 28:22 to that. (No) Now what's the life cycle of a cash trust? 28:26 Because there are perceptions and then there are facts. 28:29 Okay you know so there's a couple of these perceptions that 28:34 Jeff and I, we both receive questions from you the trustors 28:40 and one is we do not use your money while it's in the trust 28:45 while you or the beneficiary of it while you're alive. So as you 28:55 are living we are managing this trust for you. When you get to 28:59 the point when you can't take care of yourself and you're not 29:04 of a sound mind anymore and you can't make decisions well then 29:08 that trust goes irrevocable. So that's when no one else can 29:14 change it based on how the trust was written. And then after that 29:19 then once the trustor passed away that's when we use those 29:25 funds. So the perception is we do not use any of the money for 29:31 operations either a trustor says during life that I would like to 29:36 give some money from the trust to 3ABN or when they pass. 29:40 Okay, I like that. 29:42 So that's one of the major concerns that we have that you 29:48 know we hear these thoughts, Oh you're...3ABN is using our 29:53 money and we have to share with them. We can't use your money. 29:56 This is your money and we manage it for you as the trustee. 30:02 Right just like the church. We have trust funds. Whenever that 30:05 department needs those funds they need to be there. 30:07 For that specific purpose. 30:09 For that specific purpose. You can't even redirect it. 30:11 No. Again with the life cycle of a trust, cash trust, we need to 30:17 encourage our young people to take and get involved as young 30:20 as they can because time value of money is very important. The 30:24 longer that you can take and save the better it grows and the 30:28 better return you have at the time in life when you want to 30:31 draw off of your savings. So a cash trust, you start out small 30:35 You take and add to it a little bit either monthly or annually 30:38 or as time allows you to do that your finances so that it can 30:43 grow. Then with market value adjustment hopefully it is a 30:46 positive growth so that you can benefit from that. So it just 30:50 grows into a bigger and bigger next egg so at the end of your 30:53 life you're able to bless your family, the church, 3ABN with a 30:58 very nice charitable gift. 31:01 Okay and I think you answered the question as to when could 31:04 3ABN use the cash trust, you know, the annuity or the cash 31:08 trust. That's when a person passes away. Okay, now the other 31:12 thing, what about administrative fees because people think well 31:15 I know I gave $100,000. How much of that is going towards 31:18 administrative fees? Let's talk about that. 31:20 Yes. 3ABN charges no administrative fees. We charge 31:24 no fees to have the trust established. We pay all the 31:28 attorney fees and all the associated fees. All the fees it 31:32 costs to manage and operate the trust services department. 31:35 There's none of that comes out of it, so you have absolutely 31:39 no administrative fees, no fees to set up your trust. It is all 31:45 to the trustor's benefit. 31:47 And you know we believe that this is a win/win situation. 31:49 You know a trust is created because they're entrusting us 31:53 with these funds. And even though you know we have a 31:59 minimum to start a trust and Jeff tell us what the minimum is 32:03 So our cash trust is $10,000 per individual or $5000 is the 32:08 minimum for an annuity. 32:11 For annuity... So on the trust you know we have an obligation 32:14 to make sure that things go according to how the document 32:18 is written. Because we're trustee and we can't make any 32:21 changes to the document. It's the trustor and 32:24 that's the person 32:25 who provided that money for that trust. And if they're younger 32:30 like myself you know I want this trust to grow so whenever I see 32:34 a need I start adding to it and every time I add to it I don't 32:38 get charged any fees to get a deposit in. If I need money I 32:43 think we talked about this. On a transfer out to an individual 32:47 we don't charge any fees you know for that transaction. So 32:53 all of this but what is the benefit? The benefit for us is 32:56 when a trustor passes away we get to use a portion of that or 33:01 whatever...You know we have a 25 percent minimum but some of 33:05 our trustors have given us 100 percent. And so we get to use 33:10 that for 3ABN for the purpose of increasing the kingdom of God. 33:13 Wow, wow. So talk about something else that...the 33:19 charitable gift annuity. 33:20 Charitable gift annuity. Well that is basically the annuity 33:23 that we have. And those are set up by...we have a program that 33:28 establishes what the interest rate is and those interest rates 33:30 are going up now because of inflation is going up. And that 33:34 rate is established. It's a universal rate across most if 33:40 not all charities. So that rate is set. So you just have to take 33:46 and decide which ministry that you have the most faith in, the 33:50 most love that you want to support, that you want to see 33:52 take and win more souls for the kingdom. 33:55 That's right. We've seen the benefit of the trust services 34:00 a lot. (It's been huge) It's been amazing. Sometimes the 34:05 timing was impeccable. (Absolutely) We couldn't even 34:06 have said coincidental, providential. 34:08 So you know we talk about the bittersweet. You know we hate 34:11 to have someone die because we built a relationship with our 34:14 trustors and we love them. And we get to know them almost like 34:17 family. (Yes) And as we grow but then you know we pass away. 34:26 And then those resources that God has blessed each of us that 34:30 it can continue and have the legacy to help 3ABN fulfill it's 34:36 obligation. 34:37 Something to take you touch on that you talked about a while 34:40 ago is we never know what tomorrow's going to hold. And I 34:44 had a conversation yesterday with an individual that his wife 34:48 he's in his 90s, but his wife died unexpectedly. Had an 34:52 accident and evidently it was at the fault of someone else 34:54 and she received a very large insurance settlement and he is 35:01 now realizing that his wife didn't have a will, didn't have 35:03 anything set up and he doesn't and he is now wanting to get an 35:08 annuity and a trust and everything set in place so that 35:12 when something happens to him he realized knows in advance 35:15 where this money's going to go? So it's very important that we 35:18 take and have it's called an estate plan. And we need to sit 35:22 down, write down some thoughts and ideas. If you're married, 35:25 get your wife, get some thoughts and ideas put them down on 35:28 paper and then contact us and let us help you with that so 35:31 that you are prepared, you and your family, because when 35:35 someone dies it's a very tragic and emotional time for a family. 35:39 And we acting as a trustee, we can come in and assist the 35:45 family with that and take a lot of the burden off of the family 35:47 shoulders. 35:49 Yeah we've had even church members that because they didn't 35:53 make prior plans they pass away and they've got to collect an 35:56 offering. Family members have to contribute, the church has to 35:58 contribute. I'm almost getting to the place where we want to 36:02 encourage people. People have different views about insurance. 36:04 We can't do anything about that. But I call it instead of 36:08 insurance I call it blessed assurance. Because hey the 36:12 reality of it is if anybody in your family passes away, the 36:18 morgue and the mortuary and the funeral director may be a 36:21 Christian but you got to pay the bill. That's the reality of it. 36:23 And you know we haven't talked about what other things can we 36:26 put in a trust and one would be you know funeral arrangements. 36:31 (Yes) And that's becoming more popular because a lot of our 36:34 trustors don't want to burden the family and so they 36:37 want to set everything up in the trust, they want to make sure 36:40 everything is ready to go and they prepay everything or have 36:46 it in the trust and say when I die I want to be buried over 36:49 here. I want to make sure the funds are available for this and 36:52 so it makes the burden a lot less for the family. As you 36:56 shared as you know it becomes you know traumatic. 36:59 Traumatic, yes. And I've been in several states this summer 37:03 helping and settling estates where the person has deceased. 37:07 And most of them they had no other family. So who was going 37:11 to step in and take care of their final arrangements, take 37:16 care of the final bills and settle that up and handle the 37:20 sale of the property and distribute the money the way 37:22 they wanted it. So yes I've been in several states this summer 37:27 Well I tell you it reminds me of the saying that the apostle Paul 37:33 says, We brought nothing into this world and it's certain 37:36 we're not taking anything out. But everything that God puts in 37:38 our possession is obviously for the benefit of us while we're 37:42 living here but also there's a stewardship aspect to that. 37:45 And the other thing is, some of you may have family members 37:48 that are not believers. You might say even while you're 37:52 alive, I'm not going to put that kind of money in so and so's 37:55 hand. These are some of the ways. What can we do to help 37:57 people that are Christians and believe in the responsibility of 38:01 stewardship avoid things like that? What are some of the 38:04 things that you would recommend? 38:05 It is very common and a trust is a very good instrument for that. 38:08 And a lot of people will include like 3ABN as one of their 38:13 children so if they have three children they'll include each 38:16 child at 25 percent and 3ABN at 25 percent in their trust. And 38:21 something that people don't want to accept sometimes their family 38:25 does not get along well after they pass. 38:27 Oh, I've seen that situation. 38:29 Yes, so if you want to take and eliminate that family strife in 38:34 putting one of the family members in that position of 38:36 the trustee and having their other siblings squabble and have 38:39 that conflict with them, when you take and put 3ABN as the 38:43 trustee, you're eliminating that family issue out of the equation 38:46 for them. 38:47 That's right. So 3ABN can be the one that steps in as an executor 38:51 As a trustee yeah as a trustee. 38:53 It's the executor for a will and a trustee for a trust. And two 38:59 differences with those. A will when you fill it out and you 39:03 sign it, it is just a dormant instrument. It does not come 39:06 into effect or do anything until the time you pass. Then it 39:09 becomes active (the law) yes the law. A trust is the opposite 39:15 A trust is not really the opposite but the moment you sign 39:17 It, it's alive and it is functioning and working 39:20 so you can add to, you can take out of, you can change or 39:24 manipulate all the way to the time you die. At that time it's 39:27 set in stone and then it's distributed according to your 39:31 plans at that time. 39:32 I've learned something because I wasn't thinking about but I'm 39:34 listening but you guys are dealing with this every day and 39:37 it's good to hear that one is alive and well and it's working 39:40 with you, working for you. And you could say, ah, not feeling 39:43 well, this month. Let me just make a few changes to that trust 39:46 and then it's still functional. Whereas as you said a will you 39:51 Sign it and it just sits there like a dormant document. If it 39:54 becomes the law of the land the moment you decease. So it's 39:57 unchangeable when you die? 39:59 Yeah, that's correct. 40:00 So some people say well I have a trust but I don't have a will 40:04 should I get a will? And the answer is you should get a will 40:08 because you may not have everything in the trust that's 40:10 in your estate. So if you have everything in your trust then 40:16 you don't need a will but there are times when you need a will 40:19 and they usually call that a poured-over will. So anything 40:23 that's not in the estate in your trust, it goes into the 40:28 will and then the will says and redirects it into your trust. 40:31 So having a will is very important. Having a trust gives 40:37 you the latitude to know how to deal with things, how to get out 40:41 of a lot of the government issues and some of the you know 40:46 plans. When you get to the point and you die and you have 40:50 to go through all the government regulations in order to get that 40:53 property out so it goes into the trust. And we deal with that you 41:01 know a number of times. And if the trust is well-designed and 41:06 everything is in there so it's always good to make sure you 41:09 get all the things that you want in the trust. You could say okay 41:13 this happens, this is what happens to it. And you have the 41:18 full spectrum of what happens with your assets whereas a will 41:23 only has a few options. Everything goes in there and 41:27 that's great but then if you have like property for instance 41:33 and if it's not in the trust then you have to go through 41:36 probate. Well with the trust you don't have probate. (Okay, yeah) 41:42 So these are things that people say well if I have a trust you 41:45 know it's kind of expensive. Well if you have a trust with 41:47 3ABN it doesn't cost you anything and if you put your 41:50 house or property in there then we don't have to go to probate. 41:53 Thing happen quicker. It's a lot easier, yep, and the 41:59 beneficiaries benefit sooner than waiting long periods of 42:04 time because... 42:05 There is a cost with probate. Probate is not free. 42:07 Oh yeah. The person that's doing the functional administrative 42:10 work... 42:12 Yes Normally there's going to be an attorney involved and you're 42:16 going to have billable hours and it's a very lengthy and time 42:18 consuming process. So much as you can take and avoid probate 42:22 it's just to your financial advantage for you and for your 42:24 heirs. 42:26 Yeah it's almost a given that an attorney doesn't charge $10 an 42:28 hour. 42:30 On I tell you that's a given. 42:31 You know that's the one career in life that you are going to 42:36 get a vacuum put in your pocket. Not saying that attorneys are 42:40 not necessary to make it all legal. But we have to make sure 42:42 that if we have options, the options that we're talking about 42:45 on the program today. We're not saying one is better than the 42:48 other but we're just pretty much reiterating, What do you want to 42:51 be able to do? That's the key between trust, the annuity, the 42:54 SAT, the CRUT. The CRUT once again which is a... 42:57 CRUT is charitable remainder unitrust that helps with 43:01 appreciated property and avoids capital gains. 43:04 Right. Because a lot of times I like that illustration, like 43:07 you said you're a farmer but also as an auctioneer sometimes 43:11 when a person dies the trust or the will sends all that property 43:16 to you and then you have to... 43:19 There has been several times in our career that families did not 43:21 have a trust nor a will and they passed away and the family 43:26 became very dysfunctional and it went to court and we got a 43:30 call from the court and we went out and conducted the auction 43:35 selling every asset and dividing it according to the court's 43:38 direction. So the family had no input of how it was handled. 43:42 So that is something that you've got to consider if you have 43:45 heirs and you have property and you don't have a will or a 43:49 trust the courts will take and tell how it is distributed. 43:53 Right and I've heard people say well Auntie, Mom, you don't have 43:57 to worry about anything. You know I love you. But I've seen 43:59 the moment people die, I've seen emotions change, I've seen 44:03 spirits come in that just say oh wait a minute, wait a minute, I 44:06 didn't know they had that much. Well right now since I'm 44:08 executor...And one of the things I've also said, never to make the 44:10 executor as well as...What's the two things? Executor and... 44:15 Well, there's a couple things, well there's a power of attorney 44:19 and executor. So your power of attorney is only during life. So 44:23 while the person is alive there's two; there's one for 44:26 health and there's one for finance. So you want to make 44:29 sure they're not the same person because of many reasons that 44:33 you can figure out. But yeah while their alive power of 44:36 attorneys are very important. But then your executor on a will 44:42 is when you pass away, your executor takes control of that 44:46 estate for a will and then your trustee for a trust. 44:50 Okay, so you have three, power of attorney, executor and 44:54 trustee. 44:56 And while you were saying earlier about the families, 44:58 we've had to have the sheriff's department there at the auction 45:01 to keep peace in the family. So families do take and get very 45:06 dysfunctional sometimes when money's involved. 45:09 And the more relatives you have as we say...where there's a will 45:14 there's a relative. 45:18 Well and you know the thing also when building a trust, if you're 45:22 interested in a trust, even a will make sure your family 45:25 knows what you're doing. Because you don't want to 45:30 them. You want to make sure you're able to explain 45:33 everything to the family so when things start progressing to the 45:39 point where you have someone else taking care not only your 45:42 assets but you know your life style. You want to make sure the 45:47 rest of the family knows what's going on? 45:48 No surprises. 45:49 That is good. I'm glad you mentioned that because sometimes 45:51 people say I have no idea what Auntie has in store. I have no 45:54 idea what my mom... And then they pass away and then they 45:57 realize...Really?! So try to be as open with your family. 46:01 Now obviously extenuating circumstances come in. That's 46:05 one of the reasons why 3ABN is offering this service because 46:08 the credibility is such a significant part of the property 46:11 you've worked all your life to be able to amass. You're 46:14 finances, you've worked hard. You want to know that when I 46:17 pass away and let's just make it clear. You know mortality is 46:21 100 percent. We all have a grave with our name on it somewhere 46:26 or we will. I'm hoping the Lord comes before that time and we 46:29 all want that to happen. But it's important when God entrusts 46:32 you with something that you can be, as the Bible says, a steward 46:36 who is found faithful? I mean I've seen situations where you 46:41 have a family member that's really into some shady stuff and 46:44 another one's Christian. They start arguing with each other 46:46 and you don't want that situation. So quickly 46:49 reiterating here I can't forget CRUT as long as I live: 46:53 Charitable Remainder Unitrust which helps you avoid capital 46:57 gains. And SAT... 47:00 Self-administered Trust where if you're younger and you're doing 47:03 a lot of activity with property or things that require a deed or 47:08 some type of legal instrument. To do it yourself is very 47:12 helpful. We can help with that. And we can make your life a lot 47:17 easier in a SAT. And it's usually for younger people who 47:21 are very active and move things back and forth out of their 47:23 trust, in their trust, and it gives them the flexibility and 47:26 they're the trustee of it. 47:27 They may have a lot of air B and B's that they're managing. 47:30 And things like that. 47:31 Business, personal, or your residence. You could put your 47:37 automobile in a trust. (Wow that's true) 47:41 And with a SAT you're in full control. So you decide when you 47:46 want to do things and we're here to help you. We've been 47:50 using the terms trustor and trustee. In a SAT, a self- 47:53 administered trust as long as you're alive and of sound mind 47:56 you are the trustor and the trustee. You are the same but 48:01 then someone else steps in as the successor trustee in your 48:07 time of past death or whenever you can't make a sound decision. 48:12 You're incompetent. 48:14 So let me ask the question. I didn't bring this up yet. What 48:17 if somebody has debt that they pass away and they leave a lot 48:22 of debt. Is it your obligation to pay their debt or how does 48:26 that work? 48:27 If there is funds in their trust whether it's a cash trust or if 48:31 there's a self-administered trust, yes. Funeral expenses 48:34 last your health you know your cause of death those all come 48:42 out as if there's a mortgage on the property or anything like 48:43 that. All that has to be paid and compensated for as long as 48:48 there are funds to do so. (Okay) 48:50 All the expenses in the estate would be paid out of the trust. 48:54 And then after that, once all the obligations and 48:58 encumbrances of the estate have been consumed then if there's 49:03 any left over money, then the trustee looks to the 49:07 beneficiaries and pays them accordingly. 49:10 And that's why it's good to have somebody to survive you that can 49:13 make some wise decisions about what you have in your possession 49:15 whether financially, car, house, whatever the accouterments are. 49:20 And whenever you have 3ABN as your trustee it is not a person 49:25 it is an organization so that it does not die. You know we see 49:29 that 3ABN is growing it's alive and it's well. 3ABN is going to 49:32 be here until Jesus comes home winning souls. So when you have 49:36 3ABN as your trustee, 3ABN is not a person, it's an entity, so 49:41 that is going to be a constant. I might not be here whenever 49:45 your trust matures, it might be my successor or maybe two 49:48 successors down in the line. So but it's going to be 3ABN as 49:54 your trustee, not Jeff Doerr. 49:55 But we would like to be your trustee as long as we can, right 49:58 Oh yes. Yes. Yes absolutely. 50:03 I almost want to sing the song Trust and obey for there's no 50:06 other way. And it is so true. When you think about. I'm sure 50:10 that as you're listening to the program you may want to play 50:13 it back or just look at it again when you get an opportunity on 50:16 3ABN Plus. We talk about some real issues of life. The issues 50:20 of life are the things that we don't plan for. And if you don't 50:24 think it's an issue when you are deceased, it's an even 50:28 bigger issue. So it's important. So that's why we talk about the 50:31 stewardship aspects of it and these two gentlemen are here at 50:34 3ABN to make sure that whatever you have, whether you think it's 50:38 small or whether you know it's large there are responsibilities 50:43 fiduciary responsibilities that come along with that as 50:47 Christians. God gives it to us. For us that are Christians, we 50:51 return one-tenth to the Lord. Well because we return one-tenth 50:54 doesn't mean we can just do whatever we want with the 50:57 nine-tenths. We're still help accountable for how we handle 50:59 that. So God has given you strength to get wealth and 51:02 there's a text in Deuteronomy that says you know when you 51:04 build your house and when you get your property and when you 51:07 get your land when you're doing well don't say my might and my 51:10 power got me this wealth. You know God is the one that gives 51:14 us strength to get wealth and the word wealth doesn't 51:16 necessarily mean a millionaire or a person with a lot of money 51:19 or a lot of property. It means a person that has been given 51:23 something by God and that person becomes personal responsibility 51:27 for the stewardship of it. Now we're going to take a little 51:29 break here and come back and give both Jeff as well as Jason 51:32 an opportunity to answer some questions or reiterate but as 51:37 you think about it tomorrow is not the best time to make a 51:40 decision about a trust. Today is. And think about and what God 51:45 had put in our hand can be a blessing to your family as well 51:49 to the ministry of 3ABN. We'll be right back. 51:52 For more information about 3ABN Trust Services please write to 51:55 P.O. Box 220, West Frankfort, IL 62896. Or call us at 52:01 1(800)886-4800. You can also visit our website 3abn.tv or 52:08 send us an email TrustServices@3abn.org 52:14 ♪ ♪ |
Revised 2023-01-12