Charitable Pooled Income Fund

From Bogleheads

Revision as of 20:13, 23 May 2009 by Blbarnitz (Talk | contribs)
(diff) ← Older revision | Current revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Jump to: navigation, search

A pooled income fund is a trust that is established and maintained by a public charity. Individual donors can irrevocably contribute cash or appreciated investment securities (with the exception of tax-free bonds which the trusts are forbidden to hold) to the fund. The charity can sell the assets free of taxation and invest the proceeds in a commingled investment fund. In practice, a pooled investment fund operates much like a mutual fund. A donor is free to make additional donations to the pool. Each year, a pooled income fund is required to distribute a pro rata share of all its earned income to its income beneficiaries. After a beneficiary’s death, the remainder interest is distributed from the fund to the charity.[1]

A donor can choose up to two income beneficiaries to receive income for life.

A donor can receive a number of tax benefits with a contribution to a pooled fund. First, a donor will receive a charitable deduction based on the discounted value of the remainder interest flowing to the charity after the donor/ beneficiary’s death. The charitable deduction is calculated based on the amount of the contribution, the age and number of the income beneficiaries, and the pooled income fund's highest rate of return during the past three years. Secondly, if the donation is made with appreciated assets, the donor can escape capital gains taxation with the donation, since the charitable pooled fund is not taxed on selling the appreciated asset.[2]

Contents

Pooled Income Fund Statistics

Information on the investment returns, portfolio holdings, and costs of pooled income funds is not readily available. Fidelity provides a stand alone pooled income fund that allows for transparency. [See Fidelity Pooled Income Fund].

According to the latest (2007) IRS SOI Tax Stats - Split Interest Trust Statistics report, there were 1,676 charitable pooled income funds filing tax returns in 2006, holding a collective 1.599 billion dollars in assets. The overwhelming majority of these pooled trusts are quite small; Pooled income funds occupy a distant third among charitable split-interest vehicles behind Charitable Remainder Trusts and Gift Annuities. [3]

Pooled Income Fund Size (2006)
Under 1 million 1M - 3M 3M - 10M 10M+
14721388426

[Source: IRS SOI Tax Stats - Split Interest Trust Statistics]


Given the mandate that all pooled fund income must be distributed to the income beneficiaries, it should come as no surprise that pooled income funds set asset allocations highly tilted towards income producing securities. The 2006 tax return totals for pooled income funds showed the following asset holdings:

Pooled Income Fund Assets (2006)
Asset Dollar Holdings Pct.
Corporate Stocks $460,045,000 32.01%
US and State Government Bonds $471,621,000 32.81%
Corporate Bonds $231,772,000 16.13%
Other $273,807,000 19.05%
Total: $1,437,245,000 100.00%

[Source: IRS SOI Tax Stats - Split Interest Trust Statistics]

Comparing Pooled Income Funds with other Split-Interest Options

[WRITE ME] Compare Charitable Income Options

Articles

Links

References

  1. ↑ Pooled Income Fund, Planned Giving Design Center, LLC › PGDC Library
  2. ↑ Pooled Income Fund, Planned Giving Design Center, LLC › PGDC Library
  3. ↑ IRS SOI Tax Stats - Split Interest Trust Statistics


How to Cite

You can link to this page from the Bogleheads Forum by copying and pasting the following text into your forum posting:

Please see [url=http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Charitable_Pooled_Income_Fund]Charitable Pooled Income Fund[/url] on the [url=http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Main_Page]Bogleheads Wiki[/url].
Notice something that needs correcting? Notify a wiki editor or become a wiki editor and fix it yourself!


Charitable Giving
Charitable Donations Charity Selection Links • Donating Appreciated Securities • Donor-Advised Funds
Split Interest Gifts Charitable Pooled Income Fund • Charitable Remainder Trust • Charitable Lead Trust • Fidelity Pooled Income Fund • Gift Annuity
Vanguard Charitable Programs Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program
Retrieved from "http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Charitable_Pooled_Income_Fund"