A CREATIVE WAY TO ESTABLISH YOUR CHARITABLE LEGACY
Giving Today to Guarantee Tomorrow
You Don't Have to Be Rich to Leave a $50,000 Gift to the Cause You Love
Most people assume meaningful charitable giving requires significant wealth. It doesn't. A simple life insurance policy — owned by your favorite charity — can create a legacy gift far beyond what most donors think possible, at a cost that may surprise you.
About think legacylife
Create a Charitable Legacy
Three Paths to Your Legacy
Choose the Gift Structure
That Fits Your Situation
Option 01
Transfer a Policy You No Longer Need
If you have an existing life insurance policy that no longer serves its original purpose, you can transfer ownership to your charity. You receive an immediate charitable income tax deduction equal to the policy's cash value — and future premium donations are also deductible.
Immediate deduction · Estate tax benefitOption 02 — Most Popular
Purchase a New Policy for Your Charity
A new life insurance policy is taken out on your life, with the charity as owner and beneficiary from day one. Your regular cash donations to the charity for premium payments are deductible. At death, the full benefit passes directly to the charity — no probate, no delays.
Ongoing deductions · Multiplied impact · Estate-friendlyOption 03
Name a Charity as Beneficiary
The simplest option: you keep ownership of your existing policy and simply name a charity as beneficiary. No income tax deduction is available during your lifetime, but the death benefit will not be included in your taxable estate — and no changes to your will are required.
No will needed · Estate tax benefit
The Power of a Gift of Life Insurance
The Simple Truth
How a Gift of Life Insurance Actually Works
A charitable gift of life insurance is one of the most powerful — and least understood — tools in philanthropy. Here's what makes it different from a traditional bequest or annual gift.
Your charity becomes the owner & beneficiary
A life insurance policy is taken out on your life, with your chosen charity — or your fund at a community foundation — named as both owner and beneficiary. This is the key structure that unlocks the tax benefits.
Tax-deductible premiums
You make affordable annual or monthly donations
Instead of paying premiums yourself, you make a cash donation to the charity, which uses it to pay the premium. Those donations may qualify as charitable income tax deductions on your return.
Ongoing deductibility
Your modest gifts multiply into a substantial legacy
At your death, the charity receives the full death benefit — often many times the total amount you donated. No probate delays. No estate tax inclusion. A guaranteed, meaningful gift that celebrates your values.
Legacy multiplied
Your family's inheritance is protected
Unlike a bequest from your estate, a charitable gift of life insurance doesn't reduce what you leave your heirs. You can be generous to causes you love without taking anything away from the people you love.
Estate-friendly
How to Create a Charitable Life Insurance Gift
Think LegacyLife
The Mission
Think LegacyLife helps donors create substantial charitable gifts through life insurance — simply, affordably, and with meaningful tax benefits. If you care deeply about a cause and want your giving to outlast you, this may be the most important conversation you have this year.
benefits
Benefits For Donors
Benefits for the Charity
Benefits for the Charity
What This Looks Like in Practice
These hypothetical illustrations show how modest, regular giving can be transformed into a legacy gift your charity will remember — and depend on — for generations.
$35,000For approx. $47–$80/month
"I'd been giving $500 a year to my synagogue for 20 years. Sadler helped me see I could leave them $35,000 — without changing my will or reducing my kids' inheritance."
Retired educator, Rockland County, NY$50,000Via community foundation fund
"We established a named fund at our community foundation. Now it will support local causes we care about — food security, youth programs — long after we're gone."
Couple, Orange County, NY$25,000Existing policy, no longer needed
"I had a whole life policy I'd stopped needing for income replacement. Transferring it to my alma mater gave me an immediate tax deduction and a legacy I'm proud of."
Business owner, New Jersey
Benefits for the Charity
Benefits for the Charity
Benefits for the Charity
- Gifts of life insurance can be a critical source of future income that can be planned for and depended upon.
- Modest annual/monthly or single premium payment gifts are multiplied into substantial support and opens the door to major deferred gifts from many more donors.
- The charity receives the life insurance benefit payment in cash at the donor's death - and is not delayed by probate.
- The life insurance gift is made during the donor's lifetime, enabling the charity to recognize and thank the donor.
Useful links
FREEWILL
Everyone should make a will or living trust, regardless of wealth. Having a plan in place ensures that your wishes are known and saves your loved ones the stress and cost of intestate probate proceedings. Create a free will or trust to support the people and causes you care about most even after you’re gone.
Meet John Sadler Hayes, II
John Sadler Hayes, II
Since 1975, John Sadler Hayes, II, President of Sadler Hayes Associates, Inc., has been providing individuals, families and businesses quality of life protection with Long-Term Care Insurance, Critical Illness Insurance, Disability Income Insurance, Dental Insurance/Plans, Medicare Supplement Insurance, Health Insurance, Life Insurance, Fixed Annuities - Deferred and Immediate Income.
Sadler also helps individuals create charitable legacies with life insurance to support the charitable organizations, schools and universities, hospitals, medical research, community foundations most important to them.
Sadler represents multiple life and health insurance companies that provide coverage options and competitive rates for residents of NY and NJ.
Note that John Sadler Hayes, II is a licensed life and health insurance agent in the states of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
and does not provide legal or tax advice.
For any tax or legal questions or concerns - consult with your legal and tax advisors.
"I am what survives me"
Erik Erikson
