Tisch Professor and Famed Animator Leaves His Legacy

Renowned film animator, graphic designer and Academy Award winner John Canemaker received his Master of Fine Arts degree from the NYU Tisch School of the Arts in 1976. He joined the Tisch faculty in 1980 shortly after Tisch initiated its academic and training program in the field of animation. John has directed the Animation program at Tisch’s Kanbar Institute of Film and Television for the past thirty years. 

Under John’s leadership, the program has grown from two offered courses to twenty. Animation has become more thoroughly intertwined with the many areas of film production taught at Tisch. This reflects the widespread adoption of animation techniques throughout current film production, a development in which John’s professional and creative work has played a major role. He received NYU’s Distinguished Teaching Award in 2009 for “exceptional teaching, inside and outside the classroom.”

While serving on the Tisch faculty, John led an active and distinguished career in the field of animation. He won an Academy Award in 2005 and an Emmy Award in 2006 for his autobiographical animated film, The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation. An accomplished historian of film, he is the author of twelve acclaimed books, and his analysis can be heard in the commentary on DVD productions of many classic Disney animated films.

NYU faculty members are in the best position to witness the struggles of their students, and their desire to provide assistance has traditionally been an inspiration to their current and former students. To learn more about how you can create a legacy for NYU students, please contact us today.

You Can Give and Receive

As paradoxical as it may seem, there is a planning tool that makes it possible to give and receive—the life-income gift. In fact, life-income gifts have become a fundamental part of gift and estate planning. You may find that including this approach in your overall planning strategy can help you meet personal financial goals while providing important support to NYU.

With life-income gifts, you can support NYU, receive lifetime income, and qualify for a tax deduction if you itemize—all with one gift. There are two types of life-income gift plans:

• the charitable gift annuity
• the charitable remainder trust

These plans are similar because each provides income payments to the donor and/or other beneficiaries you designate. However, important differences need to be considered. 

The charitable gift annuity

The charitable gift annuity is often described as part charitable gift and part annuity. In exchange for your gift, we agree to pay a fixed lifetime income to you or to one or two other beneficiaries that you designate. When the income ends, the remaining portion of the gift is released for the purpose at NYU that you chose. So, even though the gift annuity provides lifetime payments to one or two beneficiaries (two is the maximum), you are also making an important gift that supports NYU and makes a difference for others.

The amount of the fixed income payment depends on the amount of the gift, the age of the beneficiary (or beneficiaries) who will receive the income, and when the payments begin. We can prepare an illustration showing the amount of the annual income payment based on your specific gift intentions.

Flexibility to meet your goals: The charitable gift annuity is an easy and straightforward gift option, and it can meet a variety of your planning objectives. While supporting NYU, you can also:

• Supplement your retirement income.
• Help a relative or loved one who could benefit from a fixed lifetime income.
• Time your payment start date to meet your specific plans. Lifetime payments can begin now or at a later date that you specify. Deferring the payment start date can result in higher payments.

Tax-wise philanthropy: There are tax benefits associated with the charitable gift annuity.

1. Your gift qualifies for a charitable deduction for a portion of the gift amount. The deduction amount depends on a number of factors, including the amount of the gift, the age of the annuitant(s), and when payments will begin.
2. Payments from charitable gift annuities are uniquely and advantageously taxed. A portion of the payment is tax-free.
3. A charitable gift annuity is an effective way to make a gift and supplement your retirement income in a way that is totally independent from any other plans you may already have in place. If you have “maxed out” your annual contribution to your IRA or other qualified retirement plan, you can still contribute to a charitable gift annuity to provide retirement income.  

Example: Madeline, age 70, makes a cash gift of $25,000 to set up a gift annuity. Her annual payment amount, based on current rates, is $1,400, which is a payment rate of 5.6%. If she itemizes her return, the gift qualifies for a charitable deduction of $9,984.*

• If Madeline defers the start of payments for five years, her annual payment amount is $1,775, which is a payment rate of 7.1%. The itemized deduction would be $12,202.
• If Madeline defers the start of payments for ten years, her annual payment amount is $2,475, which is a payment rate of 9.9%. The itemized deduction would be $15,233.

The charitable remainder trust

The charitable remainder trust (CRT) is a gift plan where you, the donor, irrevocably transfer money or property to the trust. The trust agreement, drafted by your attorney, directs the trustee to:

• invest the property given in trust,
• pay a specified percentage of the value of the trust to you and/or other beneficiaries (there can be more than two) for life or for a specified period of up to 20 years, and
• distribute the trust assets to NYU after the income benefits end.

An immediate tax deduction: When you transfer property to a charitable remainder trust, you can immediately deduct an amount equal to the present value of the charity’s future (“remainder”) interest in the trust. The deduction amount depends on the age(s) of the beneficiary or beneficiaries, the payment period and the income amount to be paid.

Example: Howard is 65 years old and he sets up a charitable remainder annuity trust that will pay him an income equal to 5% of the $400,000 he contributes to the trust—$20,000 a year—for as long as he may live. The $400,000 contribution is stock he bought years ago for $200,000. Howard pays no capital gains tax on the $200,000 gain, and he will enjoy a charitable tax deduction of $146,820 for the year of his contribution (subject to some limitations), even though the assets remaining in the trust will not transfer to NYU until after his death.*

Note: We can provide an illustration of how a CRT could work for you (including the charitable deduction) based on your particular situation. Simply let us know how we might help you. There is, of course, no obligation.

You determine the payout arrangement: One of the most important characteristics of a charitable remainder trust is its flexibility. For example:

• You may reserve a fixed income (e.g., $25,000 a year for life) or an income that will vary with the changing value of the trust (e.g., 5% of the trust’s value at the end of each year).
• You may direct annual income payments to yourself and/or another individual beneficiary (or beneficiaries) for life or for a specified period up to 20 years.
• At the time you create the trust, you may name more than one beneficiary or name successor beneficiaries to receive the in-come if the primary beneficiary passes away.

* All examples for illustrative purposes only, AFR 3.2%.

You may also visit giving.nyu.edu/giftplanning/ to learn more.