Route 664, What Is It For?

Route 664, what is it for?

If we were to ask you to define 664 for us, or 529, or 401K, would you know how to respond? You might know 401K, but I doubt that you would know the others.  Don’t feel bad if you don’t because you’re not alone. Millions of Americans across the country, even those with college degrees, are completely unaware of what these numerical terms mean. But knowing them, particularly Section 664 of the Internal Revenue Service Code, can make a world of difference in both your financial standing and your community. Joining us on a recent show to discuss their role in philanthropy were Randy Fox, a renowned charitable financial planner and a founding member of the Social Secharity project, and Barry Nickelsberg, the chief development officer for estate and gift planning for the Carter Center. 

Randy Fox says the reason that people are generally unaware of 664 is because the planning community tends to feel comfortable with whatever they’re good at and avoid or altogether ignore whatever they do not understand; so it tends to get overlooked. It takes a huge educational effort on the part of advisors and their understanding of the power of 664 to make a difference. When you put financial asset into a 664 trust, you get a tax deduction, and if you were to sell the  asset, you would have to pay a capital gains tax, which you avoid by putting the asset into the 664 trust. The bigger picture comes in the form of giving back to your community. As Randy puts it, “We’re not asking people to disinherit their families; we’re asking them to disinherit the IRS… Disinherit the government and put your money into causes in your community that you support. that speak to the memory of you that you want left behind.” Pooled income funds, charitable gift annuities, among other forms are all tools that are widely available and yet ridiculously underutilized simply because no one knows how to use them. Randy is the director of Two Hawks Consulting and can be found on our website socialsecharity.org.

Barry Nickelsberg works for the Carter Center, founded by former President Jimmy Carter to promote and mediate peaceful solutions for countries in conflict around the world. The Carter Center is also involved in eliminating 5 major diseases, one of them being guinea worm which effected over 3 ½ million people in 1986, but by December of 2020 less than 27 cases existed, effectively eliminating this disease as a major problem for humanity. All of this is made possible by people’s generous contributions, pooled income funds and charitable gift annuities. The moral of the story, philanthropy actually makes a difference for people in need around the world. Barry stresses that if advisors don’t understand the power of these tools provided by 664, their clients will never find out. But our goal is to change that by informing financial advisors and the general public about section 664 which we call “Social Secharity.” If enough people become well informed on these powerful tools, you the reader can not only benefit your own financial standing but contribute to the eventual relief of America’s debt crisis, and all through the power of human kindness giving back to the community around you or the charity of your choice. Barry Nickelsberg considers himself an optimist, and so are we at the Endow America Network Foundation. We truly believe the world is due for a major shift into an era of human kindness, but it all starts with you and me today and what we do about it. For more information please visit www.socialsecharity.org or follow us on Facebook @SocialSecharity.