Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Advancing the Kingdom Through the Kentucky Baptist Foundation

By: Laurie Valentine-COO & Trust Counsel 

Using the Kentucky Baptist Foundation to accomplish your legacy giving objectives can benefit both you and the Baptist causes you wish to support.

The Kentucky Baptist Foundation receives and administers legacy gifts for the support of all Kentucky Baptist and Southern Baptist causes. As a “member of the family”, the Foundation has a special appreciation and affection for the mission and ministry of the causes that will be supported through your gifts. This connection assures you, as the giver, the Foundation has each cause’s best interests in mind as it manages the gifts made for that cause’s benefit.

Many donors want to provide support to more than one cause and realize that dividing their gift may result in lower total support. A single trust or endowment fund can be set up with the Kentucky Baptist Foundation to provide support to multiple Baptist causes. This can result in more consistent levels of support for all----each cause will have the benefit of the same level of competent investment management oversight services and the economies of centralized fund management.

Designating the Kentucky Baptist Foundation as the manager of your gift assures the causes you want to support are left to do what they were called to do---missions, Christian education, child care, evangelism, disaster relief, etc. You relieve their board and staff of the responsibility for investment research, analysis, decision-making, transacting and reporting, and place those responsibilities with the organization whose mission is to provide competent, prudent financial management for the causes selected by its donors.

For more information, please call us at (502) 489-3533 or toll free in KY at 1-(866) 489-3533

The information in this article is provided as general information and is not intended as legal or tax advice. For advice and assistance in specific cases, you should seek the advice of an attorney or other professional adviser.

Monday, August 27, 2012

E-Devotional-Week 25

Filling The Gaps With Insurance
Week 4- Long-Term Care Insurance 


Long-term care (LTC) insurance policies vary greatly, but the purpose of LTC insurance is to insure against the financial risks associated with aging, specifically those related to a long nursing home or assisted living stay.

In general, most employer-offered health insurance does not cover LTC expenses. Medicare only pays for short-term skilled care. So what happens if you find yourself as an aging person in need of long-term nursing home care? Unless you qualify for Medicaid or have LTC insurance, the costs for this care will come out of your pocket.

The average annual cost in 2011 of a semi private nursing home room was $78,110; assisted living in KY was $37,140.

You have several options when purchasing a LTC insurance policy, such as:

- Cover only nursing home stays, or home care only, or purchase coverage for a whole range of care (assisted living, adult day care, as well as nursing home and home care).

- The daily benefit (the amount the insurance company will pay each day for your care can range from $50 - $400/day, so you don’t pay anything if your care is less than the specified amount. If your daily care cost is more than the specified amount, you pay the difference).

- Benefit period (how long the insurance will pay benefits; generally 2 – 6 years or for your lifetime).

- Elimination period (time at the beginning of your care before the policy begins paying benefits; this is the period during which you pay all expenses yourself; can be 0 – 100 days).

- Inflation protection (keeps the payment amount from being eroded by inflation by the time you need this benefit).

LTC insurance can be purchased from insurance agents/brokers, financial planners, banks, employers and large membership organizations.

As you get older, the chances of needing LTC increase, as does the cost of LTC insurance. However, if you buy LTC insurance when you are too young, you will pay lower premiums, but you will be paying the premiums for a longer time period. So when should you purchase LTC insurance? The answer to this question will vary from person to person, so we recommend you consult with a financial advisor about your specific situation to decide if and when you should purchase a LTC insurance policy.

LTC insurance is explained in more detail at www.aarp.org, including what to look for in selecting a policy and how much a policy will cost. Search “Long Term Care Insurance.” You can order the “free” consumer guide from the Kentucky Department of Insurance either by calling toll free 1.800.595.6053, or via the website at http://insurance.ky.gov and click “Publications.”

Prayer Focus: Take a few minutes to pray for guidance on your and your family’s LTC insurance needs.

Next Week: Giving Through Life Insurance


The information in this article is provided as general information and is not intended as legal or tax advice. For advice and assistance in specific cases, you should seek the advice of an attorney or other professional adviser.

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Bold Hope

By: Barry G. Allen- President & CEO

It’s that time of year when we Kentucky Baptists are called upon to focus our praying, giving and going on those in our home state who are without Christ in their lives. And what would we do without the able leadership of Kentucky WMU to guide and assist us in this focus?! Thank you, Joy Bolton, and your staff.

The theme of this year’s state missions emphasis and the Eliza Broadus Offering is “bold hope.” The focal scripture passage is 2 Corinthians 3:12 (NIV 1984): “Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold.” As George Beasley-Murray observed in his commentary, this hope combines a confidence as to the glory that attaches to the gospel proclamation in the present with the expectation of a revelation of that glory in the future. At the heart of the gospel is the manifestation of a glory that has a future, namely, that of the incarnate, crucified and risen Christ returning in majesty for the victory of the kingdom. So, whatever is our lot in the present, our lot in the future is a glory that will be vindicated in the triumph of our Lord. Therefore, we can afford to be very bold in our praying, going and giving.

How fortunate we Kentucky Baptists are to have in place all across this state a variety of ministries to facilitate our giving and going. These include: food ministries, prison, pregnancy care, drug addiction recovery, disaster relief, collegiate ministries, ethnic, church planting, evangelism and missions camps.

I urge you to let the Eliza Broadus Offering provide you an easy, effective and efficient channel through which you can give to support all of these ministries all across our state. Begin now to pray with boldness (1) for your state missionaries and volunteers who deliver these ministries 24/7 in your behalf; (2) for how much and in what way you will give through the offering; and (3) for an openness for how God can use you this next year as a volunteer in one or more of these ministries.

For more information, please call us at (502) 489-3533 or toll free in KY at 1-(866) 489-3533

The information in this article is provided as general information and is not intended as legal or tax advice. For advice and assistance in specific cases, you should seek the advice of an attorney or other professional adviser.

Monday, August 20, 2012

E-Devotional-Week 24

Filling The Gaps With Insurance 


Week 3-A Biblical Basis For Insurance Protection

One might ask the question, “Does buying insurance show a lack of faith in God’s ability to provide for you?”

We think not, and here’s why.  The wisdom writer in Proverbs 27:12 advised, “The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and walk right into trouble.”  The Apostle Paul warned in 1 Timothy 5:8, “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

Filling the gaps with adequate insurance demonstrates the prudence about which the wisdom writer advised and avoids the condemnation about which the Apostle Paul warned.

Prayer Focus:  Ask the Lord to grant you prudence in the use of insurance in providing for your family.

Next Week:  Long-Term Care Insurance

The information in this article is provided as general information and is not intended as legal or tax advice. For advice and assistance in specific cases, you should seek the advice of an attorney or other professional adviser.


Monday, August 13, 2012

E-Devotional-Week 23


Filling The Gaps With Insurance 

Week 2- Primary Types Of Available Insurance

Last week we identified various exposures to risk each of us faces in living our lives in this world.  This week we shall identify the primary types of insurance you most likely will need.  Some of these may be provided partially or fully by your employer.

The primary types are:

-       General liability
-       Excess liability (umbrella coverage)
-       Homeowners
-       Automobile
-       Disability
-       Medical
-       Dental
-       Vision
-       Life
-       Long-Term Care

We recommend you secure the assistance of a insurance professional(s) to purchase the types and the limits of coverage you need.  There are numerous issues which must be considered in putting together a comprehensive insurance program customized for your personal situation. 

Once you have adequate primary insurance, you may not need these specialized forms:  credit card, flight and accidental death, dreaded disease and rental car.  Your insurance professional can advise you about this.

Prayer Focus:  Ask God to give you the discernment necessary to make wise decisions in the purchase of the insurance you need to protect yourself and your family.

Next Week:  A Biblical Basis for Insurance Protection

The information in this article is provided as general information and is not intended as legal or tax advice. For advice and assistance in specific cases, you should seek the advice of an attorney or other professional adviser.


Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Who Are Your Dependents?

By: Barry G. Allen- President & CEO

When you complete an application for a job, for insurance, for financial aid or some other benefit or service, you are asked a question about how many dependents you have and oftentimes you are asked their names.

When you complete the payroll withholding forms, W4 and K4, you are asked to list the number of dependents you have. Also, when you prepare your annual tax return you have to identify your dependents.

When we answer those questions of all of the forms, in most instances we give the names of our spouse and our children. But what about your church and other charitable organizations that depend upon you? They, too, are your dependents.

Webster defines a dependent as a person who relies on another for support, especially financial support. To depend is to place reliance upon and trust in some one else. Although your church is not a person, it is dependent upon you for financial support and trusts you to provide it. The same is true for all of the Baptist and other charitable organizations you support with financial contributions.

Both in good and bad economic times, but especially in difficult economic times like the present, these charitable organizations are depending upon you and me to continue to provide support as best we can.

I am reminded of and inspired by those Macedonian Christians about which the Apostle Paul wrote in II Corinthians 8:1 – 5. Out of their extreme poverty they gave as much as they were able and some even beyond their ability. This was not what was expected given the circumstances of their lives at the time. But, what happened is they gave themselves first to the Lord, and then they gave financially and generously for the service of the saints. It’s amazing how differently we respond when we give ourselves first to the Lord. That’s the formula for true stewardship.

Then Paul urged the Corinthian Christians to emulate these Macedonian Christians when he said, “see that you also excel in this grace of giving.” This is the word of the Lord for us Christians today.

For more information, please call us at (502) 489-3533 or toll free in KY at 1-(866) 489-3533

The information in this article is provided as general information and is not intended as legal or tax advice. For advice and assistance in specific cases, you should seek the advice of an attorney or other professional adviser.

Monday, August 6, 2012

E-Devotional- Week 22


Filling The Gaps With Insurance

Week 1-Insurance: Transferring Risks

Each of us is exposed on a daily basis to various risks in our lives.  We recommend you periodically conduct a risk analysis (a) to identify the risks to which you are exposed and (b) to determine for which of those risks you want to self-insure and for which you want to transfer the risk to someone else by purchasing insurance.  You may want to utilize a insurance professional or a certified financial planner in this process.

The most common areas of risk exposure are:

-       Legal liability – we live in a litigious society
-       Vehicle accidents
-       Damage to house and other personal property
-       Major illnesses
-       Physical/mental disability
-       Loss of life
-       Aging and personal care

Effective Christian financial planning includes periodic risk analysis and filling the gaps with insurance.

Prayer Focus:  Ask the Lord to lead you to the qualified professional who can assist you in analyzing the risks to which are you exposed.

Next Week:  Primary Types of Available Insurance

The information in this article is provided as general information and is not intended as legal or tax advice. For advice and assistance in specific cases, you should seek the advice of an attorney or other professional adviser.



Thursday, August 2, 2012

Ways to Give to Baptist Causes

By: Laurie Valentine-COO & Trust Counsel 

Your church, association and the Kentucky Baptist Convention and its agencies and institutions have a wide variety of important ministries that need financial support to launch them into reality or to continue or expand their existing programming. The methods by which you may support these important causes through legacy giving (giving out of your assets, rather than your income) are also wide-ranging.

An outright gift of cash, appreciated securities or real estate is probably the most common, and simplest, way to make gifts during your lifetime.

Other methods of lifetime giving, such as charitable gift annuities and charitable remainder trusts, allow you to provide a future benefit to one or more Baptist causes while retaining an annual income for your lifetime or a term of years.

There are also a variety of methods you can arrange now to benefit the causes of your choice at your death. The most common is a bequest in your Will or Living Trust. Another possibility is to name a Baptist cause as the beneficiary of some portion of your IRA or a life insurance policy no longer needed for family security.

You can designate your gift be used for a specific program or ministry of the benefiting organization, rather than giving the organization the choice of how to use your gift. You may also want to limit the organization to using only the earnings off what you give (this type of arrangement is called an “endowment fund”).

Gifts may be made directly to the benefiting organization or may be given to a third party, such as the Kentucky Baptist Foundation, to manage for the designated beneficiary cause or causes.

For more information, please call us at (502) 489-3533 or toll free in KY at 1-(866) 489-3533

The information in this article is provided as general information and is not intended as legal or tax advice. For advice and assistance in specific cases, you should seek the advice of an attorney or other professional adviser.