How David Cohn '48 Put a Charitable Gift Annuity to Work for Him

by Barbara Snyder Stambaugh

David Cohn '48 says it's simple.

“If you're at the right age, it's the only way to go,” David says. He's talking about the charitable gift annuity he set up with Dickinson . “I'm delighted. I receive quarterly from Dickinson what I had been receiving annually from stock dividends.”

David has led an extraordinary and busy life. He's still busy; you can hear the energy in his voice.

He's been a career diplomat and an adult-literacy volunteer. He's been a project manager for an international human-assistance program and director of an economic research and analysis office for the U.S. Department of State. He's been around the block, and he knows a thing or two about money management.

David's charitable gift annuity with Dickinson allowed him to turn low-yield stocks into fixed, secure income that will last his lifetime. And because this is not a commercial annuity, 100 percent of his gift will ultimately benefit the college, with no fees ever assessed.

“If you are in a position that you are able to give up control of the asset, it's an excellent arrangement,” Cohn says. “I don't have to do anything. The income just keeps coming, and it's much more than I ever received in stock dividends. I can use that income any way I want to, and the tax benefits are ongoing.”

David says that setting up his charitable gift annuity was easy.

“ Dickinson did all the work,” he says with a laugh. “Officials at the college were able to tell me exactly how it would work and exactly what I could expect. I keep telling people about it.”

David says he's happy to be able to give back to Dickinson because of the importance of the college in his life.

“I attribute anything I've received to the whole Dickinson experience,” he says. “I came to the college before World War II. Then I was among those who took a ‘hiatus' to serve. We came back different people. It was a maturation process. We had a mutual relationship with the college—we benefited and the school benefited.”

Most important, David says, was the impact Dickinson has had on his outlook. “The college opened my willingness to experience new things,” he says.

It's an outlook he has happily maintained to this day.

Learn more about how a Charitable Gift Annuity works.

If you would like to see a confidential example designed specifically for you, call Carolyn Yeager at 800-543-3809, or e-mail giving@dickinson.edu.