What Can You Do Now to Help Protect Your Retirement from Inflation?

It’s in the news on a daily basis, it seems, and a 2025 study published by Northwestern Mutual confirms it: Inflation has become the top financial worry for Americans. If you are looking ahead to retirement, you may have a variety of concerns: Will you face fluctuations in your income? How will that affect your purchasing power for future needs? Will you be able to continue to support the charitable causes you care about, like Drexel University?

If these questions are on your mind, a “laddered” charitable gift annuity (CGA) strategy could be an excellent choice for you. In addition to providing a way for you to support Drexel and lock in a source of guaranteed, fixed income for life, “laddering” a series of CGAs can offer you the additional benefit of inflation protection during your retirement years. For example, with a total gift of $50,000, you can establish five separate $10,000 CGAs now while rates are high and defer the income payments on a “laddered” schedule.

Here’s how it would work for a 65-year-old donor who expects to retire in five years*:

Additionally, at the time the total $50,000 gift is made, you’ll qualify for an immediate charitable income tax deduction of approximately $25,342.

Want to learn more about the advantages of “laddering” CGAs? Contact David Toll, JD, senior associate vice president in the Drexel University Office of Gift Planning, at 215.895.1882 or giftplanning@drexel.edu.

*assuming a 3.6% IRS discount rate (used to calculate charitable deduction rates for charitable gift annuities)