Planning for retirement is critical to your financial well being. The good news is that you can make a significant gift to FCNL with retirement plan assets without adverse effects to your lifetime finances.
How It Works
- Contact the plan custodian or account holder about a TOD (Transfer on Death) or beneficiary designation form.
- Designate FCNL to receive all or a portion of the assets held in the retirement plan.
Benefits
- Avoid the potential double taxation your retirement savings would face if you designated these savings to your heirs.
- Continue to take regular lifetime withdrawals.
- Maintain flexibility to change designation if your family’s needs change during your lifetime.
Retirement Accounts: A Wise Charitable Gift
Planning for retirement is critical to your financial well being. If you are reading this section, chances are you planned well but you also know that life is unpredictable. The good news is that you can make a significant gift to FCNL with retirement plan assets without adverse effects to your lifetime finances. In fact, leaving retirement plan assets to us can be one of the best financial decisions you can make. Here’s why.
Traditional retirement plans such as Individual Retirement Accounts, 401 (k) and 403 (b) plans are funded with pre-tax dollars. The contributions and earnings that you make to this account are not subject to income tax. When you reach the age of 59½, you can take money out of your retirement account without penalty, but you do have to pay ordinary income tax on the distributions. If funds remain in the account after you pass away, be aware that your heirs may have to pay inheritance and estate taxes in addition to income taxes. Depending on the size of your estate, these combined taxes can be as much as 60% of the remaining account balance. Don’t make this mistake! Leave your retirement plan assets to Friends Committee on National Legislation or the FCNL Education Fund (see note). Whatever portion of the assets are left to charity will be exempt from income, inheritance and estate taxes.
When planning to support the Friends Committee on National Legislation and leave assets to loved ones, make certain that you leave your pre-tax assets to qualified charities and your other assets to your loved ones. This strategy assures that your heirs pay less tax on the assets that they receive.
Contact your account custodian today and complete the beneficiary designation forms to maximize the tax savings, take care of your loved ones and leave a legacy at FCNL.
Note: Gifts to Friends Committee on National Legislation are not tax deductible. If your estate is likely to be greater than $5.45 million, you can receive an estate tax benefit from giving to the FCNL Education Fund instead (Tax ID #52-1254489). Since only about 1% of estates are large enough to be taxed by the federal government, there rarely is an estate tax benefit to naming FCNL Education Fund instead of Friends Committee on National Legislation. We therefore encourage you to give these gifts to Friends Committee on National Legislation. Please check with a tax advisor to see if your estate will likely be subject to federal or state estate taxes.
Learn more about which organization to support.
The material presented on this Planned Giving website is not offered as legal or tax advice. Read full disclaimer.