
Planned gifts are contributions which you can make through your will, retirement plans, trusts, or other giving vehicle. Planned gifts offer you, the donor, tax benefits and it can give you piece of mind in knowing specifically how, where and when your support will come to the Center and what it will be used to support. Planned giving is the way to ensure that you leave your legacy while supporting the children and families of this community.
After providing for your loved ones, you can leave a specific amount or property, a percentage of your estate, or what’s left over (the residue) to the Achievement Center of LECOM Health. In order to make such a gift, you will need to speak to your attorney and make written provision in your Will or Trust for a gift to the Achievement Center of LECOM Health. If you have any questions regarding this provision, please contact Brandon Boyd, Director of Marketing and Communications, at (814) 616-0546.
For many individuals, most of our accumulated wealth may be in some form of retirement plan. A gift through a retirement plan is the most tax-wise gift you can make, as these are the most heavily taxed assets at death because they are subject to both income and estate taxes. You may choose to name the Achievement Center of LECOM Health as beneficiary for all or part of your retirement account, leaving less heavily taxed assets to children or other heirs. By designating the Achievement Center of LECOM Health a beneficiary of your retirement plan, you are entitled to become a member of the legacy society.
You may have property, artwork, or jewelry that would help to the Achievement Center of LECOM Health provide services to the children of this community. While gifts of property are accepted on a case-by-case basis, this may be an alternative to giving cash. Gifts of this type will need to be approved by the Achievement Center of LECOM Health’s Board and may need a qualified appraisal in order to substantiate your charitable deduction.
You may own life insurance policies that have accumulated cash value but are no longer needed for their original purposes. The “surrender” value of these policies can be used to make gifts that provide tax savings to you. If you wish to make a gift of a current life insurance policy, you will need to speak to your agent and sign a “change of ownership” form. Another alternative would be to retain ownership of the policy but make the Achievement Center of LECOM Health the named beneficiary. To accomplish this, you would complete a “change of beneficiary” form with your insurance company making the Achievement Center of LECOM Health the legal recipient of the policy proceeds. If you have any questions, please contact Brandon Boyd, Director of Marketing and Communications, at (814) 616-0546.
*Charitable IRA Rollover and Gifts of Retirement Funds *
In 2013, individuals who are 70½ or older may “rollover” up to $100,000 from a traditional IRA or Roth IRA directly to the Achievement Center of LECOM Health. If you qualify, you will be able to count the charitable distribution as part of your required minimum distribution from such accounts without having to include such distribution in your gross income. Another option would be to name the Achievement Center of LECOM Health as a beneficiary of your retirement plan accounts. By doing so, the taxable income associated with such assets is never taxed due to the Achievement Center of LECOM Health’s tax exempt status.