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Planned giving, or gift planning, is a thoughtful strategy that
ensures your legacy will continue with Kean for
many years to come.
A gift to Kean can create a named scholarship, memorialize a friend or relative, endow a faculty chair or support a program that is especially important to you.
By making a donation to the University in your
will, trust or estate plan, you can choose to
make a gift that benefits Kean as well as your personal finances.
Other types of planned gifts include naming the
University as the beneficiary (or contingent
beneficiary) on a life insurance policy, IRA or
other retirement fund, such as 401(k); or
through a charitable gift annuity, unitrust or
life estate gift.
Today, philanthropic interests and tax benefits are commonly linked. Through planned giving it is possible to reduce or eliminate federal and state taxes owed on the value of a gift. Planned giving can work in your favor when it comes to paying taxes on income, capital gains, gifts, inheritance and your estate. These tax benefits are available to individuals at all income levels.
Donors who establish a planned gift become
members of the Medallion Society, which
celebrates planned gifts by individuals and
their families who have generously provided for
the future of Kean through their estate plan or
other types of gifts. The Medallion Society
offers an overview of its many planned giving
opportunities in Ways to Give, an
informative 20-page booklet. Please call the
Foundation to request your free booklet.
Below are some of the many planned giving
options that can help the University . Each offers opportunities for commitments that will have a major impact upon niversity excellence.
Charitable Gift Annuities
Charitable gift annuities are life income gifts: you transfer
assets now, receiving a charitable deduction for a
portion of the transfer, and you or a beneficiary
receives income for the rest of your life or a
fixed period of time. The benefits for both
yourself and Kean University are mutual.
Through a charitable gift annuity, you make a gift
and the University agrees to pay you a fixed
amount of income every year for the rest of your
life. Another beneficiary can also receive income
from your annuity. In addition, you have the
option to defer receiving income for a period of
time.
The income received each year is equal to a fixed
percentage of the original gift. This percentage
is dependent upon the age of the beneficiary (or
beneficiaries) at the time the annuity begins to
pay out income.
Upon the passing of the last surviving
beneficiary, Kean will use any remaining annuity
assets to support the program you designated when
you established the charitable gift annuity.
Regardless of your age or the timing of the
income, you can take the charitable deduction for
a portion of the gift in the year you make the
gift. A portion of the payments you receive each
year may also be exempt from certain income taxes.
You may even be able to reduce your capital gains
tax by using long-term appreciated securities to
make your gift.
Charitable Bequest
A charitable bequest enables you to keep control of your assets during your lifetime and make a gift to the university at your death. You will be entitled to an estate tax deduction for the fair market value of the assets bequeathed to Kean University. To ensure compliance with your wishes, it is important to document your estate commitment with the foundation.
Examples:
Bequest of Residue
I leave all (or _______%) of the rest, residue, and remainder of my estate, whether real or personal, and wherever located, to Kean University Foundation, of Union, New Jersey, for its [endowment fund] or [general purposes].
Specific Bequest
I leave to Kean University Foundation, of Union, New Jersey, for its [endowment fund] or [general purposes] the sum of $_______.
Charitable-Lead Trust
This type of trust is the opposite of the charitable-remainder trust in that the charity receives a gift of income rather than principal. The income is payable at least annually for a term of years or for the life or lives of individuals living at the date of transfer, after which time the property reverts to you or passes to beneficiaries designated by you.
Life Insurance
A charitable bequest enables you to keep control of your assets during your lifetime and make a gift to the
University at your death. You will be entitled to an estate tax deduction for the fair market value of the assets bequeathed to Kean University. To ensure compliance with your wishes, it is important to document your estate commitment with the foundation.
Beneficiary
Designation of Life Insurance Policies or Pension Plans (IRA
and other retirement plans)
Furnish this or other appropriate language to insurance company or plan administrator. Ask them for the proper form.
I hereby designate the Kean University Foundation of Union, New Jersey, as recipient of $__________or _________% of the proceeds of [insurance policy] or [retirement plan].
Charitable Remainder Unitrust
A charitable remainder unitrust provides an annual payment based on a fixed percentage of a yearly determination of the value of the trust assets. The unitrust can be for the life of one or more individuals or for a specified term up to 20 years. Upon termination of the annual payments to the beneficiaries, the remainder of the trust passes to the Kean University Foundation. Therefore, as with the gift annuity, you would be eligible for an income tax deduction the year the gift is made. A unitrust can sell capital gain property contributed to the unitrust without either the donor or the unitrust recognizing capital gain.
Charitable Remainder Annuity Trust
A charitable remainder annuity trust provides fixed annual payments for any number of beneficiaries. Upon termination of the annual payments to the beneficiaries, the remainder of the trust passes to the Foundation. Like a unitrust, an annuity trust can be for the life of one or more individuals or for a specified term up to 20 years. In a charitable remainder annuity trust, a fixed annual payment is negotiated at the inception of the trust. Thus, the beneficiary receives the same annual payment regardless of the performance of the trust assets. As with all of the life income gifts, the donor is eligible for a tax deduction for the value of the remainder interest in the year of the gift.
Gifts of Personal Residence
A retained life estate arrangement is the transfer of a home or
property to the Foundation while you retain the rights to its use for your lifetime. Upon death, the asset passes to the
Foundation. You will be treated as having made a charitable contribution to the extent of the value of the remainder interest.
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