Estate and Gift Planning

Bequests

A bequest made through one’s will is often the simplest way to make a legacy gift to the Purchase College Foundation. Adding a codicil to your existing will is an acceptable and simple solution. Bequests may come in any form ─ cash, securities, and other personal property, including real estate and works of art. Your charitable bequest is 100 percent deductible for estate tax purposes.

Life Insurance Policies

You may name the Purchase College Foundation as a beneficiary of all or part of a new or existing life insurance policy. Depending on the type of policy donated, you may receive an immediate income tax deduction and be able to deduct any future premium payments on the policy.

Retirement Plan Assets

When you name children or other non-charitable heirs (other than your spouse) as beneficiaries of your retirement plans, they receive only a small fraction of the plan’s face value, since inherited assets of retirement plans are subject to both estate taxes and income taxes. You may wish to designate the Purchase College Foundation as the beneficiary of all or part of your retirement plan assets and set aside other assets for family and friends.

Life Income Plans

Charitable Gift Annuities

A charitable gift annuity is a simple contract between you and the Purchase College Foundation. In exchange for your irrevocable gift, the College agrees to pay you (and/or another beneficiary named by you) a fixed sum each year for life. Annuity rates are fixed and are determined based on the age of the annuitant(s). At the end of the annuity term, the gift balance is turned over to the museum. In addition to a secure, lifetime income stream (some of which may be tax-free), you also qualify for an immediate income tax charitable deduction, avoid capital gains tax on the gift transfer, and reduce your taxable estate ─ all while making a gift to Purchase College.

Charitable Remainder Trust

When you establish a charitable remainder trust, you make an irrevocable gift which is placed in the trust. You determine the payout rate and structure and direct who oversees your trust, as well as how your trust is managed. Income from the trust is paid to one or more beneficiaries designated by you for a period of years. At the end of the trust term, the trust principal is turned over to the Purchase College Foundation to be used as you set forth in the trust document. When you fund a trust gift, you not only receive an income stream for the life of the trust, but you also qualify for an immediate income tax charitable deduction, avoid any capital gains tax on the transfer, and reduce your taxable estate.

Charitable Lead Trusts

With a lead trust, you donate assets to a trust that makes payments for the term of the trust. When the trust terminates, the assets are transferred back to you or directly to your heirs, as pre-designated by you. If the trust assets revert to you at the end of the trust term, your gift entitles you to an immediate income tax charitable deduction. If the trust assets are transferred to someone other than you at the end of the trust term, you enjoy a substantial reduction in estate and gift taxes on the future transfer to your heirs.