If you have worked hard, saved, and planned responsibly, you will certainly want to be thoughtful about how your estate–your lifetime accumulation of wealth–is distributed after you are gone. Usually, your family and especially your children, if you have them, or other loved ones will be your highest priority. Perhaps you will also choose to provide a contribution in your will or estate plan–a charitable bequest–for causes and organizations, like Baystate Health Foundation, which have played an important role in your life.
But how do you choose between your loved ones and your charitable causes? You may decide, at some point, that there is more than enough for your children or loved ones. You can provide generously for them while also making charitable gifts in your estate that carry on your legacy and support the causes that matter most to you, like Baystate Health Foundation. We have many donors who have found joy in doing so–providing for loved ones and giving back to organizations that make a difference.
We would like to offer three options for your consideration.
You might direct a gift in your will or trust to an endowment fund at Baystate Health Foundation and name your fund as a lasting memorial in honor of you or your children or loved ones. The Foundation will invest your endowment fund and distribute a certain amount each year for purposes you choose. A named endowment fund provides a lasting reminder of your life values.
Or you could make Baystate Health Foundation a beneficiary of your retirement account. Distributions from your IRA to your heirs after your lifetime are usually fully taxable as ordinary income. By making Baystate Health Foundation the beneficiary of all or a percentage of your IRA, you eliminate the potential for double taxation (estate and income taxes) that your heirs may face if they were named beneficiaries of this asset. Because of our tax-exempt status, we can bypass federal taxes and put the full value of your gift to work to advance our mission to improve the health of the people in our community. By eliminating estate and income taxes from your IRA assets, an IRA bequest is one of the most tax-efficient ways to fund a gift from your estate.
Or you could consider including in your estate plans a life income gift for your children or loved ones. A life income gift can provide income, either fixed or variable, to your children or loved ones for their lifetimes or a period of years. The Foundation uses what is left for the purposes you choose. You create a gift that provides income for children or loved ones while making a difference.
For more than 140 years, Baystate Health has provided care for you, your loved ones, and our communities. Your charitable estate gift to Baystate Health Foundation will ensure Baystate can continue to support lifesaving and life-enhancing care for the next generation.
We would be happy to work with you and your advisors to explore creative ways you can plan for your children or loved ones and Baystate Health Foundation.