Planned Giving

Naming SJR a beneficiary of a specific amount from your estate is easy:

“I give and devise to St. Joseph Regional High School, currently located at 40 Chestnut Ridge Road, Montvale, NJ 07645, the sum of $___________ (or description of specific property) to be used for its general purposes (or for the support of a specific fund or program).”

There are many ways to support SJR’s future that do not affect you and your family during your lifetime. Although including a bequest to SJR in your estate plan is one way to leave a legacy, there are other arrangements, similar to bequests, which are simple, straightforward, and accomplish the same goal.

Bequests are a flexible planning tool that may be the ideal way for you to meet your personal objectives while also supporting St. Joseph Regional. You can provide now for a future gift to SJR by including a bequest provision in your will or revocable living trust.

Gifts of IRAs, 401(k)s, or other qualified plans are popular planned gifts because they require no “upfront” cash. You simply designate St. Joseph Regional as the beneficiary of all or a portion of your retirement plan through your plan administrator. You can continue to take withdrawals during your lifetime and even change the beneficiary if your circumstances change. After your lifetime, the remainder of your plan passes to SJR tax-free.

Benefits Include:

• You can escape both income AND estate tax levied on the residue left in your retirement account by leaving it to SJR.
• Give the most-taxed asset in your estate to SJR and leave more favorably taxed property to your heirs.
• You can continue to take withdrawals during your lifetime.
• You can revoke SJR as a beneficiary if your circumstances change.
• You have the satisfaction of knowing that you will be making a significant gift to SJR at a later date.

The Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act permanently extends the IRA Charitable Rollover Provision. The provision allows individuals who have reached age 70½ to donate up to $100,000 to charitable organizations directly from their Individual Retirement Account (IRA), without treating the distribution as taxable income.

Life insurance can be used in several ways to make a lasting gift to SJR.

You can simply designate St. Joseph Regional as the beneficiary (or contingent beneficiary) of an existing life insurance policy – and continue to own the policy as before.

Benefits Include:

• You part with nothing during your lifetime.
• You continue to own the policy and retain the right to change beneficiaries.
• If insurance proceeds are paid to SJR after your lifetime, your estate may be entitled to tax benefits because of the gift.
   

Alternatively, you can transfer ownership of a paid-up life insurance policy to SJR, making the School the owner and irrevocable beneficiary of the policy. We will either cash the policy immediately or maintain it and receive the death benefit later.

Benefits Include:

• You make a gift using an asset that you and your family no longer need.
• You receive an immediate income tax deduction for the (approximate) cash surrender value of the policy.
• You have the satisfaction of making a significant gift to SJR without affecting your cash flow.
   

Gifts that pay lifetime income may have many benefits: Dependable income for you and your family, current and future tax savings, and an important way to support SJR. Life income gifts can be an excellent way to balance your personal and philanthropic goals.

A charitable remainder trust is an arrangement that allows you to provide an income to yourself or others for life (or a term of years), after which the trust assets go to St. Joseph Regional to help educate SJR students for years to come.

A charitable lead trust is an arrangement that allows you to provide an income to St. Joseph Regional for a specified length of time, after which the trust assets pass to your heirs.

To establish a charitable lead trust, you contribute securities or other appreciating assets to a trustee of your choice – who will invest the assets and make “income” payments to SJR. The annual payments to SJR can be either a fixed amount (Charitable Lead Annuity Trust) or a variable amount (Charitable Lead Unitrust), depending upon your wishes, goals, and desires. When the trust ends, the remaining trust principal passes to family members or other beneficiaries you have named. This kind of lead trust is technically called a “Non-Grantor Lead Trust.”

Benefits Include:

• The present value of the income payments to SJR may reduce your gift/estate tax liability
• All appreciation that takes place in the trust goes tax-free to your heirs when the trust ends
• You have the satisfaction of making a significant gift to SJR now that reduces the taxes due on transfers to your heirs later on

This information about planned giving is provided solely for educational purposes. Please consult your own legal and financial advisors before making a major gift to make sure that any particular gift plan is appropriate for you.