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RENDEZVOUS

To Plan or Not to Plan ...

by Jim Parks, Associate Director

Statistics show seven out of ten people still do not have a will. Perhaps they think, "Everything will turn out all right anyway." Perhaps they are not planning on dying.

A common misconception people have about planning ahead ("estate planning") is that any gift they give to a charitable organization is inheritance taken away from family members. This is not necessarily true; estates may be greatly depleted at death by a variety of taxes. Tax laws are written in a way that generally benefits charitable organizations and the remaining family members.

A good estate plan makes every effort to create charitable gifts by diminishing the estate’s tax burden, often to the direct benefit of survivors. In some cases gifts can be made that directly benefit the estate owners while they are still living.

Tax laws are complex so a good estate plan generally requires one or more professionals. The Rocky Mountain Bible Mission has prepared a network of professionals to help people who want to craft a plan for gifting the Mission. The Mission recognizes the cost involved to set up this type of gift, and we stands ready to assume a proportionate share.

If you would like further information or want to talk about this, please call me [click here to see how].