Beneficiary Designations
Make a Gift in 4 Easy Steps
Not everyone wants to commit to making a gift in their wills or estates. Some prefer the increased flexibility that a beneficiary designation provides by using:
- IRAs and retirement plans
- Life insurance policies
- Commercial annuities
It only takes four simple steps to make this type of gift. Here's how to name Gonzaga University as a beneficiary:
- Contact your retirement plan administrator, insurance company, bank or financial institution for a change-of-beneficiary form.
- Decide what percentage (1 to 100) you would like us to receive and name us, along with the percentage you chose, on the beneficiary form.
- Return the completed form to your plan administrator, insurance company, bank or financial institution.
- Inform us! Please provide us a copy of your beneficiary designation form to keep in your confidential file at Gonzaga.*
* Retirement plan custodians have no legal obligation to inform beneficiaries-including charitable beneficiaries-that the plan holder has passed away. Estate executors and surviving beneficiaries carry the burden of tracking this information down and contacting the plan custodian to release the funds.
An Example of How It Works
Robert and Carol treasure the financial help they've been able to give their children and Gonzaga over the years. The couple recently updated their will to leave stocks and real estate to their kids. They left Gonzaga a $75,000 IRA to be transferred following their lifetime. Because Gonzaga is tax-exempt, all $75,000 will help support our mission.
If Robert and Carol had left the IRA to their children, approximately $18,000* would have gone to pay federal income taxes—leaving only $57,000 for their family's use. Robert and Carol are happy knowing they are making the most of their hard-earned money thanks to their updated estate plan.
*Based on an assumption of a 24% marginal income tax bracket.
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