A Penny-Wise Way to Help

With your working years behind you, you may find yourself on a fixed income that doesn’t leave lots of room for gifts to Lewis & Clark. If you are looking for an easy way to support Lewis & Clark but can’t part with assets today, consider designating us as the beneficiary of your retirement plan assets or insurance policies. When you support us through a beneficiary designation, you can have peace of mind knowing that your plans can be altered at any time. Consider the following options:

Retirement plan assets make a tax-wise gift to Lewis & Clark. If your children are the beneficiaries of your retirement plan assets, federal income and estate taxes may erode more than 70 percent of the amount they receive from your plan. In contrast, as a nonprofit organization, we are tax-exempt and eligible to receive the full amount and eliminate all federal taxes.

Life insurance is a low-cost way to provide a large gift to Lewis & Clark. You can name us as primary or contingent beneficiary. If you name us as contingent beneficiary, we will only benefit if your primary beneficiary predeceases you.

Insurance annuities carry an income tax burden, making your named beneficiary responsible for paying the income tax due on the growth of your annuity. The tax burden makes these assets a popular choice to leave to an organization like Lewis & Clark because we, as the recipient, can eliminate the tax bill on the portion we receive.

Dig Deeper
Learn more about the ins and outs of supporting Lewis & Clark through beneficiary designations.

How to Name Us as Beneficiary
To name us as beneficiary of these assets, contact your retirement plan administrator or insurance company for a change-of-beneficiary form. Decide what percentage you would like us to receive, and name us, along with the percentage you chose, on the beneficiary form (be sure percentages total 100). Then return the form to your plan administrator or insurance company. It is that simple! Contact Sharon Bosserman-Benson for the Undergraduate or the Graduate School at 503-768-7911, 800-753-9292, or plangivg@lclark.edu, or the Law School development office at 503-768-6901 or lawgive@lclark.edu with any questions.

For More Information
Consulting an estate planning attorney to help with your gift and estate planning decisions is a smart investment that can save you and your family money and heartache in the long run. Please seek legal advice before deciding who will get what in your estate plan.