Every legacy gift tells a story. The story of a lost loved one, a trying personal journey or the story of someone who has a heart for their community. Armed with the right information and a passion for philanthropy, anyone can leave a legacy.<\/p>\n
We gathered three members of MultiCare\u2019s Professional Legacy Advisory Council (PLAC) to show you how easy it is to give back.\u00a0PLAC is a group of financial and estate planning advisors who help promote values-based legacy giving and estate planning.<\/p>\n
Meet the advisors:<\/p>\n
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Amy Lewis
\nEstate Planning Attorney with Eisenhower Carlson PLLC
\nMary Bridge Children\u2019s Foundation Board Member<\/p>\n
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Bob Pittman
\nEstate Planning Attorney with the Law Offices of Robert C. Pittman<\/p>\n
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Jun Chea
\nCertified Financial Planner, Senior Vice President and Senior Relationship Manager at KeyBank
\nGood Samaritan Foundation Board Member<\/p>\n
Amy Lewis: Often it\u2019s because they\u2019re grateful for something they have received or that their family has received. Sometimes people give because it\u2019s a way to pass values onto their family. For others, it\u2019s to continue their lifetime giving after they\u2019re gone.<\/p>\n
Bob Pittman: I tend to see people leaving them in order to honor a family member or as a token of appreciation to a charity that was meaningful to them.<\/p>\n
Pittman: Everybody. I think it\u2019s surprising to a lot of people that they can leave a legacy gift. I was talking to someone the other day who gives to her favorite charity every year. I asked her, \u201cWhat will happen to that gift when you\u2019re gone?\u201d Through legacy giving, it\u2019s easy to leave even a small amount that will continue your charitable giving after your lifetime.<\/p>\n
Lewis: Just about everyone can give a legacy gift in some way. People think they must leave a large gift or that they have to be wealthy. The reality is that there are lots of options to consider at the end of your life that can be used to give back, like retirement accounts and life insurance policies. All these things make it much easier to give.<\/p>\n
Lewis: I think one easy way to leave a legacy gift is through a beneficiary designation on a retirement account because it doesn’t require an attorney to draft anything. It’s also something they can easily change and it’s a tax advantage because the charity you designate won’t pay income taxes on the gift like a family member or friend would.<\/p>\n
Pittman: If an individual has some type of permanent life insurance, they could add a charity as a partial beneficiary. Another simple way to give back is to include your favorite charities in your will.<\/p>\n
Jun Chea: Not at all. It just has to be a meaningful amount for the donor.<\/p>\n
Pittman: Everybody can leave something meaningful. Small, but consistent gifts are important and accessible to everyone. They add up over time. If you can leave money so that your charity receives a steady income stream from you every year, even after death, you will make a huge difference.<\/p>\n
Chea: Everybody has an estate. A retired estate planning attorney once told me, \u201cWhen you have a pulse, you don\u2019t have an estate. When you don\u2019t have a pulse, you have an estate.\u201d It could be very small, but everyone has one.<\/p>\n
Lewis: Not having an estate is a common misconception. People forget that they have a house, retirement accounts, life insurance \u2014 assets that they can’t fully access while alive but they will be there when they pass. Most people have an estate of some kind, and with that, they can make a gift.<\/p>\n
Chea: There are lots of different techniques. You could set up a charitable lead or remainder trust. A remainder trust means family members would receive current income from the trust and the residual goes to charity. A lead trust means the current income goes to charity and the residual goes to family members.<\/p>\n
Lewis: Most often, people just pick a percentage split on things. A lot of the time it requires us to talk to people, so they understand what their estate will actually consist of. I ask folks who are planning on giving each of their kids $500,000, if you gave each kid $450,000 would that still be enough for them? You could give that remainder to charity.<\/p>\n
Chea: Start with what you are passionate about. Do your due diligence on selecting the charities you want to work with. I highly encourage people to connect with others.<\/p>\n
Lewis: I often advise people to chat with the organization they are considering giving to in order to understand how they can give back. I advise people to use free opportunities, like those offered by Thompson & Associates through the MultiCare Foundations, to explore all of the possibilities.<\/p>\n
For more information on legacy giving, contact our gift planning team at plannedgiving@multicare.org<\/a> or 253-403-3093, or visit multicarelegacy.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Armed with the right information and a passion for philanthropy, anyone can leave a legacy.<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"author":123,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-foundations"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n