Retirement Plans or Accounts

Gifts from retirement plans are probably the most tax-efficient of all charitable gifts. If you have a taxable estate, retirement plans are subject to both estate tax and income tax (adding up to almost eighty-percent) when received by an individual beneficiary other than your spouse.

Advantages

• Tax efficiency. For example, a $100,000 gift at death from a 401(k) plan or IRA (other than a Roth IRA) would only cost your children approximately $20,000.
• Retirement assets can be used to fund other charitable vehicles such as Charitable Remainder Trusts or Donor Advised Funds, with results preferable to "stretching" the retirement plan for longer periods.

Gifts can be made from retirement plans either at death or during your lifetime.

• Gifts at death are made under the retirement plan's beneficiary designation form, not under your will. New rules allow charitable beneficiaries to be named without affecting the required minimum distributions. Simply request the plan's beneficiary designation form and specify The Buffalo Fine Arts Academy as the beneficiary of a dollar amount, a percentage, or the entire account.
• Gifts can be made during your lifetime if you are at least sevety-and-one-half-years old and have an IRA. Direct payments to public charities such as the Gallery are not included in your income, and may satisfy your minimum distribution requirements. Several special rules apply, so please contact your IRA custodian.
• You can specify a particular purpose in your beneficiary designation form or in a letter of intent; for example, art education. Either can be addressed to the Gallery's Director of Development.