Frequently Asked Questions

• WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF A CHARITABLE BEQUEST?
  • You can make a gift that costs you nothing during your lifetime.
  • You can change your bequest if your circumstances change.
  • Your bequest enables us to continue our mission far into the future.
• HOW CAN I MAKE A BEQUEST TO YOUR ORGANIZATION?

  You can give us a specific amount of money or an item of property or give us a percentage of the balance remaining in your estate after taxes, expenses, and specific bequests have been paid. You can tell us to use your bequest for a particular program or activity here or allow us to use it for the greatest needs of the college at the time your gift is received.

• WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF A GIFT OF RETIREMENT-PLAN ASSETS?
  • Money in an employee retirement plan, IRA, or tax-sheltered annuity has yet to be taxed. When a distribution is made from your retirement-plan account to a beneficiary, that person will owe federal income tax.
  • Consider leaving your loved ones less heavily taxed assets and leaving your retirement-plan assets to Queens College Foundation. As a nonprofit organization, we are tax-exempt and will receive the full amount of what you designate to us from your plan.
  • You can continue to take withdrawals from your plan during your lifetime.
  • You can change the beneficiary if your or your family’s circumstances change.
• HOW DO I ARRANGE A GIFT FROM MY RETIREMENT PLAN?

  Simply contact your IRA or retirement-plan administrator and request a copy of the change-of-beneficiary form. Use the form to designate Queens College to receive all or a portion or the remainder of your plan’s assets.

• WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF A GIFT OF LIFE INSURANCE?
  • You can make a gift using an asset that you may have overlooked: paid-up policies whose coverage your family no longer needs.
  • You can create a gift that will benefit us in the future, at little cost to yourself today.
  • If you donate a policy during your lifetime, you receive an immediate income tax deduction for its current value.
• HOW DO I ARRANGE A GIFT OF A LIFE INSURANCE POLICY?

  Simply contact your life insurance company and request a change-of-beneficiary/ownership form. Designate us as the new owner and beneficiary of your policy.

• WILL YOU CASH IN MY LIFE INSURANCE POLICY WHEN I GIVE IT TO YOU OR HOLD IT TO CLAIM THE FULL DEATH BENEFIT?

  We make that decision on a gift-by-gift basis. We look at actuarial factors, the size of the potential death benefit, and whether you want us to use your gift for long-term endowment or an immediate project.

• WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF A CHARITABLE GIFT ANNUITY?
  • You can use it to convert highly appreciated but low-yielding assets into a lifetime income stream at greatly reduced capital-gain cost, while also securing an immediate income-tax deduction.
  • You will frequently receive a higher payment rate from a gift annuity than from any other life-income gift.
  • Your payments will be safe, stable, and predictable.
  • Part of your annuity payments will come to you tax-free. If you funded your annuity with appreciated assets, another portion of your payments will be taxed at low capital-gain rates. Only the remaining balance of the payments will be taxed as ordinary income.
• IS IT BETTER TO GIVE CASH OR APPRECIATED SECURITIES TO FUND MY GIFT ANNUITY?

  Both have distinct advantages. A gift of cash will produce a larger tax-free portion of the annuity. A gift of stock can increase your effective rate of return because of the reduced capital-gain cost. Both assets produce the same annuity rate and income-tax charitable deduction.

• WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF A GIFT OF SECURITIES?
  • First, you’ll receive an income-tax charitable deduction equal to the fair-market value of the shares, no matter what you originally paid for them.
  • Second, you will pay no capital-gain tax on the transfer. This combination of benefits makes giving appreciated securities a very rewarding charitable and financial plan.
• HOW DO I ARRANGE FOR A GIFT OF MY STOCK?

  It is important that you contact us so that we can assist you with transfer instructions. If you own securities in a brokerage account, we can help you set up an electronic transfer of the shares to our brokerage account. If you possess actual stock certificates, we can tell you how to sign the certificates over to us and fill out a stock power form.

• HOW WILL MY GIFT OF SECURITIES BE VALUED?

  We take the mean of the high and low prices for the security on the day it came into our possession. If the high price was $80 per share and the low price was $70 on that day, your gift will be valued at $75 per share.

• CAN I GIVE STOCK THAT HAS DECLINED IN VALUE?

  You can, but your deduction will be limited to the current, depressed value of the stock. It’s wiser planning to sell the stock, take a tax loss, and then get a second tax benefit by giving us the cash proceeds.

• CAN I GIVE YOU SHARES OF A MUTUAL FUND?

  Yes, and we can coordinate the transfer with the administrators of your fund.

• CAN I INCLUDE MY CHILDREN AS INCOME BENEFICIARIES OF MY GIFT ANNUITY?

  A charitable gift annuity can be set up only for one or two lives. This is typically a husband and wife, but it could be two siblings, two friends, etc. Generally, a child’s longer life expectancy lowers the annuity’s rate of return to an unattractive level.

• WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF A DEFERRED GIFT ANNUITY?
  • By deferring the start of payments, you receive a higher annuity rate and a larger charitable deduction than an annuity paying you immediately could offer.
  • If you are a younger donor in high-earnings years, a deferred gift annuity addresses two of your planning needs: a large income-tax deduction today and additional retirement income tomorrow.
  • You can plan the payments from your deferred annuity to begin when you will need them, such as retirement or when your grandchildren will start needing help with tuition.
  • You can establish a series of deferred annuities over several years, all scheduled to begin paying you when you retire, and paid for with funds you have already set aside for retirement saving.
• I'M NOT SURE WHEN I'LL RETIRE—CAN I CHOOSE A FLEXIBLE START DATE FOR MY ANNUITY PAYMENTS?

  Yes, you can. You can set a series of alternate start dates in your deferred gift annuity contract, then choose the one that best fits your evolving work, health, and family circumstances. Each start date will offer progressively higher payment rates. Your charitable deduction will be based on the earliest start date that your annuity contract provides for.

• IF I CREATE A BEQUEST OR LIFE-INCOME GIFT, WILL YOU CONTINUE TO ASK ME FOR ANNUAL CONTRIBUTIONS?

  Your planned gift is a significant addition to our long-term financial strength and our ability to meet the challenges and opportunities the future will bring. However, today's efforts are supported through annual gifts and we greatly appreciate and encourage any annual support you may want to consider.

• I HAVE ALREADY INCLUDED QUEENS COLLEGE IN MY WILL. DO I NEED TO INCLUDE A COPY OF MY WILL?

  We would appreciate having a copy of your estate plan, which we would keep confidential; however, this is a personal decision.

• IS THERE A MINIMUM AMOUNT TO QUALIFY FOR THE JEFFERSON SOCIETY?

  No, the support received by Queens College in the form of legacies has come from donors of varying means. Regardless of the level of support, bequests or other planned gifts perpetuate values and ideals that are important to donors in their lifetimes.