Gifts of Retirement Plan Assets
Retirement plans now account for 36% of household wealth. Retirement plans are often used to make charitable gifts. A simple way to make a gift from your IRA, 401(k), 403(b) or other defined contribution plan is to name Cape Cod Healthcare as a beneficiary of all or a percentage of whatever might remain in the fund at the end of your life. You need only complete a change-of-beneficiary form, which you can obtain from your plan administrator. Such a gift could be a cost-effective way to make a charitable gift. Here’s why: These assets (unless from a Roth IRA) are subject to income tax when paid to a non-charitable beneficiary, and they may also be subject to estate tax, depending on the size of your estate. However, they are subject to neither tax when they distribute to Cape Cod Healthcare, a charity.
The IRA Charitable Rollover
Incorporating IRA charitable rollovers as part of your philanthropic support will certainly be beneficial to our mission and your transfer would not be counted in your adjusted gross income on your tax return.
Here are the requirements for making a gift from your IRA account:
- The donor must be 70 1/2 years of age or older on the day of the gift.
- The gift must transfer directly to us from the IRA.
- The gifts from the IRA cannot exceed $100,000 per person ($200,000 for a couple) in a given year.
- The gift can only be outright gifts. (Such gifts cannot fund a charitable trust or charitable gift annuity.)
- The gifts cannot be made to a donor-advised fund, a supporting organization or a private foundation.
- No goods or services can be given in exchange for the rollover gift.
While you cannot claim a charitable deduction for IRA gifts, this distribution from your IRA counts toward your minimum required distribution for the account and does NOT trigger income tax for you. It is a tax-free transfer from the IRA account directly to the Cape Cod Healthcare Foundation.
Please contact your IRA provider for exact instructions. Such transactions usually take a few weeks, but the provider should be able to fast-track such a transaction.