Adding the HVRHS Alumni Association to your long-term charitable giving plans is one of the simplest ways to meet your legacy goals and to support the future of academic excellence at HVRHS for years to come.

Planned gifts to Annual Fund or the Endowed Fund of the HVRHS Alumni Association provide a lasting impact and allow you to continue overseeing your assets during your lifetime, and they may also offer important future tax benefits for you and your heirs.

See below to learn more about some of the ways you can create a legacy for HVRHS via your estate planning.

 

                                                               BEQUESTS

Bequests can be made in the form of a specific gift of cash, real estate, automobiles, boats, a business interest, a general sum of money, or a percentage of the remainder of your estate or trust distributed at the time of your death. The full amount of a bequest to HVRHS is usually deductible from your taxable estate.

A bequest can be made by using simple language that includes the HVRHS Alumni Association in your will. 

“I bequeath to the Housatonic Valley Regional High School Alumni Association for its general purposes, via the BTCF, the sum of $______ (or state a specific item or percentage of your estate, both real and personal).” 

You can explore other planned giving options with any member of the Alumni Association Board, with your estate planning attorney, or contact the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation (BTCF) at 800 North Main Street, Sheffield, MA 01257, 413-229-0370, info@berkshiretaconic.org .

                                                     RETIREMENT ASSETS

Retirement assets are one of the best assets to own during your life and naming the HVRHS Alumni Association as a beneficiary of funds in your retirement plan is easy and will reduce the size of your taxable assets.
During your lifetime, you generally cannot keep money in your employer-sponsored retirement plan(s) indefinitely. Once retired, you will need to withdraw money from these funds annually. 

While living individuals aged 70½ or older who own a traditional or Roth IRA, are allowed to make a qualified charitable donation (QCD), up to $100,000 annually, directly from their IRA to qualified charities like the HVRHS Alumni Association, through the Berkshire Taconic Charitable Foundation.

Your gift to HVRHS counts towards your Required Minimum Distribution (RMD), thus lowering your taxes and is a great way to grow your philanthropic giving.

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                                             MUTUAL FUNDS/ETFs/SECURITIES

You may designate and name the HVRHS Alumni Association as a full or partial beneficiary to assets in your mutual funds, ETFs or other securities.  As with a bequest or gift of insurance, you ae entitled to a charitable deduction for the value of these assets.
During your lifetime you can donate appreciated investments to achieve tax benefits.

                                             LIFE INSURANCE POLICIES

Using a life insurance policy in your planned giving is a perfect way to make a leveraged gift to the HVRHS Alumni Association. After your lifetime, any policy proceeds going to the Association will be an estate tax charitable deduction.
There are two ways to give a gift of a life insurance policy:

                                             GIFT OF EXISTING POLICY

Here the HVRHS Alumni Association becomes the owner and beneficiary. You get an immediate charitable income tax deduction for the lesser of current cash value or premiums paid. Any future premiums you pay are deductible as contributions.
NAME THE Association AS A BENEFICIARY OF A NEW OR EXISTING POLICY
You keep control of the policy while naming the HVRHS Alumni Association as a full or partial beneficiary. For this gift, you are entitled to a charitable deduction for the value of the initial premium, and you will receive additional deductions when you make later premium payments.

 

                                             CHARITABLE REMAINDER TRUSTS

A Charitable Remainder Trust (CRT) is created by a transfer of assets to a trust that will pay you or another beneficiary income for life or for a period of years. At the death of the last beneficiary, the remaining property in the trust passes to the HVRHS Alumni Association.

There are many tax advantages of charitable remainder trusts: You receive an immediate charitable income tax deduction; the trust pays no capital gains tax on the sale of trust assets; and, finally, the entire value of the trust at your death is excluded from your estate and is not taxed.

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                                             CHARITABLE LEAD TRUST

A Charitable Lead Trust (CLT) is created by a transfer of assets to a trust that will pay the HVRHS Alumni Association income for a term of years. At the end of the term, you or a beneficiary receives the remaining trust assets. A CLT can be created during life or at death (under the terms of your will). This planned giving option is a great way to transfer assets to future generations while benefiting the HVRHS Alumni Association today. The tax advantage is that it removes assets from your estate and minimizes your estate and gift taxes.

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                                             GIFT RECOGNITION
The HVRHS Alumni Association will work with you to make sure to understand your philanthropic intent. Gifts may also be made in honor or in memory of a loved one or family and/or kept anonymous. Those making planned gifts become members of the HVRHS Legacy Society, or the Mountaineers Club.

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