Leaving a legacy with planned giving - Virginia Commonwealth University

Donating your retirement assets

Consider leaving cash and appreciated assets to your heirs, while making Virginia Commonwealth University* the beneficiary of your retirement assets.

Naming family members or other loved ones as the beneficiaries of your retirement assets—particularly traditional Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs)—can burden them with heavy taxes that may significantly reduce what you have left behind.

Making VCU the beneficiary of your IRA or other retirement assets is typically straightforward, and you have the option of dividing your retirement assets between charities and heirs according to any percentages you choose.

How it works:

• Fill out a designated beneficiary form through your employer or your plan administrator and name VCU as the primary, partial or contingent beneficiary of your retirement plan assets.
• Leave other assets to your loved ones through your estate plan.
• VCU will receive 100% of the amount you designated for us from your retirement plan assets (without going through probate), and your heirs will receive their share of your estate without the burden of extra income taxes.

What are the benefits?

Designating one or more qualified charities, like VCU, as beneficiaries of your IRA is a tax-efficient solution with multiple benefits:

• Neither you and your heirs nor your estate will pay federal or state income taxes on the distribution of the assets.
• Your estate will need to include the value of the assets as part of the gross estate but will receive a tax deduction for the charitable contribution, which can be used to offset the estate taxes, if any.
• Because charities do not pay income tax, the full amount of your retirement account will directly benefit the VCU program of your choice.
• You have the opportunity to make a significant impact on VCU's future as part of your personal legacy.

When you are ready, we can answer questions about retirement account beneficiary forms or provide specific language for designating a gift to Virginia Commonwealth University*.