PLANNED GIVING

Give Today with Tomorrow in Mind

You may have concerns about your retirement income and health care costs, but with the right planning, you can be financially secure while helping others. Planned giving can be a way to reduce or avoid taxes, increase your income, and enable you to insure long-term charitable giving to Racine Lutheran High School. As you prioritize your stewardship plans, we share these ideas to help you identify the most effective ways to invest as a financial partner with RLHS.  By adding a future gift to your long-term life plans, you can make a big impact on the ministry of the school today and tomorrow.

BENEFICIARY – Simply name RLHS as a beneficiary of a certain percentage.

BEQUESTS, WILLS AND TRUSTS/ESTATE GIFTS – Include RLHS in your will or trust. You can give a specific amount or leave a percentage of your estate.

CHARITABLE GIFTS – There are several ways you can give through life insurance. You can donate a new policy, give a policy you already own, assign the dividends as a gift or name RLHS as a beneficiary. Lighthouse Wealth Partners is partnering with RLHS to provide up-to-date information about planned giving opportunities and options available to you. They are a valuable resource where you can find tools and useful information on various planned giving options such as charitable gift annuities, charitable remainder trusts, and donor advised funds (DAF). For more information, please contact them at Thrivent Financial by calling 262.884.8890 or emailing Leah Pierce at leah@lhwealth.net.

ENDOWMENTS – RLHS has two endowment funds for supporters who want to make a perpetual gift. These gifts and bequests provide financial security for the mission and ministry of Racine Lutheran High School. The Racine Community Foundation and Thrivent Financial in Racine each manage an endowment fund. For further assistance, contact Dave Burgess, our Executive Director, at 262.637.6538.

QUALIFIED CHARITABLE IRA DISTRIBUTIONS – For those of you 70 ½ years or older who have an IRA, you are probably aware that you are required to take a minimum distribution each year (RMD). If you’re in a position where you don’t need some or all of your RMD, you can instead make a direct distribution to RLHS. The amount given will not only count toward your RMD, but you’ll also avoid having to pay income taxes on the amount given. Rather than paying Uncle Sam, you can direct your support to the school!

STOCK AND APPRECIATED ASSETS – You can support RLHS through a gift of appreciated stock you’ve held for more than a year. You will be able to deduct the full value of the stock on the day you make the gift, and you won’t have to pay capital gains taxes for the increase in value. This is an especially useful strategy in situations where you are unsure of the cash basis of a stock or mutual fund or to unload a security that has appreciated but may have weak long-term prospects.

Before making gifts of these types, be sure to contact your tax professional and/or financial advisor to determine the best method of planned giving for you. For more information regarding charitable donation options, please contact The Lighthouse Group at Thrivent Financial by calling 262.884.8890 or emailing Leah Pierce