An outright gift to Reason will allow us to put your contribution to work immediately in furthering the cause of free minds and free markets. In turn it will give you the maximum tax benefits, and can often be the simplest gift to arrange.
However, you may prefer to make your gift through your estate. Though Reason is not able to use this gift immediately, it will be critically important to furthering our long-term success and ensuring that Reason is able to meet the opportunities and challenges presented to us in the future.
As planned giving often requires complex transactions with significant legal and tax implications, we suggest that you work with your own advisors in tandem with Reason in order to craft the gift plan that best meets your goals and objectives. There are a number of planned giving options that enable your estate to benefit Reason, yourself, and your heirs:
Bequests and Trusts
Retirement Plans
Real Estate
Life Insurance
Bank Accounts
Bequests and Trusts
A bequest is a transfer of cash, securities, or other property through a will or a living or revocable trust. Your bequest can be a gift of a specific dollar amount, a specific piece of property, a percentage of an estate, or all or part of the residue of an estate. You can also name Reason as a contingent beneficiary if someone named in your will is no longer living at the time of your passing.
A bequest or trust distribution is easy to arrange, revocable, and does not affect your assets or cash flow during your lifetime. It will also reduce the value of your estate for federal estate-tax purposes, and is exempt from state inheritance taxes.
Contact Reason's Director of Development, Melissa Mann, at (800) 582-2245 ext. 3010 or melissa.mann@reason.org for more information about how you can support Reason's important mission through your estate.
Retirement Plans
You can name Reason as the beneficiary of your 401(k), IRA, Keogh, or other retirement plan in order to help us continue to produce award-winning journalism and policy research. This gift will also reduce the tax burden on your heirs, as a distribution to us will not incur the double-taxation that would otherwise befall them.
Contact Reason's Director of Development, Melissa Mann, at (800) 582-2245 ext. 3010 or melissa.mann@reason.org for more information about how you can support Reason's important mission through your retirement plan.
Real Estate
Your gift of residential or commercial real estate can provide significant tax benefits as well as remove the burden of having to sell your property. With a retained life estate, your personal residence is deeded to Reason, but you and your family retain the right to occupy the home for life and will continue to pay real estate taxes, maintenance fees, and insurance on the property. You are entitled to an immediate tax deduction for a portion of the appraised value, and the property is removed from your estate for tax purposes. You also determine who retains the right to occupy the property before it is gifted to Reason.
Contact Reason's Director of Development, Melissa Mann, at (800) 582-2245 ext. 3010 or melissa.mann@reason.org for more information about how you can support Reason's important mission through naming Reason as your real estate beneficiary.
Life Insurance
Naming Reason as a beneficiary of your life insurance policy is an excellent way to make a major gift. If you are carrying more life insurance coverage than your obligations require, consider naming Reason the irrevocable owner and beneficiary of your surplus policy. The gift of a paid-up policy produces a charitable deduction in the amount of the policy's cash-surrender value or basis, with no additional cost to you. You may also designate Reason as a revocable beneficiary, or transfer ownership of the policy to Reason. With a transfer, you can immediately deduct the current value of the policy from your income taxes, and if you are still paying premiums, you can deduct the cost of those premiums each year.
Contact Reason's Director of Development, Melissa Mann, at (800) 582-2245 ext. 3010 or melissa.mann@reason.org for more information about how you can support Reason's important mission through the gift of a life-insurance policy.
Bank Accounts
You can name Reason as the beneficiary on your bank account, U.S. savings bonds, or U.S. Treasury securities. Your bank can set up a "Totten Trust," which is an informal arrangement that keeps you in control of your assets during your lifetime. Your accounts do not enter probate and your assets automatically pass to Reason.
Contact Reason's Director of Development, Melissa Mann, at (800) 582-2245 ext. 3010 or melissa.mann@reason.org for more information about how you can support Reason's important mission through your your bank account.