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42 East Second Street
Media, PA 19063
610-566-0385
610-566-0763 (fax)
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Questions To Ask Your Advisor
1. Is there a charitable component to my estate plan? If I wanted to leave 20% of my estate in total to several charities, how would you recommend we accomplish this? (Will? Codicil to an existing will? Charitable remainder trust?)
2. What is the most tax-burdened asset I own? (Likely answer: Your tax deferred retirement plans -- Your IRA, 401K, 403B, etc. plan). Why don't we use the remainder of these plans to make my end-of-life charitable contributions? I could name my spouse the primary beneficiary, and our charities as secondary beneficiaries – right?
3. Would it be beneficial for me to contribute some of my highly appreciated/non-income producing stocks to a charitable gift annuity or charitable remainder trust, which would pay me 5%+ income? Wouldn't this also give me a current charitable deduction, and capital gains tax savings?
4. Do you, or someone in your office, have access to PG Calc or Crescendo software, so we could calculated the outcomes and benefits of several alternative charitable life income arrangements?
5. What is the current allocation of my stock and bond portfolio? As I get older, wouldn't it make sense to contribute some of my appreciated stock to a charitable life income arrangement, thereby moving some of my portfolio from stocks to fixed income without incurring capital gains tax on the stock appreciation?
6. How much paid up, whole life insurance do I have? Do I need that much now? Couldn't I give my life insurance to charity?
7. I own some real estate that I am not using; it has appreciated a lot in recent years; and it doesn't generate any income for me. Why don't we give all of it, or an "undivided fractional interest", to charity?
8. My children are in my will, but they could use some of their inheritance now, for making a down payment on their first home/buying a new car/their children's education. Can I make a larger gift (a gift that exceeds the annual gift amount of $11,000) now, without incurring gift tax? (Answer: Yes! You can give them the total of your estate tax exclusion during your lifetime without incurring any tax yourself or tax liability for them. That amount currently [for 2004] is $1,500,000, and $3,000,000 for a married couple!)
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