Consider three fresh strategies for giving without affecting your cash flow

Mount Mary alumnae and friends consistently describe how their Mount Mary experience changed their lives. Many alums say they wish they could do more to support the students of today, but they aren’t sure if they can, or know how to give more while staying within their budget.

While many gifts to Mount Mary University are made with cash, there are other ways you can maximize your giving without affecting your current cash flow. Here are three simple ways for you to consider.

GIFT OF APPRECIATED SECURITIES
Make your gift using appreciated stock or mutual funds. With the market hitting an all-time high recently, the assets that you may have purchased years or decades ago have rarely been worth more. By gifting a portion of these appreciated securities directly to Mount Mary (and not liquidating them), you:

• Can avoid paying capital gains tax.
• Can lower your income tax bill.
• Can preserve your cash for current or future needs.

GIFT OF YOUR IRA
If you are age 70½ or older, you can use your IRA to make a tax-free gift to Mount Mary. Simply direct your IRA administrator to send all or a part of your Required Minimum Distribution directly to Mount Mary instead of you. That transfer of IRA funds will:

• Change the lives of our students.
• Satisfy your required minimum distribution.
• Reduce your taxable income.
• (Also note: You are also allowed to gift any portion of your IRA Required Minimum Distribution up to $100,000 annually.)

GIFT OF YOUR WILL OR TRUST
Include a gift in your will or trust to Mount Mary. Such a gift will enable you to make your largest gift ever, without affecting your current cash flow. This gift can be made in several ways:

• Percentage of your estate.
• Remainder of your estate.
• Specific asset.

This is a great way to take care of your loved ones while also paying tribute to an organization that influenced your life and continues to do so today.

When making these decisions, it is important to share your wishes with your family and to consult your tax representative to ensure maximum benefits.

FROM OUR ALUMNAE 

Looking back on my career as a teacher, I can think of so many lovely students I taught whose lives were drastically changed because they were given an opportunity to receive a quality education. Most of them were long on academic ability, varied talents, curiosity, and resilience but short on the economic wherewithal to pay the tuition required. I could share countless Cinderella stories with you about these wonderful young adults; there were teens who had to sleep on the floor to avoid random gunshots which burst through their windows as gangbangers faced off or teens who rarely had time with their single parent because that parent was working two or three jobs and, even then, ends didn’t meet. They wanted a different life for themselves and their families. Completing high school and then graduating from college accomplishes that. They qualify for promising jobs in attractive occupations. Their resilience serves them well as they navigate into new socio-economic groups and work in careers that were unimaginable for their families.

I was looking for a way to help facilitate that colossal shift from poverty to prosperity in the lives of young women. Then I read about the programs that Mount Mary offers to deserving young women. My husband, who is a CPA, pointed out that if I have money from my IRA (Individual Retirement Account) sent directly from the IRA to Mount Mary as a charitable contribution, no taxes are levied on it. The same amount of money becomes more effective, generating a larger contribution for the school. We discussed the idea of setting up a scholarship for a future teacher. Knowing the power that teachers have to inspire and transform young student’s lives and futures, funding a scholarship for an enthusiastic future teacher sounded ideal. Maybe I will have to forgo a daring trip to Antarctica, but hopefully I will exponentially warm the hearts of eager future teachers and all the students in our “extended family” that they will teach.

“My company, Assurant Health, had a program that matched my giving dollar-for-dollar and I gave what I could to Mount Mary. Now that I am retired and comfortably set financially, I decided that Mount Mary is still a good investment.

“If you are working and your employer has a matching program, please consider donating to Mount Mary. It does not have to be a lot; every little bit helps. Retired? It pays to review the beneficiaries in your will, investments, etc. and consider Mount Mary.”

“Forty years after graduating, I am still very grateful for the education and opportunities I received through Mount Mary. I was blessed, too, to receive financial assistance during those years. I would like young women to be able to have those same opportunities for years to come.

“While I have made a contribution each year for many years, and will continue to do so, naming Mount Mary as a beneficiary in my will allows me to make an even greater impact.”