Roger Williams Medical Center: Planned Giving

Every generation has the power to decide what values, what truths, what hopes it will impart to the next. Nowhere is this more evident than with charitable gift planning. Through gift planning, you bequeath and entrust portions of your wealth and/or your estate to us for the permanent and lasting well being of your family and generations of families. Because of you, their need for highly advanced medical care is answered.

What are the benefits of Gift Planning?
First and foremost, Gift Planning benefits each and every individual whose care is greatly enhanced by your generosity that enables us to advance medical knowledge and services. Secondly, your gift benefits both the community's health status by ensuring that the highest quality of medical care is available at home and the local economy by ensuring Roger Williams Medical Center's continued viability as a major employer. Finally, your gift benefits you.

How does Gift Planning benefit me personally?
Tax laws and regulations create powerful incentives for people to make charitable gifts - especially through their estate plans. As you can learn from the following brief descriptions of the various forms of Gift Planning, it is possible for you to make a very generous gift and gain significant financial and estate planning benefits for yourself and your family. Plus, you can receive important personal satisfaction by making a gift that benefits you and the Medical Center.

What are some of the methods of Gift Planning and how do they work?

1. Name the Medical Center as beneficiary of your Will or Revocable Living Trust
Simply make a provision in your will or trust. You can leave a specific bequest (of a specific amount of money or a particular piece of property) or leave the Medical Center a residuary bequest (a percentage of your entire estate or a percentage of whatever is left remaining after specific bequests to other heirs). Your gift qualifies for an unlimited charitable estate tax deduction. Call us for suggested wording to add to your will or trust.

2. Make the Medical Center an owner or beneficiary of a Life Insurance Policy
You can irrevocably transfer ownership to the Medical Center of an existing life insurance policy or name the Medical Center as a revocable or irrevocable beneficiary of a policy. You also could work with the Medical Center to purchase a new life insurance policy on your life. If the Medical Center is the owner of the policy, you can take a charitable income tax deduction for the premium payments. If you give a policy with cash value, you also are eligible for a charitable income tax deduction.

3. Name the Medical Center as remainder beneficiary of a Charitable Remainder Trust
You create a trust that pays you (and often a spouse) an income for life or a term of years. At the end of that time, whatever remains in the trust passes to the Medical Center. Charitable Remainder Trusts (CRTs) provide an immediate charitable income tax deduction and the opportunity to bypass capital gains tax. People often use CRTs to increase their income from low dividend paying stocks with low cost basis or to boost retirement income.

4. Create a Charitable Gift Annuity
You make a gift of cash or securities to the Medical Center in exchange for a guaranteed payout for you and/or for another person for life. The older you are, the higher the payout the Medical Center can provide you. You receive an immediate charitable income tax deduction and very favorable capital gains tax treatment if you create the gift annuity with appreciated securities.

5. Name the Medical Center as beneficiary of your retirement plan
You can make the Medical Center the beneficiary of all or a portion of your retirement plans (e.g., pension and profit sharing plans, 401(k) and 403 (b) plans, Individual Retirement Accounts and Keogh plans). Because these plans are subject both to estate taxes and income taxes, using them to make charitable gifts can be very tax-efficient.

6. Give the Medical Center an income interest in a Charitable Lead Trust
You can establish a Charitable Lead Trust and transfer assets into that trust. During the term of the trust (lifetime or a specified number of years) the income of the trust is paid to the Medical Center. At the expiration of the trust, the property (and any appreciation) passes to heirs that you designate gift and estate tax free.

Obtaining more information
For more information on any of these gifting methods -- or for a customized illustration of how these methods would work in your personal situation -- contact the Roger Williams Medical Center Development Office at
401-456-2576.

The term "planned giving" refers to charitable gifts that require some planning before they are made. Planned gifts are popular because they can provide valuable tax benefits and/or income for life.