The Foundation is offering a FREE "Creative Estate Planning" home course.  To sign up, simply send an email with your address to mgannon1@wpahs.org and place "Estate Planning Course" in the subject line.  This seminar by mail features five lessons, each consisting of four pages of easy-to-read information. One lesson will be mailed to you each week. Upon completion of the course, you will receive a copy of Your Personal Estate Planning Record—a booklet in which you can record all your personal data, determine your net worth and begin your financial planning.  The purpose of this five-part course is simple: We want you to build, preserve and protect the assets that provide for you, your family and the causes you support.

 

A Gift for a Later Time – The Dardanell Legacy Society

In 2006 Ed Dardanell, of Oakmont, PA made a most generous planned gift to support the new cardiac services at The Western Pennsylvania Hospital – Forbes Regional Campus.  In recognition of his gift, The Ed Dardanell Heart and Vascular Center was named in his honor. 

     The Foundation created the Dardanell Legacy Society in honor of Mr. Dardanell’s long term personal and financial dedication to the Hospital and to recognize those who designate a gift to Forbes in their will, trust, life insurance, or other planned giving vehicle.

     “To this day, the day we broke ground on this hospital stands in my mind as one of the highlights in my life,” says Mr. Dardanell.  “It will be a tremendous advantage to everyone in the eastern suburbs to have interventional cardiac services at Forbes and I am proud I can be a part of it.”

    Twenty-eight years ago Edward L. Dardanell helped establish the first hospital in the rapidly growing eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh, led the charge to raise $5 million in support, and headed the committee that eventually named the hospital Forbes Health Center. Without the help of Mr. Dardanell, The Western Pennsylvania Hospital – Forbes Regional Campus would not exist in the capacity it does today.

     Mr. Dardanell was on the Board of Directors of the former Columbia Hospital of Wilkinsburg which in the late 1970s was realizing declining numbers of patients in a residential community that was not experiencing growth.  He noted that the eastern suburbs were growing at a rate far exceeding other areas of Pittsburgh and was an appropriate place for a new hospital.  A subgroup of the Columbia Hospital Board defined the current Monroeville site just off of the Turnpike.  Part of the site was a baseball field at the time.  Mr. Dardanell was chairman of the first Forbes Health Foundation Board in 1978 which raised $5 million to build the Hospital.

     In 2003, Forbes Regional reinstituted the Forbes Health Foundation to which Mr. Dardanell was appointed to the Board and assumed the role of Honorary Chairman of the Capital Campaign for three projects – a new Emergency Department, Heart and Vascular Center, and Women’s and Infants’ Care Unit.  Mr. Dardanell’s recent $1 million planned gift is helping the Hospital build The Ed Dardanell Heart and Vascular Center.

     To get more information, please go to www.forbeshealthfoundation.org and click on the link for Planned Giving and the Dardanell Legacy Society.  Please notify Forbes Health Foundation at 412-858-2073 with any questions you may have or so that we may recognize you as a part of our Dardanell Legacy Society.

 

Please notify Forbes Health Foundation at 412-858-2073 with any questions or so that we may recognize you as a part of our Dardanell Legacy Society.

 

Estate Review Check List:

If the answer is “no” to any of these questions,

it is the perfect time to review your estate plan.

    

Does your estate plan provide for dependents and those you love, and leave a permanent legacy to the community?

Do you have a durable power of attorney in case of your incapacity prior to death?

Has your estate plan been reviewed within the last three years?

Does your estate plan benefit your favorite charitable organizations?

Have you provided for guardianship and property management for minor children?

Do your insurance and retirement plans reflect current beneficiaries or charities?

 

Planned Giving Options:

Planned Giving Philosophy – Charitable gift planning through Forbes Health Foundation seeks to provide a donor the opportunity to fulfill a philanthropic interest to the people served by The Western Pennsylvania Hospital – Forbes Regional Campus or Forbes Hospice while working with a donor and/or a financial advisor to maximize income to the donor, gift amount and estate tax savings. 

Bequests – A will can be a way to leave a lasting legacy to loved ones.  Donors can now include charitable gifts as part of their estate plan while heirs receive the same or more than they would under prior law.  A bequest to a charitable organization can be made by way of a codicil or amendment to an existing will. 

Property and Securities – When you donate qualified property or securities that you have owned for more than one year that has increased in value, you are entitled to an income tax deduction for the full value of the asset, not just the amount you paid for it.  You will never have to pay the capital gains tax that would be due if you sold the property.  Such gifts that have increased in value are deductible up to 30% of your adjusted gross income.  Contributions that have exceeded deductible limits for the year may be carried forward and deducted in up to five future tax years.   If property has decreased in value, it is best to sell the property and donate the cash.  You may be then able to claim tax benefits for the capital loss and the charitable gift, effectively deducting more than the current value of the asset.  Owners of closely held companies may consider contributing stock in their companies.

Living Trusts – This trust created during a person’s lifetime can provide for the management and future distribution of their assets, while reducing probate costs and allowing for a charitable gift.

Life Insurance – If you have a life insurance policy that has outlived its original purpose, this can make a generous charitable gift to an organization.  A better idea may be to transfer actual ownership of the policy to an organization, or buy and contribute a new policy.  Such a gift will entitle you to an income tax deduction, and future premium payments will be tax deductible.

Retirement Plans – Giving through this venue is becoming more popular for those who are over 59½ and are comfortable that they are adequately financed in their retirement.  Money left in qualified retirement plans at death may be subject to both income taxes and estate taxes before they reach heirs.  If a recent sell of securities or other investments yielded capital gains taxes, a charitable gift may reduce the tax burden while helping to serve others.  If you are at an age when you are required to withdraw funds from qualified retirement accounts, using the withdrawal amounts to make charitable gifts can help minimize or eliminate taxes on the withdrawal.  It is also possible to make gifts today while retaining a fixed or variable income for the remainder of life or another period time.

An individual who is 70½ or older may donate to a qualified charity via an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) rollover provision that is in effect until December 31, 2007. The distribution must be from a traditional IRA or Roth IRA, can be up to $100,000 and otherwise have been ordinary taxable income. The distribution will not be taxed and accordingly the donor will not receive a charitable contribution deduction. The donor should designate the Western Pennsylvania Hospital - Forbes Regional Campus and can specify a particular department of interest such as Forbes Hospice, as well as a specific use within that department, such as respite care.  Additionally the donor can designate an activity within the Forbes Regional Campus, such as cancer care. The charitable distribution counts toward minimum distribution requirements. Because the distribution generates neither taxable income nor a tax deduction, even non-itemizers can benefit as well.

Charitable Remainder Trusts – A CRT allows a charitable gift to be made while providing for retirement, caring for older loved ones, or meeting education expenses.  This allows for income tax benefits for the year the gift is completed.  This can also offer a good way to convert low-yielding assets to a source of additional income without incurring capital gains tax at the time of the gift.  Assets use to fund these gifts are generally not subject to gift and estate taxes because they are used for charitable purposes.  This could result in substantial savings in addition to the income and capital gains tax benefits.

Charitable Lead Trust – This trust is used when a gift is made for a temporary period of time with assets being returned to you or others designated.  This method can fund a long term gift while reducing gift and estate taxes that might otherwise be payable on assets intended for loved ones.  This is a good way to delay an inheritance in an effort to reduce taxes and fund a charitable gift.  Letting a charity “borrow” income producing assets for several years with the assets later passing to children or grandchildren can reduce income taxes and future gift taxes, estate taxes and generation-skipping transfer taxes.

Please discuss these and other options with your tax advisor or financial planner.  Feel free to have your advisors contact the Foundation.

If you would like more information on making an estate planned gift to Forbes Health Foundation, please contact:

 

Mary Lee Gannon, CAE

President and Chief Executive Officer

Forbes Health Foundation

2570 Haymaker Road

Monroeville, PA  15146

Phone: 412-858-4472

FAX: 412-858-2351

email: mgannon1@wpahs.org

 

To receive the FREE "Creative Estate Planning Course" by mail , please send an email with your address to mgannon1@wpahs.org.  Please put "Creative Estate Planning Course" in the subject line.