Throughout the years, many generous people who care deeply about BSEC have expressed their love of this great congregation and their support of Ethical Culture by including the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture in their long-term financial planning.
There are many ways to include BSEC in your financial plans—bequests, tax-deferred retirement plans or gifts of life insurance.
It is important to talk with your family and a financial adviser or an estate attorney before making a decision about including a gift to the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture in your will or financial plans.
All gifts to are deeply appreciated and will continue to support the long-term vision and life of our community. Unrestricted bequests provide the church with the flexibility to meet whatever needs are most urgent at the time of the gift.
BEQUESTS
If you’d like to include the Brooklyn Society in your will or testamentary trust, you have two options:
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Making a gift of a specific amount of money.
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Designating a percentage of the residuary of your estate, after your family and other loved ones have been provided for.
To bequeath a specific sum, your will might include language such as:
“I give and bequeath to the Board and Leadership of the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture in the City of New York the sum of $_______.”
If you decide to make a gift of a portion or percentage of your estate, your will might include wording such as:
“I give, devise and bequeath to the Board and Leadership of the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture in the City of New York ___% of the rest, residue and remainder of my estate.”
TAX-DEFERRED RETIREMENT PLANS
Tax-deferred retirement plans, such as 401(K) plans and individual retirement accounts (IRAs), allow a range of options for making gifts.
Left as part of an estate, tax-deferred assets may be subject to income taxes, estate taxes and, in some instances, generation-skipping taxes. Properly executed, a plan that names a charity as beneficiary can allow the entire amount of the bequest to pass directly to the charity, free of all taxes.
LIFE INSURANCE
There are a couple of ways to benefit BSEC through your generous gifts of life insurance. They include:
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Naming BSEC as the beneficiary, in part or even in whole, of an existing policy, or naming the congregation as a contingent beneficiary.
- Cashing in a policy that is no longer needed and donating all or part of the cash value to BSEC.