What Your Will Reveals About You

Your will says something about you. First, it says that you care about your loved ones. You want to make it easier for them by taking care of legal matters relating to the transfer of your estate. You want your affairs handled smoothly and without undue inconvenience to those who will be experiencing grief.

Second, having a will means that you sought to conserve your estate. You can reduce taxes and probate costs by designating what things will go where and who will be responsible for handling the details. The cost savings resulting from a carefully constructed estate plan means that more of your estate can go to family members and the charities of your choice.

Third, your will provides insight into your lifetime involvements and concerns. Bequests to family members tell of your love and concern for their welfare. And bequests to organizations speak volumes about your values.

For example, when you include Richmond Jewish Foundation in your will, you reveal that caring for others is worthwhile and you affirm your belief in the mission of RJF which is to serve as the endowment and planned giving branch of our community.

Finally, when you include RJF in your will, you tell us at RJF that you want us to continue to fulfill the mission of RJF in this world through your instructions by creating a fund that carries out your philanthropic intent. You reveal your vision for our future! You encourage us to be good stewards of the new resources you place in our hands.

Your will says other things as well about your interests and values and commitments. And because it says so much, you are wise to think it through carefully.

If having a will says so many good things about you, what does the absence of a will reveal?

We at RJF want you to experience the good feelings of having a well-considered and well-crafted will (or other comprehensive estate planning document). We encourage you to take care of this very important matter. And to help you, we offer a secure online interactive “wills guide” which can be accessed at here.

We are also available if you want to talk with us about finding an advisor or about how to leave a bequest to RJF to support the causes you care most about.

YEAR END GIFTING STRATEGIES

The end of the year is a time when charitably inclined individuals think about how they can help to make the dreams of the organizations they support come true.  It’s also a time when tax-wise donors understand that year-end giving benefits them as well.  If you have assets that have appreciated with a low cost basis you may be wondering how to best use those appreciated assets for tax planning and charitable purposes.  By donating before the end of the year your charitable deduction may reduce your taxes this year. This should give you some peace of mind knowing you don’t have to concern yourself with the stock market’s fluctuations. Two year-end techniques are discussed below.

Donor Advised Funds  
By donating appreciated assets to RJF you can avoid paying capital gains tax and secure a tax deduction.  It’s especially well suited for donors who have yet to decide what charities they want to benefit.  Once the appreciated assets are given to RJF and placed in your donor advised fund account, you can take as much time as you need to decide where to direct their gift. You can start your fund with cash or appreciated stock and take three years to fund to the $5,000 minimum level. Donor advised funds are great vehicles to plan your philanthropy including gifts for your temple, the Federation and any other qualified non-profit that you support.

IRA Rollover
Have you been looking for a way to make a major gift to create your legacy without dipping into your checking or savings account?  If you are over 70 ½, you can transfer up to $100,000 from your IRA to a Richmond Jewish Foundation endowment before the end of December 2011 without paying any federal income tax.  And this gift may be made over and above the other charitable gifts you already make. Your gift can be made simply by notifying your IRA plan custodian of your intent to make a current transfer to us or another charitable organization.

Bequests
If you are not ready to donate your stock or real estate today, you can still enjoy your property during your lifetime while making a gift to us through your will or trust. A bequest of your property will provide your estate with an estate tax charitable deduction, which means the money saved can go to your loved ones. A simple sentence or two in your will can ensure that your family is cared for while also supporting the charities of your choice after your lifetime.

For more information on how to create your legacy using an IRA rollover gift in 2011 or a bequest or how to create your own donor advised fund, please contact us.

Peace of Mind Gift Annuity

Selma G. Brown has always been generous to our Jewish community. Together, with her late husband Jake, the Browns created endowments at Richmond Jewish Foundation to support senior programs at the Weinstein JCC, a lecture series at VCU, and the JCFR annual campaign.

Recently the Virginia Holocaust Museum called the Richmond Jewish Foundation offices about a donor who wanted information about a gift annuity. Richmond Jewish Foundation serves as the planned giving arm of our community and manages the Virginia Holocaust Museum’s endowed assets. Unbeknownst to us at the time, this generous donor was Selma.

After speaking with Selma’s advisor, Richmond Jewish Foundation created a charitable planning illustration that showed the benefits of creating a charitable gift annuity. Selma was pleased to discover that she would receive a good quarterly payout that was significantly higher than current CD rates, that there would be a charitable tax deduction and that part of the income would be tax-free. Most importantly, Selma was pleased to know that her charitable wishes would be fulfilled with the creation of a new endowment that would provide an annual gift to the Virginia Holocaust Museum forever.

Fulfilling the gift was easy. Selma transferred some appreciated stock to create the charitable gift annuity. Said Selma, “I was delighted with the fixed payment I would receive quarterly.  My CPA and I were pleased that my charitable deduction may reduce my taxes this year, and now I don’t have to concern myself with the stock market’s fluctuations. The gift to the Virginia Holocaust Museum is secure and that gives me peace of mind.”

If you are looking for a secure source of fixed income for now or your future and want to help the charity of your choice please click here.

Are You Inscribed in our Community’s Book of Life?

As Rosh Hashanah approaches, it’s time to reflect on the year that has passed and to consider the opportunities offered in the year ahead. What will this year mean for you, your family, your business, the local community, Israel and the world? What can you do to make a profound and positive difference? Along with other constructive steps to take, perhaps this is the year to make your philanthropic plan with Richmond Jewish Foundation.

When we attend High Holiday services we ask that our name be written in the Book of Life. But what if you could write your own page? What would you say?

This ancient tradition was the inspiration for our community’s Book of Life. Through the Book of Life you can transmit not just your funds, but your family history and legacy to the next generation.

These legacy gifts help ensure the future of our Jewish community, guaranteeing that the strong and vibrant agencies, congregations, museums, and schools that our parents and grandparents worked so hard to build will be here for our children, our grandchildren and generations to come.

How does the Book of Life work?
Anyone who has already committed to secure the future of Richmond’s Jewish community with a permanent fund or bequest, or promises to do so in the future through Create a Jewish Legacy, to any of our partners, Israel, or any charitable organization that endeavors to sustain the Jewish people, is eligible to join the Book of Life. You will be presented with a page to inscribe, with your own thoughts and words, the meaning behind your gift.

Your Book of Life page, along with a family photograph, will then be added to the existing statements that can now be viewed in the interactive display at the Weinstein JCC. Together, these stories will tell future generations our story— the story of Richmond’s Jewish community.

What do I do next?
If you or your family have already created your legacy or promised to do so through Create a Jewish Legacy you are eligible to write your Book of Life page. If you would like to create a gift benefitting your favorite cause, congregation, agency, program, service or philanthropic need we are available to talk with you confidentially and without obligation. We can help you understand the various options and if you decide to proceed we can assist you in completing your gift.

Please click here to learn more about our community’s Book of Life.

Fulfilling Your Legacy Promise

Each Passover we sit together to tell our story and to remember messages of freedom. The real task of the Seder is to try to pass down these words, rituals and values to the next generation. Our community’s Create a Jewish Legacy program was created for this same purpose.

While we celebrate Passover, we recognize the success of our Create a Jewish Legacy program which recently passed the $11 million mark. This figure represents 169 legacy gifts promised by 81 families. These gifts will help ensure the future of our Jewish community and the state of Israel. As a result of these legacy gifts, the strong and vibrant agencies, congregations, museums and schools that our parents and grandparents worked so hard to build will be here for our children, our grandchildren, and generations to come. Create a Jewish Legacy promotes the message that all of us have the ability to make a difference in the lives of future Jewish generations.

This Passover, consider four more questions…

Do you support Jewish causes in Richmond annually?

Have you included these causes in your will?

Would you like to see a vibrant Jewish community for future generations?

What will be your legacy?

Creating your legacy is a simple four step process:

Promise
You decide that you want to leave something to the Jewish community-for Richmond, Israel, or elsewhere. At this moment you have probably not yet decided exactly how you will fund your legacy, nor precisely which causes or organizations will be the beneficiaries.

Honor
You share your personal statement in the Book of Life (always optional) about why you have created this legacy plan or your hopes for the future. In it you may speak of your grandparents, to your grandchildren, or about the organizations that have benefited from your leadership.

Formalize
You specify how you will fund your legacy: through bequest, insurance, a beneficiary designation of your IRA or other pension asset, or by establishing a life income plan. It is when you formalize that you can be assured your wishes will truly happen.

Fund
Your idea becomes reality because you have planned well. Your funds come to our community-into a permanent endowment fund in your family name-for the causes and beneficiaries that you have designated. You have kept promises to your community that you’ve always supported. Your gifts will now be there, stronger, for those you leave behind.

To create your legacy, please contact the Richmond Jewish Foundation office.

New Fund Honors Memory of Gerald T. Shor

After his recent passing, Gerald T. Shor’s family established a new fund to honor his memory. Gerald was raised in Raleigh, NC and had been a resident of Richmond, VA since 2005.  He was a member of Keneseth Beth Israel Synagogue in Richmond and Beth Meyer Synagogue in Raleigh.  He was a long time member of B’nai B’rith.  He is survived by four children; Marcia Shor of Richmond, Barbara McDowell of Raleigh along with her husband, David, Michael of Charlotte and Nathan and his wife Nannette of Richmond.  Gerald was the proud grandfather to nine grandchildren; Bryan along with his wife, Meghan, Andrew, Lauren, Marla, Rachel, Katherine, Adam and Jaclyn.

Richmond Endowment Leaders Speak at First Jewish Legacy Forum

Legacies Provide Important Funding Source in Down Economy

Richmond Jewish Foundation President Debra Gardner and Interim Executive Director Robert Nomberg joined more than 80 of their colleagues at the first ever Jewish Legacy Forum in Tucson, Arizona, December 8-10. 

At the conference, Gardner and Nomberg presented a best practices workshop on Create a Jewish Legacy branding and marketing. The forum focused on sharing expertise and innovations to help build and promote legacy programs in Jewish communities across North America. A legacy is a gift left for the future of the community, to carry on the donor’s wishes beyond his or her lifetime. This typically includes an endowment, which is a permanent fund that provides perpetual support to an organization from the income earned. This is especially important during tough economic times, when other funding sources may be cut back.                                                                                                                           
“We encourage communities to use endowments and planned gifts as a long-term strategy for building and sustaining the Jewish community,” said Joe Imberman, Associate Vice-President Planned Giving and Endowments at the Jewish Federations of North America, which co-sponsored the forum with the Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego and the Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona.

The forum covered such topics as creating a legacy culture in the community, partnering with agencies to build endowments and helping each donor fulfill their own philanthropic vision through legacy planning. Eighty-five professionals and lay leaders from 26 communities attended.

“We need to both engage the soul and engage in business planning to reach a golden age of philanthropy we could only have dreamed of a few years ago,” said opening speaker Jeffrey Solomon, president of the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies and co-author of The Art of Giving.

Keynote speaker and award-winning columnist Amy Hirshberg Lederman summed up what many of the participants sensed. “We are witness to something historic. We are all here for a reason. We believe in the future of Jewish people and we can make a difference in that future.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Martha Lochert Photography

Book of Life To Be Built Thanks to Hirschler Fund

Our community’s Book of Life was introduced for the first time during the Richmond Jewish Foundation and the Jewish Community Federation of Richmond joint annual meeting. Twenty-two wonderful statements were presented to the community. This Book of Life interactive DVD was made possible by funding provided from the Elizabeth and Edward Hirschler* Endowment Recognition Fund.

Thanks to Richmond Jewish Foundation’s Elizabeth and Edward Hirschler* Donor Advised Fund a kiosk will be built at the Weinstein JCC displaying the interactive DVD.
Anyone, regardless of age, wealth, or affiliation, who commits to secure the future of Richmond’s Jewish community, either through a current gift to a permanent endowment fund or through a deferred gift to any of the Create a Jewish Legacy partners, Israel, or any charity, will be presented with a page to inscribe with their own thoughts and to tell, in their own words, the meaning behind their gift in their Book of Life page.

The Book of Life page, along with a family photograph, will then be added to those written by others. These pages will be collected and placed in the interactive display at the Weinstein JCC. Together, these stories will tell future generations our story- the story of Richmond’s Jewish community. You can transmit not just your funds, but your family history and legacy to the next generation. These legacy gifts help ensure the future of our Jewish community, guaranteeing that the strong and vibrant agencies, congregations, museums, and schools that our parents and grandparents worked so hard to build will be here for our children, our grandchildren and generations to come.

Create a Jewish Legacy Showcased at GA

Over sixty Foundation and Federation representatives participated in the Create a Jewish Legacy Community Showcase at the Jewish Federations of North America (formerly United Jewish Communities) General Assembly earlier this month in Washington, DC. Richmond’s interim executive director, Robert Nomberg joined Joslin LeBauer from the Jewish Federations of North America and Greensboro’s endowment director, Susan Gutterman for the session.

The panel led a discussion about the need for community public awareness campaigns designed to help individuals and families support the Jewish causes they care about; building a strong, vibrant community, now and in the future with bequests for permanent endowments. Create a Jewish Legacy promotes the message that all of us have the ability to make a difference in the lives of future Jewish generations.

Endowment Fund Honors Memory of Henry S. Fine

Henry Fine believed in the goodness of the Jewish community of Richmond and he valued its long-term financial strength. In his teen years, he was a leader in AZA, out of which came several lifelong relationships. He was a devoted supporter of Hillel in his college years, and was a lifetime member of Temple Beth-El. Henry also believed in Israel as our spiritual homeland and valued its historical role as the ultimate protector of world Jewry.

Henry believed in the magic of permanent life insurance and valued the unique leverage that turns a small gift into a larger endowment during life and at death – just by putting some ink on paper. Like much of Henry’s life, he put these words in action by leaving a life insurance policy to benefit Richmond Jewish Foundation.

Henry had a special interest in helping families who have loved ones with special needs. To honor his memory, and to continue his good works, the Richmond Jewish Foundation Board of Directors recently established the Henry S. Fine Legacy Fund using a portion of the proceeds from the life insurance policy. The fund will make annual distributions, in Henry’s memory, to the Autism Society of Central Virginia where Henry served on the board, and to another one of Henry’s favorite charities, the Virginia Autism Project.

“We wanted to find a way to honor Henry’s name,” said Richmond Jewish Foundation Treasurer, Frances Goldman. “Henry’s generosity will ensure that many of the ideas he valued will continue to be supported in perpetuity. Richmond Jewish Foundation is proud to be able to help continue his good works forever.”

Contributions to the Foundation for the Henry S. Fine Legacy Fund are tax deductible. If you wish to make a contribution please contact Robert Nomberg at 804.545.8656.