Maimonides Planned Giving Program
Honoring the past by supporting the future – planned giving to JIMENA
The Maimonides Legacy society is made up of donors who, with generous foresight, have established a permanent fund within JIMENA, either during their lifetimes or through their wills, to help ensure the continuity of Sephardic and Mizrahi history and heritage.
Permanent gifts are seeds planted for the future, providing income for immediate use while the fund is preserved and grows. These gifts of perpetuity will help ensure the history and culture of Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews is preserved and shared for the benefit of future generations. A permanent gift to JIMENA will enrich our Jewish communities, while deepening our connections to Israel and the Middle East.
Everyone, regardless of means or walk of life, can be a member of the Maimonides Legacy Society. By honoring the past, members of the society choose to support the future by enabling our community to preserve and share the legacy of Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa.
“If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And if only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?”
–Hillel the Elder, 1st Century Babylonian Talmudist and Scholar
Planned Giving Options to JIMENA
Join the Maimonides Legacy Society with a planned gift to JIMENA: Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa.
Finding the right planned giving vehicle depends on a number of factors, including your age and martial status, the size of your estate and income level. Additional factors may include current or future income needs, applicable income and estate tax deductions and the desire to provide for additional family members.
Here are some examples of giving opportunities that enable you to make charitable gifts you may have never considered, while accomplishing your own financial tax planning goals.
Charitable Gift Annuities
JIMENA’s gift annuity program is a great way to provide support for JIMENA while securing high fixed-rate lifetime income and amazing tax benefits. This tax-wise decision ensures that Sephardic and Mizrahi culture and history is preserved and shared for years to come.
*in the month you use cash to establish a gift annuity, a final calculation is made determining the portion that will be paid to you tax-free.
Charitable Bequests
Leaving a gift to JIMENA in a will or trust is the most common type of planned gift. Charitable bequests are easy to make. There are no minimum dollar requirements or complex rules to understand. You may leave a designated amount for restricted use that coincides with your interests, or leave the funds undesignated, allowing JIMENA to use them where they’re most needed. Charitable bequests qualify for a 100% charitable deduction for estate tax purposes.
Gifts of Real Estate
Outright gifts of real estate qualify for a fully appraised value charitable deduction for tax purposes. You may also transfer your primary or secondary resident by deed to JIMENA retaining a life estate, and reserve the right to live in the property for life. The advantage of a retained life estate is hat you will receive an immediate tax charitable deduction for the present value of the charitable remainder interest in the property and avoid probate and estate tax on the property at the time of death.
Gift of Life Insurance
Naming JIMENA as your beneficiary in a life insurance policy is an easy and cost-efficient way to provide a meaningful gift that will have a long-lasting impact on the preservation of Sephardic heritage. You would be entitled to a charitable deduction in the year of the transfer. The value of the deduction is dependent on the type of policy. If you make contributions to JIMENA to pay policy premiums, those amounts are fully deductible for income tax purpose.
Gifts of a Pension, Retirement Plan, or an IRA
Your 2013 Minimum IRA Distribution Can Be Tax-Free if Made as a Gift to JIMENA
Pension plans, retirement plans and IRAs are subject to high taxes upon a person’s death. Since these plans were funded with pre-tax dollars and their growth in value is income tax differed, they may be subject to income and estate taxes when given to children, grandchildren, and other non-charitable entities after your lifetime. By making JIMENA the primary or partial beneficiary of these assets, both income and estate taxes may be avoided. As another strategy, you may direct that plan assets be used to establish a charitable trust after your lifetime that will provide benefits for your heirs by making them the beneficiaries of the charitable trusts annuity payments.
******NEW FEDERATL TAX LAW EXTENDS OPPORTUNITY*********
Your 2013 Minimum IRA Distribution Can Be Tax-Free if Made as a Gift to JIMENA
A new tax law enacted by Congress allows individuals 70 ½ or older to make tax-free IRA distributions up to $100,000 if made directly to charitable organizations such as JIMENA. This is a way for individuals who will be taking their 2013 minimum distribution to withdraw all or a part of it tax-free.
Be sure to check with your advisors about the best way to take advantage of these giving opportunities.
To start the conversation, contact the JIMENA office at 415-626-5062
