Notes from the Endowment Committee

May 2, 2018 at 7:30 PM in the Silverstein Center

We are pleased to have several speakers for the Legacy Giving Seminar scheduled for May 2 at 7:30 pm.

Rabbi Randall J. Konigsburg is the Rabbi at Beth Sholom B’nai Israel in Manchester, CT. He has served congregations in Birmingham, Alabama; Hollywood, Florida; St. Paul, Minnesota; and Delray Beach, Florida. He has been a Chaplain for Hospice of Palm Beach County, Volunteer Chaplain for the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. He is a Certified Fundraising Executive and has trained in Substance Abuse Counseling and hospital chaplaincy. He is also certified to teach Jewish Meditation by the Institute for Jewish Spirituality. He believes that revitalizing a synagogue requires not only visionary leadership and a committed congregation, but it also requires finding the proper funding. He will be providing a D’var Torah for the Legacy giving Seminar.

Hollis Dorman, Senior Development Officer, Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Hartford, has more than 25 years of experience in the area of planned giving, having served as the national planned giving director for the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and the American Associates of Ben Gurion University. During her career, Hollis has coordinated annual, capital and endowment campaigns in addition to her work in planned gifts. She is currently on the board of the Business and Estate Planning Council of Hartford and the Planned Giving Group of Connecticut.

Monique R. Polidoro is a member of the Jewish Community Foundation’s Legal and Tax Panel. She is also a member of Rogin Nassau LLC’s Trusts and Estates Department at CityPlace 1 in Hartford. She focuses her practice primarily in the areas of estate planning, estate administration, charitable planning and elder law. Ms. Polidoro works with clients and their families to structure estate plans that implement their personal goals, protect their loved ones, and reflect their values while minimizing taxes. Her practice also involves advising clients on achieving philanthropic goals through the use of private foundations and charitable trusts. Ms. Polidoro began her career at Rogin, Nassau in 1996 as a summer associate and joined the firm as a full-time associate in 1997. Prior to joining Rogin, Nassau, Ms. Polidoro worked as a law clerk for Judge Alfred V. Covello at the Connecticut Federal District

Court. She also worked as a law clerk in the Money Laundering/Asset Forfeiture Division of the Department of Justice in Washington, DC, and as a law clerk in the United States Attorney’s Office in Hartford. Prior to starting her legal career, Ms. Polidoro toured as a professional ballet dancer with Charlestown Ballet Theater, Charlestown, South Carolina, and Ballet Theatre Pennsylvania, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

Ms. Polidoro received her B.A., magna cum laude, in 1994 from the University of Connecticut and her J.D., with honors, in 1997 from the University of Connecticut School of Law. Ms. Polidoro is a member of the Hartford County, Connecticut and American Bar Associations.

We look forward to seeing you at this informative event.

Over the last several months the Endowment Board of Trustees (Tax ID 05 0540805) has highlighted the need for legacy giving and our collective obligations to strengthen and broaden our current programs and institutions as well as to sustain and nurture Jewish institutions for future generations.

In prior articles we have highlighted our collaboration with the Jewish Community Foundation, which allows BSBI Endowment to offer more sophisticated giving vehicles. Our collaboration may provide current and potential donors with the assurance that their charitable donations will support Jewish causes today and far into the future.

In this month’s edition of the Chai Lights, the Endowment would like to review some of the uses of life insurance as a vehicle for charitable giving. Life insurance is generally purchased to protect the financial health of dependents of the insured, such as one’s family or business. Life insurance may also be used to fund a charitable bequest.  There are several ways this can be accomplished.

• A donor may make an irrevocable gift of an existing paid up policy. Tax benefits accrue to the donor as allowed by law
• The donor may gift a new or existing policy that requires ongoing premium payments.  Premium payments are donated to the charity and are tax deductible as allowed by law. It is the responsibility of the charity to forward the premium payments to the insurance company.
• The charity may be named as the beneficiary of a policy that the donor continues to own and for which the donor continues to pay premiums.

Other uses of life insurance include its ability to replace assets that have been donated to charity. Policies may also be combined with joint and survivor trusts or used to insure a charitable pledge. The use of life insurance for charitable giving may be complex and should only be undertaken with the advice of a qualified financial professional. If you are considering using life insurance as part of your charitable legacy please reach out to me at jeffreywasser@sbcglobal.net or Roy Filkoff at royfilkoff@altmanandco.com or BSBIEndowment@myshul.org.

Over the last four months the BSBI Endowment Board of Trustees has published multiple Chai Lights articles about Legacy Giving and our collective obligations to sustain, nurture and grow current programs and institutions for ourselves and for future generations.

As we move from 2017 to 2018 in the secular calendar, the BSBI Endowment Board of Trustees thanks our prior, present, and potential donors and supporters.  Prior Chai Lights articles have discussed our collaboration with the Jewish Community Foundation.  This collaboration allows us to offer charitable annuities and charitable remainder trusts as other options for our donors. The Jewish Community Foundation can also provide continuity of philanthropy to support Jewish causes in the future. Our working relationship with the Jewish Community Foundation had never been better and will continue to strengthen as we moved forward together.

The New Year is an opportune time to review some of the ways you can give to the BSBI Endowment. It is also a good time to be certain that your will reflects your wishes and values with regards to the disposition of your assets at the time of death. A bequest to the BSBI Endowment can be made in your will either as a specific dollar amount or as a percentage of assets. The BSBI Endowment may be the beneficiary of an existing paid up life insurance policy. Alternatively, a new life insurance policy can be purchased with the BSBI Endowment named as the beneficiary. Under certain circumstances the premiums for such a policy may be deductible to the extent provided by law. Loved ones can be memorialized with gifts to the Endowment.

In the most recent Synagogue Chai Lights we have reviewed the use of QCDs [Qualified Charitable Distributions] from IRAs, Keogh, 403B or 401K plans if the owner of the assets is over 70 1/2 years of age. It is also possible to leave IRA assets to the Endowment at the time of death regardless of age. The residual of an estate can also be bequeathed to the Endowment.

Over the next calendar year the BSBI Endowment will provide periodic educational opportunities about charitable giving and how you can help us sustain the institutions and programs that have helped enrich Jewish life East of the River.

The tax regulations are complex and in constant flux. If you are considering leaving retirement assets to the Endowment Foundation of BSBI please reach out to Jeff Wasser at jeffreywasser@sbcglobal.net or Roy Filkoff at royfilkoff@altmanandco.com. We both can also be reached at BSBIEndowment@myshul.org.

In year-end legislation, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016 finally made permanent qualified charitable distributions (QCDs) from individual retirement accounts. Because QCDs are finally permanent, now’s a good time to review the rules. 

A QCD permits annual direct transfers to a qualified charity totaling up to $100,000 of tax-deferred IRA savings. Funds that have been distributed from the IRA to the IRA owner and are then contributed to charity don’t qualify. QCDs offer advantages over taking a taxable IRA distribution and then contributing the proceeds of that distribution to a charity. That’s because taxable IRA distributions must be included in adjusted gross income. Importantly, QCDs automatically satisfy required minimum distributions (RMDs) for the year when the QCD is made. That’s a real advantage for a charitably minded IRA owner who doesn’t need RMD to live on.

Only individuals who’ve attained age 70 ½ may make QCDs. The charitable organization must be an organization that qualifies for a charitable income tax deduction of an individual. Beth Sholom B’nai Israel qualifies as such an organization. The charity that receives the donation must provide the same contribution acknowledgement needed to claim a charitable tax deduction. Failure to obtain the acknowledgement will quash the QCD. QCDs may be made from any IRA or individual retirement annuity, but not from a simplified employee pension, a simple retirement account, or an inherited IRA.

For further information, contact a member of the Endowment Committee and remember to discuss this and all other tax matters with your tax advisor before taking any action.

Each of us plays a vital role in nurturing, sustaining and supporting our Beth Sholom B’nai Israel community. We do this in many ways including attendance at religious events, participation in social action and community activities, beautification of our building and grounds, attendance at educational events and working with our youth. Each of us provides support to our synagogue community in our own distinctive way. As the BSBI Endowment Foundation strengthens its relationship with the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Hartford (JCF) additional methods of financial support may be feasible.

As part of the spectrum of support provided by the BSBI community, financial support is among the most critical elements for sustaining the synagogue community. There are numerous ways to give to the Synagogue. These include leaving a bequest in a will, a gift of life insurance, the donation of an IRA or a gift of appreciated securities or property. Our partnership with the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Hartford allows us to offer the opportunity to consider more intriguing ways to Leave a Jewish Legacy. The opportunity to establish a charitable gift annuity or charitable remainder trust may benefit the donor as well as the synagogue. A charitable gift annuity (CGA) is a contractual agreement between the donor and the Jewish Community Foundation. This agreement can be of benefit to the donor, BSBI and JCF. An annuity payment is calculated based on the age of the annuitants (single or joint life) and the date of the gift. There is a charitable deduction in the year of the gift and favorable tax treatment of the income as it is paid. Funding the annuity with appreciated securities or property may be particularly advantageous. In exchange for an irrevocable gift, JCF agrees to pay the annuitant a fixed sum for life. The older the annuitant is at the time of the gift the greater the fixed amount JCF is able to pay. BSBI would benefit from any remainder left after the annuity made its payments for life of the beneficiaries. The remainder would become a permanent legacy for the benefit of BSBI in the name of the donor or whomever they designate. Sample returns from new charitable life annuities are far superior to the rates of return offered by bank certificates of deposit.

Example rates based on recent recommendations from the American Council on Gift Annuities: (2017)

Age (single life)     Rate of Return (%)

   60                       4.4

   70                       5.1

   80                          6.8

   90                       9.0

A charitable remainder trust (CRT) is also an irrevocable vehicle into which you transfer assets. In return, you and/or your spouse or designated beneficiary will receive an income for a designated number of years or life. Like the charitable annuity there are initial tax advantages at the time of trust creation and with receipt of yearly income. Furthermore, BSBI would benefit from the remainder.  CRTs can have either a fixed or variable annual payments.

Both charitable annuities and a charitable trust can provide a) supplemental income for life b) significant tax breaks at the time of the gift and every year thereafter and c) legacy support for BSBI. As previously noted, funding the charitable gift with appreciated securities or property has additional advantages.

Anyone contemplating a CGA or CRT should consult with their tax advisors. For further information please reach out to the BSBI Endowment via email at BSBIendowment@myshul.org.

1. Prepare a will. Without a will you lose control over your property at death.
2. Leave a gift in your will for BSBI. Imagine the positive impact on our community if everyone made a gift from their estate to BSBI.
3. Leave a specific dollar amount or a percentage of the assets in your will to BSBI.
4. Consider using assets for your charitable gift. These include, but are not limited to: cash, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, term deposits, or insurance. Such gifts may even provide tax savings.
5. Name BSBI as a beneficiary of your IRA or pension.
6. Name BSBI as the beneficiary of an existing or paid-up life
   insurance policy.
7. Purchase a new life insurance policy naming BSBI as the beneficiary.

8. Remember loved ones with memorial gifts.
9. Encourage family and friends to leave gifts to BSBI in their wills.
10. Ask your financial or estate planning advisor to include charitable giving as part of their counsel to clients.

Going forward, we plan to highlight various modalities of giving that may provide substantial benefits to the donor as well as the synagogue.

For further information please contact Jeff Wasser or Roy Filkoff at bsbiendowment@myshul.org.