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Wills and Bequests

Through the years, alumnae and friends have included Saint Ben's in their wills using bequests for these reasons:

1. To feel satisfaction through helping people
2. To leave a lasting imprint on society
3. To perpetuate a valued philosophy
4. To commemorate a friend or loved one
5. To earn a tax benefit

   To provide for a charitable gift through your will, it is important to name the College of Saint Benedict, St. Joseph, MN as the recipient. You may choose to designate either a certain percentage or specific dollar amount of your estate to the college. See examples of bequest language.

Bequests enable donors to maintain ultimate control of their assets. To understand how this works, it may be helpful to think of your assets as two types of individual capital: personal capital and social capital. Personal capital is the portion of your estate that you control and can pass along as you wish to your designated heirs. Social capital is the portion of your estate that will be paid in taxes, unless you direct it to charitable giving.

With a charitable bequest in place, you retain control of your social capital. Instead of your hard-earned assets going to the government, which will use your money as it sees fit, you get to decide how your money will be spent, what it will accomplish, and who will administer your funds. You can then be confident that your assets will be managed effectively and used exactly as you direct.

Using funds from a retirement account to make bequests is often a good strategy. If there is a balance in your retirement account at your death, not only is there a potential income tax burden, but there may be estate taxes as well. Estimates are that taxes could eat up as much as 70-75% of retirement assets under certain circumstances. Careful planning concerning retirement funds needs to be done. Some additional information regarding retirement assets is available.

Another option to consider in making a gift is to use life insurance policies that are no longer needed or necessary. There are some different ways to make a gift of life insurance.

Often donors are surprised by just how wonderful the giving experience is. Now click here to meet Teresa Engel Laing '83.