Leaving a charitable legacy is easier than you might think
While the main inspiration behind creating your Will or estate plan may be to ensure loved ones are taken care of after your death, estate planning can also be a great way to leave a charitable legacy.
“A lot of the people that I work with feel like it’s one or the other – they have to leave it to the kids or leave it to the charity, but that’s often not the case,” explains Tyler MacLean, a financial planner with G&F Financial Group and a volunteer on Langley Memorial Hospital Foundation’s Legacy Giving Committee. “It’s finding that balance and what is right for you as an individual.”
As a Certified Financial Planner, Tyler has over a decade of experience in the financial services industry with expertise in retirement and estate planning.
His top three tips on how you can leave a charitable gift in your Will are: 1. Make a simple bequest.
You can specify a dollar amount, a particular asset, real estate or a portion of your overall estate. You don’t have to have a vast estate to make a bequest. Any amount can be given. 2. Create an endowment.
This is where you set some of your funds aside with the capital invested, and the investment could produce some income for the charity as an ongoing legacy gift. 3. Use residual assets from your estate.
In your Will, you can first designate your beneficiaries. After the kids or other beneficiaries have been paid out, the residual assets could go to the charity.
“On the Langley Memorial Hospital Foundation website and many other charities’ websites, they include wording and other information on how to plan a gift for your favourite charity in your Will.”
Whatever decision is right for you, your commitment of a gift in your Will to a cause that matters to you will have great impact for years to come.
“If you’re not having the conversation with your advisor, bring it up,” MacLean suggests. “It helps your advisor to know what’s important to you and the results can be really impactful.”
To learn more about leaving a legacy gift, speak with an advisor or contact a charity of your choice.