Think about your time among the
hills and steeples and all that it means to you. Think about the impact your Cornell
education has had on your life. Think about joining Cornellians around the world in
ensuring a Cornell education for the generations to come.
We had a highly successful 40th reunion campaign, raising $10,028,610 from 576 donors in the Class of '59.
The 'C' floating on three waves in our letterhead is the handsome logo of the Cayuga Society, which honors those who have established a gift to Cornell as part of their will or estate plan. This is an easy way for you to support the University; it puts no burden on your current budget and can be tailored to fit your personal financial situation.
There are several ways to participate in the campaign and/or enhance two scholarships in memory of our dear classmates, Carol Clark Tatkon and Stuart Linnick, which many of our classmates are supporting. If we raise a minimum of $37,500 for a scholarship, anonymous donors will ad $12,500 more to bring us to the $50,000 level. This is really an extraordinary opportunity to add to or endow a scholarship to keep Cornell within reach for students who want to enjoy the same outstanding educational opportunities that we had. Finally, you may personally want to take advantage of the Challenge and endow a scholarship on your own, in your name, or perhaps in memory or in honor of someone you love. This challenge arrangement is in effect until 12/31/99
We would also like to introduce you to the Cornell Planned Giving Website at http://www.alumni.cornell.edu/giving/HOW/PlannedGifts/default.html. Michael Degenhart is the Class of '59's agent in the Office of Planned Giving. He would love to answer your questions about the possibilities for making a difference at Cornell. Please contact Mike by phone at 607-254-6174 or 800-481-1865, e-mail at md79@cornell.edu or write to him at Cornell University, Office of Planned Giving, 55 Brown Road, Ithaca, NY 14850
The Cornell Pooled Income Funds, run by the Office of Trusts, Estates, and Planned Giving, present a win-win opportunity for many of us in the Class of '59.
Give Appreciated Stock: The basic idea that I have found so attractive personally, is to give appreciated stock to Cornell to one of the pooled life income funds and receive an income for our lifetimes that is many times the dividend yield of the stock we gave -- and we get a tax deduction in addition. This helps us while helping Cornell.
Life Income: The way it works is that you transfer stock to Cornell as a gift to the pooled fund. The Pooled Life Income fund will pay you (or your beneficiary, if you die first) all the income on the value of your piece of the Fund, for as long as you or your beneficiary live. After that, the funds go to the University. Here are the advantages that apply to my situation, and I expect also to that of many others in our class:
Tax deduction: In the tax year of your donation, you get a charitable deduction that is not dollar for dollar per IRS rules, but based on your and your beneficiary's life expectancy. For the stock I gave in 1999 with my wife as beneficiary, I got a write-off of 26 cents on the dollar based on the market value of the stock on the date of our gift.
Higher return: In building our investment portfolio over the years my wife and I have some stock in companies that have appreciated significantly in value, but pay a low dividend yield, typically around 1.3%. Particularly as I approach retirement, I would like to see more cash flow, and if I sell the stock, I'll take a significant hit in capital gains taxes. The Cornell Balanced Pooled Life Income Fund we chose for our gift is a balanced portfolio (stocks and bonds) that has historically kept a yield of about 5%. And, also, over the last ten years the Balanced Fund's income distributions have increased at a rate better than the Consumer Price Index. So, I quadrupled the income on the stock I gave, and got a tax deduction for doing it.
Improved diversification: Thanks to good stock market performance, my investments have become too heavily weighed to equities, for my tastes. In order to reduce the damage that a market downturn would do, I would like to have a more balanced situation. By moving some of the stock into the Pooled Life Income Fund I am effectively moving toward that better balance. I could not have done that directly without taking a capital gains hit.
Designated gifts: You can designate the future use of the gift to your particular areas of interest at Cornell. They do appreciate your gifts, even though they will, hopefully, have to wait a while to receive the money. Sue (Class of '60, Hum Ec) and I will generally designate some of our gift to Engineering and some to Hum Ec, with some to 150 pound football or Cornell Plantations. We split the credit for the gift between the Classes of '59 and '60.
Constraints: With those advantages come a couple of constraints. By Cornell guidelines, you and your beneficiary must be at least 50 years old. No problem for you, but you can't name one of your kids as beneficiary. And, you must start the process with a commitment of at least $10,000. This can be spread over two years, if necessary. Subsequent additions need to be at least $1000.
Other Options: There are other planned giving options in addition to the Pooled Life Income Funds, including Gift Annuities, Deferred Gift Annuities, and Charitable Remainder Trusts. Most commonly gifts of cash, securities, and real estate are contemplated to establish one of the various life income plans, but each Cornellian's plan depends on their own family's situation and that is why you should contact the Class of '59's agent in the Office of Planned Giving, Michael Degenhart, for detailed answers to your questions about the possibilities for this type of donation to Cornell. Please contact Mike by phone at 607-254-6174 or 800-481-1865, e-mail at md79@cornell.edu or write to him at Cornell University, Office of Planned Giving, 55 Brown Road, Ithaca, NY 14850.
Submitted
by Bill Day '59 billday@cctel.net