The newest member of the Lighthouse Legacy Society is Lighthouse board of trustees chair Douglas M. Klan. Doug has served on the Lighthouse board for seventeen years. He recently became a Lighthouse Legacy Society member upon notifying Lighthouse staff in writing that he had named the Seattle Lighthouse for the Blind as a partial beneficiary of an IRA account.
I decided to go this route for several reasons. I knew I wanted to make a planned gift to support the Lighthouse after I am gone, but unless the unforeseen happens I will be around for a good long while yet. So, I made the Lighthouse partial beneficiary of an IRA account along with my wife. This insures that a significant gift to the Lighthouse is in place in case something happens to me, and that my wife is provided for at the same time.
If things go according to plan, we will be spending funds in that retirement account ten or fifteen years from now. At that point we will be re-evaluating our situation and making a different kind of planned gift to the Lighthouse that fits with our overall estate planning needs at that time.
I think it is important for people to realize that there is a lot of flexibility and a wide range of options for making planned gifts that work well for individual and family circumstances as well as for the Lighthouse. I would encourage those interested in learning more about various possibilities to contact the Lighthouse development department for some general information about making planned gifts.
As for me, I can now rest assured that this initial planned gift is in place and I can make modifications in the future as needed.
