Winter 2004

Katherine Beck Plans to Give

Katherine Beck, a self-employed accounting consultant and Board of Trustees member since 1996, talks about her decision to include a planned gift to the Lighthouse in her financial plans.

As a committed, long-time Seattle Lighthouse board member, I am interested in making sure that the organization’s mission and programs are carried out far into the future. I realize that the problems we are addressing, the lack of opportunity for people who are blind to find employment and live independently, are difficult ones that unfortunately won’t be going away in the near term. That is why I began thinking about how I could arrange to give financial support through what is called a “planned gift.”

My family’s financial circumstances are different than those of many other Lighthouse board members. My husband and I are in our mid-forties, and we have an eight year old child. We don’t plan to retire for at least fifteen more years. Not surprisingly, a large cash contribution from our savings account doesn’t make sense for us at this time. 

And, since we have a dependent child to provide for, making the Lighthouse the beneficiary of one of our life insurance policies isn’t suitable either.

However, when the Lighthouse Resource Development Department introduced me to the idea of allocating funds from a 401k or IRA account, it made a lot of sense for me and my family.

Being self-employed over the past few years, I have set up a “Self Employed Pension Plan,” (SEPP) very similar to an IRA. Like an IRA, all the funds I contributed to this retirement account are in pre-tax dollars. This means that at the time I withdraw funds, the taxes must be paid. However, if the Lighthouse, which is a tax exempt nonprofit, received the funds, no taxes at all would be owed to the government.

For example, if there were $50,000 in my retirement account at the time of my death, it would be worth the full $50,000 to the Lighthouse, but perhaps only $30,000 or $35,000 to my family.  My family would have to pay the taxes not originally paid when I made contributions to the account, but the Lighthouse would not.

The money in my retirement account continues belonging to me and my family for the rest of my life. If we need it for an emergency, to remodel the house, to take a trip or to pay for college, we still have access to it. (Unfortunately we will still have to pay those pesky IRS penalties if we take money out early.)

I can also change the beneficiary back to a family member at any time before my death if our circumstances change.

Making the Lighthouse for the Blind Foundation. the beneficiary of my retirement account is a real win-win situation for my family and an organization I care about deeply.  The paperwork was easy to fill out, and I have the satisfaction of knowing I am making a significant contribution in helping create opportunities for blind people in our community.

If you have any questions about how you might include a gift to the Lighthouse in your financial planning, please contact Kirk Adams, Director of Public Relations and Resource Development, at 206-436-2110 or kadams@seattlelh.com. There are lots of ways to make a gift that will help you carry out your charitable wishes and make sense for your family’s financial circumstances.

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