2 minute read
Preparing Your Estate Plan
Let me introduce myself and my staff of the Office of Mission Advancement and Development (formerly the Office of Gift Planning). My name is Alvin Blitz. I have been the Chief Development Officer for the department for over 20 years, and I am a licensed attorney in Pennsylvania where I focus on charitable and estate planning. I have traveled to each of the Masonic Village campuses to conduct resident workshops on tax and estate planning and met with hundreds of residents over the years to discuss their estate and financial goals.
David Whitenack is in our Elizabethtown office and is a certified financial planner (CFP). He has been providing similar services for our residents at this location. Joyce Michelfelder is a chartered advisor in philanthropy (CAP) and has also provided similar services for our residents at Lafayette Hill and Elizabethtown.
We all work together to assist our residents in realizing their charitable and estate planning goals.
Let me provide you with an example of our services. I was visiting Jean and Joe at the Sewickley campus the other day after one of my resident workshops. They had recently moved to Sewickley from Florida and wanted to update their estate plan. They had the usual questions about whether they should get new estate planning documents in Pennsylvania (probably) and whether they needed a Living Trust anymore (maybe, but probably not). We went over their list of assets which included the usual suspects: (1) a large traditional IRA (mainly from a 401(k) plan rollover); (2) a smaller Roth IRA; (3) a joint brokerage and checking account; and (4) a large entrance fee rebate for their villa.
We talked about the income and estate tax implications of each asset if they went to their kids or to charity, and I educated them on the PA inheritance tax, which they were sorry to hear about since there was no inheritance tax in Florida. We also talked about some alternative charitable planning for their kids with the traditional IRA, which could provide more income to the kids while leaving something for their favorite charities at the same time. We made sure their assets and the beneficiary designation forms for their IRAs were completed in a way to minimize taxes to their heirs.
I then suggested some educational articles and forms to review which would help them develop their estate plan. One article was “Advantages and Disadvantages of Living Trusts” and another was on using “Income for Life Trusts with Your IRA for Your Heirs.” I also provided several copies of “The Blitz” newsletter on other topics relevant to their estate plan. They were grateful for my assistance. We finished with me providing them a list of attorneys in the Pittsburgh area they could contact for preparing new estate planning documents.
It’s that simple. If you are new to any of our campuses or just have questions about the status of your current estate plan, I encourage you to contact our office to meet with one of our staff professionals to discuss your personal estate planning goals. Our office also contains numerous articles and educational presentations on various tax, estate and charitable planning topics, which are available via email or hard copy.
So, what are you waiting for? Don’t let 2022 slip away without getting your estate plan in order. You can’t take it with you!
Please contact us using the enclosed business reply
envelope, by calling 1-800-599-6454 or by visiting our website, MasonicCharitiesLegacy.org for more information.
