Life Insurance and Retirement Accounts

Naming Shenandoah the beneficiary of a life insurance policy or retirement account is a simple and tax-beneficial way to give.

Life Insurance Policy

Making a life insurance gift offers options with tax benefits to donors:

• Gifts that fund premium payments on new or existing policies are tax deductible.


• Naming Shenandoah the beneficiary of an existing policy reduces estate tax liability.


• Giving an existing policy removes it from your taxable estate, earning an immediate tax deduction approximately equal to the policy’s cash value.

Making a gift of life insurance is an affordable way to give because donors can select premium payments that fit their incomes. It’s a particularly effective way for younger individuals to make consistent, small premium payments that will ultimately guarantee a gift that will have a powerful impact.

Retirement Account

Donors can make planned gifts to Shenandoah University from retirement accounts, such as IRAs, tax-sheltered annuities and qualified employee benefit plans. These type of gifts are an excellent way to fund testamentary charitable gifts. When the assets pass to non-charitable beneficiaries, they are taxed as ordinary income. When these assets are given to charity, they are exempt from income tax when distributed.

The combined effects of estate and income taxes can deplete 65 percent or more of a retirement account. These assets can be left to Shenandoah without income, estate and probate tax consequences.

Making gifts through retirement plans is simpler than doing so through a will, and heirs benefit by the removal of a highly taxable asset from an estate.

Our Development staff welcomes the opportunity to help you and your financial advisor make a planned gift. Contact Brad Snowden at (540) 665-5455 or bsnowden@su.edu.

SHENANDOAH UNIVERSITY

1460 University Drive, Winchester, Virginia 22601-5195

Phone: 800.432.2266