RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS

If your current and anticipated future needs are met through your retirement or other assets, consider donating some or all of the distributions from a retirement account to the ELCT. This option could allow you to send such funds to the ELCT without you incurring a tax liability and possibly generating a tax deduction for you. Retirement account options include:

RETIREMENT ACCOUNT (IRA, 401k, 403b, 457, etc.) BENEFITS

The beneficiary designations you make on a retirement account, like an IRA, generally supersede any other instructions you leave, including your will. To name or change a beneficiary to your retirement account(s), a new Beneficiary Form will need to be completed and filed with the Retirement Account Administrator (and/or individual investment products within the Retirement Account.) The Beneficiary Form may vary depending on how the Retirement Account is set up, i.e. the products (mutual funds, stocks, bonds, etc.) and the retirement account administrator (brokerage, financial service company, bank, etc.). The Retirement Account Administrator sends regular account statements with a contact phone number to the owner of the account.

HOW TO DO THIS?

After discussing the proposed changes with family and advisors, the donor should contact his/her Retirement Account Administrator by phone or mail and request a Change of Beneficiary Form.

Update the Change of Beneficiary form to reflect the donor’s wishes. The FUMC EVERLIVING CHURCH TRUST can be named as either a Primary Beneficiary or a Contingent/backup Beneficiary (if the Primary Beneficiary(s) pre-decease the donor). Please contact the FUMC Business Manager to request the FUMC Tax ID Number to use in place of a Social Security Number, if needed.   Follow the form’s directions concerning having the signature officially witnessed/notarized (typically available at your bank, or at your attorney’s, accountant’s, or financial advisor’s office). Make a copy of the Change of Beneficiary Form for the donor’s files, mail a copy to the FUMC Business Manager, and return the original signed form to the Retirement Fund Administrator following their directions. Upon the donor’s death, FUMC will contact the donor’s family and plan administrator to start the process to liquidate the retirement plan’s assets.