Life insurance allows you to give to charities

by | Sep 25, 2015 | Estate Planning |

Are you thinking about giving money to charities when you pass away, and are you considering writing it into your will? While giving from your assets and accumulated wealth is certainly possible and noble, you should know that there is another way to give in New York that may be even better: by using life insurance.

Essentially, you just set up a life insurance plan that will pay out when you pass away, and you create it so that the beneficiary is not an heir, but a charitable organization. The money is then transferred to the organization, which can use it as they see fit or according to your wishes, depending on what you’ve communicated with them.

There are still benefits to you and your family when you use this plan. For one thing, it leaves more of your actual estate to be given to your heirs. They are happy with what they get, and you still get to support charities in the way that you’d like, so both sides win.

Additionally, your estate taxes can be diminished by this giving. This means that less of your estate will be reduced by taxes and your heirs actually end up keeping more of your wealth because you decided to give the life insurance money away. Over the years, this has been found to be a plan that is not only effective and beneficial, but also inexpensive.

As you decide what to do with your estate and how to benefit the causes you believe in, make sure that you really look into all of your options, even the non-traditional ones.

Source: Forbes, “Creating A Charitable Legacy Using Life Insurance,” Russ Alan Prince, Sep. 22, 2015