Retirement Funds
Good News!
Congress has extended legislation that permits donors to make charitable gifts from their IRA accounts through 2009. The Charitable IRA Rollover permits taxpayers age 701⁄2 and older to make gifts directly from their IRAs and Roth IRAs to qualified public charities such as AFHU without incurring income tax on the withdrawal. Under the Act, the maximum amount of charitable contributions allowable for an individual from IRAs is $100,000 per year; in the case of a married couple, $100,000 per spouse, per year.
If you no longer depend on your retirement funds to assure your financial security, you may want to take advantage of this opportunity to use these assets to establish a planned gift, especially since IRAs and pensions are often the most heavily taxed assets in an estate. This enables you to leave less tax-burdened assets to your heirs.
Although mandatory minimum distributions from IRAs are waived for 2009, there is still a benefit to our donors ages 70 ½ and above who may wish to use withdrawals from their IRAs, 401(k)s and 403(b)s to make charitable contributions directly to AFHU without income tax consequences. To learn how to make a tax-free distribution from your individual retirement plan to AFHU in support of the Hebrew University, please download the brochure, The Charitable IRA Rollover: Frequently Asked Questions.
For more information, please contact an AFHU regional office near you.
