Legacy Society, 2013 Winter Newsletter

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HABITAT FOR HUMANITY GREATER SAN FRANCISCO INC 645 HARRISON ST STE 201 SAN FRANCISCO CA 94107-3624

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Our Most Important Legacy Is One of Responsibility, Compassion and Generosity

CONTACT Kristine Leja at (415) 625-1015 or kleja@habitatgsf.org to discuss the different ways you can support Habitat Greater SF through your estate plan.

In the Bay Area, it is easy to find someone who has more than you do and just as easy to forget how many people have less. It’s really important for us to remember that we have been fortunate in our lives and that it is our responsibility and our privilege to be able to reach out and help lift someone else up.

Maggie and Dave Wooll

Habitat’s mission is so tangible. Through the efforts of many volunteers, community leaders and staff, Habitat is helping responsible people with a strong work ethic and great potential to help themselves, their families and their communities.

We know that the playing field is not level. Bad luck, accidents, unemployment, bad decisions, illness – the consequences are felt much more severely by people without financial security and family stability. Home ownership goes a long way toward helping a family find security and stability, and the children growing up in those homes will have a much better chance at success.

Habitat’s work gives people that extra boost they need as they help themselves reach their potential. Habitat does what it can to help level the playing field.

We believe that our legacy should reflect the same values we have in life. More important than any amount of money we might leave to our son is that we leave him with an understanding of the world and of his own good fortune and his responsibility to be compassionate and generous.

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VISIT www.habitatgsf.org to learn more about our mission and how you can help.

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RETURN the attached 30-second survey to receive the guide How to Plan for Your Heirs.

How to Plan For Your Heirs

By Dave and Maggie Wooll

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Retirement accounts are excellent vehicles for accumulating assets for your use during retirement, but they are terrible for transferring wealth to others. People often end up with unconsumed balances in these accounts which are subject to taxes. Those balances could instead be used to support causes that you really care about. Naming Habitat for Humanity Greater San Francisco, a tax-exempt charity, as the beneficiary of these assets after your lifetime eliminates any assessment of income or estate taxes. This means that we can put the full value of your retirement assets to good work supporting our mission.

Designating Habitat Greater SF as the full or partial beneficiary of a retirement account is a simple matter of requesting beneficiary forms from the company that manages your retirement account. No legal fees or cumbersome documentation is necessary.

Winter 2013

3 Actions You Can Take Today

Retirement Plan Assets: An Easy-toArrange Gift That Makes the Most Of Your Assets

645 Harrison Street, Suite 201 San Francisco, CA 94107

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What’s Inside:

• How Will 2013 Tax Laws Affect You? • Retirement Plan Assets: An Easy-to-Arrange Gift

A Look at What Has Changed Since 2012 The new tax landscape looks very different than it did in 2012. Here is a brief summary covering some of what you can expect.

IRA charitable rollover: For 2012 and 2013, donors aged 70½ or older are once again eligible to move up to $100,000 from their IRAs directly to qualified charities without having to pay income taxes on the money. You may make a gift on or before Dec. 31, 2013, to qualify for 2013. Qualified distributions made before Feb. 1, 2013, may be counted retroactively for 2012. Also, a taxpayer who took a distribution from an IRA in December 2012 may make a contribution to a qualified charity before Feb. 1, 2013, and treat that as a direct transfer.

Income taxes: Tax rates increase for those taxpayers earning more than $400,000 a year and for married couples earning more than $450,000. The top income tax rate has been raised from 35 percent in 2012 to 39.6 percent in 2013.

Estate, gift and generation-skipping taxes: The 2013 tax law permanently preserves the current individual gift, estate and generation-skipping tax to a unified $5 million exemption. This amount will be indexed for inflation each year. The top estate and gift tax rates will rise from 35 percent to 40 percent. The annual gift tax exclusion – the amount you can give to anyone gift tax–free each year – is now $14,000 ($28,000 for married couples). © The Stelter Company. The information in this publication is not intended as legal advice. For legal advice, please consult an attorney.

Figures cited in examples are for hypothetical purposes only and are subject to change. References to estate and income taxes include federal taxes only. State income/estate taxes or state law may impact your results.

Portability: In 2013, the portability provision was made permanent, meaning if one spouse dies without using up his or her federal estate tax exemption, the unused portion can be transferred to the surviving spouse.

Itemized deductions and personal exemptions: In 2013, itemized deductions are reduced for individuals earning $250,000 or more and for married couples earning $300,000 or more. Personal exemptions for these taxpayers are also being phased out.

Dividend income: Qualified dividend income will be taxed at a maximum rate of 20 percent.

Long-term capital gains: The capital gains tax rate will depend on a taxpayer’s ordinary income tax rate. The capital gains tax will be waived for taxpayers below the 25 percent ordinary income tax rate. For those taxpayers who fall at or above the 25 percent ordinary income tax rate but below the 39.6 percent tax rate, the capital gains tax will be 15 percent. For those at the 39.6 percent ordinary income tax rate, the capital gains tax will be 20 percent.

Payroll taxes: In 2013, the Social Security payroll tax increases from 4.2 percent to 6.2 percent, meaning taxpayers will have more withheld from each paycheck.

30-Second Survey

Our Mission Statement Habitat for Humanity Greater San Francisco partners with working families and engages the community to build affordable ownership housing in Marin, San Francisco and on the Peninsula. The volunteers, donors and homeowners who join with us share a belief: hard work and success go hand in hand. Every day, we do what Habitat does best around the globe. But we do it right here in a very Bay Area way, by coming up with inventive solutions to our area’s expensive real estate challenges.

Because when we invest in our neighbors’ quest to become a homeowner, it benefits the whole community.

Our 2020 Vision incorporates the richness of the Bay Area community, the power of volunteer civic engagement, and the organization’s core competencies to dramatically extend our impact. It moves Habitat Greater SF beyond the premise of building single-family homes into the development of critical neighborhood assets that will benefit scores of local neighborhoods and their residents in Marin, San Francisco and the Peninsula.

Thanks to supporters like you, Habitat Greater SF builds more than homes; we build opportunity.

Please complete and return today. Thank you!

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How to Plan For Your Heirs

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How Will 2013 Tax Laws Affect You?

Please send me How to Plan for Your Heirs.

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A Resource Just for You Estate planning allows you to address the important needs of your loved ones while

Consult your tax advisor today to find out what the new tax laws will do to your bottom line and how to plan accordingly.

reflecting your personal wishes. Return the attached survey to receive your copy of How to Plan for Your Heirs to find helpful tips on preparing the most effective estate plan possible.

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