Your Legacy - January 2015

YOUR

5

LEGACY

January 2015

University Hospitals Kingston Foundation

inspiring ways you can make a difference

1. Make a deferred gift in your Will through a bequest such as a: • specific bequest (securities, cash, real estate, or cultural properties) • universal bequest (the total estate) • residual bequest (a portion or percentage of the estate after specific bequests, debts and taxes are paid) 2. Set up a gift of life insurance – it’s as simple as changing the beneficiary of your policy.

3. Give a gift of stock – this is a convenient and tax effective way to donate. If you pass the stock directly to UHKF before liquidating the assets, your Estate will receive the full benefit through a charitable receipt with no capital gains.

4. Plan a gift of retirement savings – see Page 3 for more information.

5. Talk to your professional advisor, tell them what you would like to do for the hospitals and get their advice on how to do it in your best interest.

Dr. Roger Deeley, Vice President of Research at Kingston General Hospital thanks Dr. Charles Bird for his legacy gift toward future discoveries.

A legacy of research for a healthier future

Dr. Charles Bird spent his career researching the role hormones play in breast and prostate cancer patients at his Etherington Hall lab at Kingston General Hospital (KGH).

Although he retired in 1994, the

respected endocrinologist has made plans to continue contributing to discoveries that will make a difference in the care provided within our hospitals. Dr. Bird is making a deferred gift as part of his Cont’d on Page 4

In this issue...

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Feeling good about your legacy

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Recognizing estate gifts today

Page 3

Saving for retirement and considering a gift of RRSPs

FEELING GOOD ABOUT YOUR LEGACY

Recognizing estate and planned giving today

We all have a strong human desire to be remembered for the difference we make in the lives of others.

UHKF would like to recognize you for your deferred gift today.

Supporters of the care teams in our hospitals in Kingston already know how good it feels to help. Equipment is purchased to care for patients, health care professionals receive education and professional development support, and research is conducted into better ways to diagnose and treat a variety of illnesses.

Below, Marion Smith of Picton is pictured with a leaf bearing her name on the Evergreen Tree. This special tree is a place where those who have made a gift in their Will can be honoured while they are still living. As with all of UHKF’s recognition programs, donors have a choice as to whether they wish to be recognized publicly.

Once received, estate gifts are listed on the donor recognition walls at each of the hospitals.

Charity, though, is not limited to your lifetime. You can ensure that your giving continues to help others long after you are gone.

Anyone who is ‘wealthy in spirit’ can arrange to leave a charitable gift from their estate, regardless of its size.

Estate gifts are recognized in the organizations where they are making a difference.

Shared gifts are honoured across all three organizations.

Pictured above is the new estate giving wall at Kingston General Hospital, located just outside of the Abramsky lobby in the main Davies entrance. This is where donations to KGH and the Cancer Centre of Southeastern Ontario are recognized.

There are many ways to leave a gift, but the most common is a charitable bequest through your Will.

Whatever you decide to give, and however you decided to structure the gift, the most important thing is to feel good about doing it.

For more information on the options that would best suit your personal situation, contact your professional advisor, or contact UHKF’s Associate Director, Planned Giving Zoë MacKenzie at (613) 549 -6666 ext.

4953.

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Your Legacy.

Saving for your retirement and considering a legacy gift of RRSPs Saving for your retirement has become an essential part of a complete financial plan. However, have you considered what happens to your Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) or Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF) when you pass away?

assets like these directly to charity through a beneficiary designation or a bequest gift in your Will.

How it works: There are two possible ways of using your RRSP or RRIF to make a charitable gift.

1

Upon your death, where a surviving spouse is a named Zoë MacKenzie, CPCA, beneficiary, these registered Associate Director, savings are transferred to his/ Planned Giving, UHKF her name without tax liability.

However, where there is no surviving spouse (or disabled child) listed as the beneficiary, these accounts are deemed to be disposed of and 100 per cent of the remaining balance is added to your income in the year of death.

The tax liability resulting from this disposition will be borne by your estate on your final income tax return. If other income was earned in the year of death, this could easily be subject to tax at the highest marginal tax rate. Your estate is still liable for taxes due on disposition of the RRSP/ RRIF. For many donors, an RRSP or RRIF plan will contribute significantly to income in the year of death. Since Canadians can now receive tax credits for charitable gifts of up to 100 per cent of their income in the year of death (and retroactive one year) – it may make good sense to gift

Benefits of RRSP/RRIF gifts 1. Naming a charity as beneficiary or alternate beneficiary is revocable (can be changed).

2. Simple to arrange through a change in beneficiary or alternate beneficiary.

3. Tax credits for donor’s estate can effectively eliminate the taxes due on the disposition of the RRSP/RRIF on the final tax return of the deceased.

4. Gift is not subject to probate fees.

Make your estate the beneficiary of the RRSP or RRIF after both you and your spouse have passed away, and have the estate donate an equivalent value to the charity. Your Will must specify a bequest gift to the charity that is equal to the value of the registered savings plan, either as a fixed dollar amount or as a percentage of the total estate.

You may also gift the asset specifically by naming its account number and financial institution. If your spouse survives you, then your spouse’s Will must provide for a similar bequest. A receipt will be issued to the estate to offset the tax on the registered savings payable by the estate. Using this method, the asset is included in the estate and probate fees are payable on it. If you gift the asset by naming it specifically and subsequently change financial institutions, the gift will not occur. Donors might consider this option if they lack cash in the estate to pay the resulting taxes.

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Make your favourite charities the beneficiary or alternate beneficiary of your RRSP or RRIF. Upon your death, or that of your spouse, the charity receives the balance of the asset directly from the financial institution.

Your estate receives tax credits for the charitable gift to offset the tax on income. Because the asset passes outside of your estate, no probate fees are payable on the asset, resulting in further savings for the estate. Using this method, charities have no involvement in your estate and receive their gift in a timely fashion. Donors should ensure that there are sufficient liquid assets to pay the taxes on the resulting disposition.

Because of several possibilities surrounding gifts of RRSPs and RRIFs which have varying tax and estate planning implications, potential donors should consult with their own professional advisors before proceeding. I would be happy to answer any questions you may have. I am also able to link you with professional advisors who are members of LEAVE A LEGACY™ SEO, if you don’t currently have an advisor.

Zoë MacKenzie can be reached at (613) 549-6666 ext.

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Your Hospitals. Your Health. Your Future.

3

Dr. Bird’s legacy, a gift of discovery Cont’d from Page 1 Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF) to the University Hospitals Kingston Foundation (UHKF) to be used for patient-oriented research at KGH. He will make a similar donation to Queen’s University and another to his church.

“This is something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time, because I just enjoyed every day at Queen’s and at KGH, both on the clinical side and on the research side,” Dr. Bird says.

He shared his lab with Dr. Albert Clark from the Department of Biochemistry at Queen’s, creating one of the first research relationship pairings of a basic scientist and clinical scientist in Canadian medical schools.

“I’m sure there were other pairs, but not many that worked as well together as Albert and I did,” Dr. Bird recalls. They also worked closely with the Special Investigation Unit in the Angada wing, where Dr. Bird gathered data directly from people diagnosed with breast or prostate cancer.

Research today is happening at a much faster pace. Our computerized and connected world speeds up the ability to both share and assess

information. One of the highlights from Dr. Bird’s early career was the first time his team received analysis of some of his data from a large mainframe computer, after it chugged through analysis of punch cards and tape.

“The results were exactly as we predicted!” he says with a smile.

Another turning point was in 1974 when he was appointed the first-ever Associate Dean of Research within the Department of Medicine at Queen’s and the second or third at any Canadian university.

“I’ve always believed that fundamental research is the key to making progress in medicine. You don’t make progress, you stand still if you don’t have new ideas and approaches coming in all the time. So I’m commited to research.”

Dr. Bird also knows how fortunate we are in the Kingston region to have access to the level of services that are available.

“My mentor, Larry Wilson, used to say that if a man from the moon came down to Canada to look at the medical schools, one of the ques-

tions that he would ask is why is there one in Kingston which is so small?” Dr. Bird recalls.

cians.

He settled here because Kingston is a great place to raise a family, while having the academic benefit of Queen’s. He was also raised just down the road in Gananoque - coming from a family of physi-

“My grandfather, my uncle and my father were all family doctors in Gananoque,” he says. “So it was sort of ordained that one of my two brothers or myself would have to be a doctor. One brother became a banker and the other a nuclear physicist, so I became the doctor.” Instead of training immediately at the University of Toronto as his predecessors had, he attended medical school at Queen’s, although his residency studies did take him to Toronto for a few years.

When Dr. Bird was growing up in Gananoque there were seven family physicians - six lived on the same street and three of them were named Bird. “It was a tight little nest, if you like, that I was in,” he jokes.

To watch a video of Dr. Bird’s story, visit: www.uhkf.ca/drbird

For further information please contact: Zoë MacKenzie, CPCA, Associate Director, Planned Giving (613) 549-6666 ext. 4953 55 Rideau St., Suite 4, Kingston, ON K7K 2Z8 Phone: 613-549-5452 - Fax: 613-549-5455 Email: foundation@uhkf.ca

University Hospitals Kingston Foundation supports:

Charitable # 820218147 RR0001

Your Hospitals.Your Health.Your Future.

The information and opinions contained in this newsletter are obtained from various sources believed to be reliable, but their accuracy cannot be guaranteed. University Hospitals Kingston Foundation and its employees and agents assume no responsibility for errors or omissions or for damages arising from the use of the published information and opinions. Readers are cautioned to consult their own professional advisors to determine the applicability of information and opinions in this newsletter in any particular circumstances. This newsletter is under copyright; its reproduction in whole or in part without the written permission of the copyright owner is forbidden.