BY JEFFREY K. WILSON

Talk about wills, trusts, planned giving, and similar subjects and many people will tune out the speaker instantly. And that's understandable since we tend connect those subjects with our demise. While it's true those things take death into account, there's a much more positive and enjoyable way to see it. Wills and trusts and the like are an incredible (and remarkably easy) way to both provide for your family and contribute to God's work. And, by the way, making a will won't make you die sooner. In fact, thinking ahead is always more likely to extend your life than it is to shorten it. Here are a couple of stories that illustrate how several people found joy-yes, joy-in making their wills and trusts.

When Dr. Bethany L. Jackson decided to prepare an estate plan several factors were important to her. Her first priority was to provide for her family. Her second priority was Christian education.

Dr. Jackson is a clinical associate professor in the Department of Nutrition, School of Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "All my children have attended Adventist schools, some from kindergarten through the graduate degree level. I've always admired someone with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures gained through Christian education," she says. "That's why I wanted to see others receive what I missed."

As a young widow, Dr. Jackson married Frank Jackson, Jr. Their love and interest in young people went far beyond their own family. They "adopted" and mentored so many young people that they jokingly called themselves the fastest growing family in the West. Since the Jacksons know no boundaries to their extended family, they wanted to be generous to Adventist Christian education. 

"That's why I provided resources after my passing for scholarships at Pine Forge Academy, Oakwood College, and Andrews University," says Dr. Jackson. "I just want to make sure the next generation of young people have the resources necessary to attend these wonderful schools."

"If I weren't a single parent, I wouldn't feel so strongly about this," says Rebekah Wang Cheng, who goes by Dr.Becky, a physician and a single mom to three sons. "I want to make the critical choices about the guardianship of my children and the charitable and family disposition of my assets while my mind is clear and not lay the burden on my loved ones to try to presume what I might want."

But not long ago, Dr. Becky admits, "I was so busy I didn't think about estate planning until I began reading a Trust Services newsletter. That got me thinking."

She contacted an Adventist trust services officer to help update her will and trust. Today, in addition to providing for her family, an endowment fund to perpetuate the Center for College Faith is one beneficiary of Dr. Becky's estate plan.

One might wonder why she isn't giving all of her estate to her children. But Dr. Becky tells about a Week of Prayer presentation she gave for a group of students during which she felt God working through her to reach out to young people.

"I wondered what a middle-aged, divorced woman could do for young busy students so involved in such critical decisions regarding careers, life companions, lifestyles, and how real to make God in their lives. 

"Somehow we connected, this student of the early '70s with these students of the late '90s. We realized God was not finished with any of us. I made so many friends for life from among students, faculty, and staff.

She says that seeing her own two teenagers struggle with their faith made her realize how much more we need to know about the factors that lead young people into an eternal relationship with Jesus.
An estate plan was one way Dr. Becky chose to continue helping young people. She says,"I am so pleased to have my personal house in order." 

About ten years before retirement, Lewis and Della Mae Carson began thinking seriously about saving for future security. Advisors suggested they save the maximum during this short period with an Individual Retirement Account (IRA), which they did. And they managed to make up for the years when their money was going to their children's Christian education.

Before they knew it, they were five years into retirement and looking at mandatory withdrawals from their IRA coming in about a year. They realized they had enough to live on from their Social Security and denominational retirement income, so what were they to do with the IRA income?

This led them to the office of Scott Schalk, their financial advisor, who had some Christian advice. "You'll experience the greatest joy and pay the fewest taxes by giving money away," he said. However, as they began to explore the possibilities they soon found that should something happen to them, their children could inherit only a fraction of their IRAs because of all the taxes that would immediately come due.

Legal counsel suggested a "give twice strategy"--a way to give to both their children and to the Lord's work and avoid a substantial amount of taxes. (See the side bar for details on how this plan worked.)

"We worked for the Lord for so many years," Says Della. "I stayed home when the children were small and we had so very little, but we did as much as we could, and the Lord has richly blessed us."
We really want to help young people in our local church, and in college. We worked our way through school and now we want to help other youth who have to work. God has made it possible through the living trust and irrevocable insurance trust for us to give a lot more now, and even more later than we ever imagined. We simply can't praise Him enough."

Sidebar

Irrevocable Insurance Trust
The trust the Carsons made is called an irrevocable insurance trust. The way it works is that the Carsons make yearly withdrawals from their IRA. They withdraw enough to pay the income tax due, and the rest they put into a special trust. After a specified time a trustee that the Carsons named, takes the money and pays the yearly premium on an insurance policy to benefit their kids. After their death, the entire amount of the insurance policy will belong to their children. The result is that the children will receive a much larger inheritance from the income and estate tax-free insurance trust than they would from inheriting their parent's IRA directly.

The way God's work benefits is that the principal from the IRA goes to the church. That principal would otherwise have been subject to several different types of taxes, but when it's transferred to the church it is no longer subject to those taxes.

This is an oversimplified description. The legal issues are complicated. But working with an Adventist trust officer makes it easy. You can contact your trust officer at a conference office, college, or university if you'd like more information. You're also welcome to call the General Conference Trust Services office at 301 680-5002 to find how you can contact your local trust officer.

Jeffrey K. Wilson is the new director of the General Conference Trust Services effective February, 2000.

More Trust Services Information
Frequently Asked Questions on Trust Services

Christian Financial Web sites
Christian Financial Concepts
Crosswalk.Com--Money