Your legacy of faith lives on when you name the Chronicle in your estate

So many print publications, including those focused on faith, have suffered and died in recent years, yet The Christian Chronicle remains strong. 

For that, we praise God.

We also thank you, our quarter of a million readers. 

In the past 22 years I have been blessed to witness a growing relationship of mutual respect between you and the Chronicle. We thank all of you who contribute financially to this work, and we are eternally grateful for your generosity. 

Now I humbly ask that you help us ensure the future of this publication by including us in your estate planning.

As we have worked steadily toward providing reliable, well-written and inspiring stories of churches across the nation and around the world, you have consistently expressed your understanding and appreciation of the positive role the Chronicle plays in keeping our 13,000 autonomous congregations connected and well-informed.

By now, you know that we work hard to keep costs down and to be the very best stewards of your money that we can be. Dedicated Christians serve as our trustees, keeping vigilant watch over everything the Chronicle does. You’ll find their names on the staff page.

One of the easiest ways to make a significant difference in the mission of this publication is to name the Chronicle as a beneficiary of your retirement plan. 

Naming the Chronicle as a beneficiary of your retirement plan is as simple as calling the custodian of your retirement plan and asking them to update your beneficiary designation.

Most plans, including 401(k), 403(b) and Traditional IRAs, are funded with pre-tax dollars or tax-deductible dollars. Since these dollars have not been previously taxed, when they pay out from the retirement plan the IRS requires taxes to be paid.  

When the owner of a retirement plan passes away and their children receive the retirement plan funds, the children must pay income taxes on the amount received as the funds come out of the plan. 

For individuals who intend to make a charitable gift through their estate plan, it often is tax-efficient to name a charity as a beneficiary of the retirement plan assets and to give other estate assets to family members. 

Often family members will not pay taxes on these other assets, and the income-tax exempt charity (The Christian Chronicle) will not pay income tax on the retirement plan gift as well.

Naming the Chronicle as a beneficiary of your retirement plan is as simple as calling the custodian of your retirement plan and asking them to update your beneficiary designation. 

Today, more and more people are making gifts from their IRA directly to charity using the Qualified Charitable Distribution. This allows a taxpayer who is at least 70 and a half — who is forced to take mandatory withdrawals from their retirement plan — to give a non-taxable gift to a charity rather than taking the money themselves and paying taxes on the distribution.

I know that a lot of this sounds complicated and laden with jargon. We’re here to help. Please call the Chronicle’s attorney, Stephen Eck, at (405)425-5080 for a free, no obligation consultation, or email me directly and allow us to discuss a plan that works best for you.

We humbly ask you to join the ranks of your brothers and sisters in Christ who in recent years have blessed The Christian Chronicle in this manner.  

Thanks again for your support of this ministry. Because of you, the Chronicle can be set on an even more solid foundation for the future. 

Contact: [email protected]

Filed under: Editorial estate planning Heritage Circle