Philanthropy / Charity

“The Becks came to us with a vision about what they wanted to do with their wealth, but did not have a clear process for how to make that vision a reality. It was our job to help them determine how best to use their accumulated assets to fulfill their vision and glorify the Lord in the maximizing of those assets for the benefit of a worthwhile ministry, while allowing them to maintain a financially secure lifestyle in retirement." —Jerry Black, Founder & Managing Principal

 

 

Client Profile

Jake and Sherri Beck, both age 67, are high net worth Christians who have been retired for two years. During their time working they were faithful to save and now had more than enough to support both of them for the rest of their lives.

The Becks have very generous hearts and established a vision to give as much as possible to a particular Christian ministry about whose work they are passionate. They came to Legacy to find out how much they could reasonably give and the best way to structure and steward that gift.

 

Challenges

  • Jake and Sherri Beck wanted to gift a large sum to a Christian ministry they have worked with for over 20 years.

  • The Becks wanted to gift during their lifetime so they could tangibly see the impact of their gift.

  • Jake and Sherri did not know exactly how much they could give and still live securely, maintaining peace of mind.

  • The Becks also did not know the best method to gift considering their investments, cash on hand, and real estate assets.

 

Solutions

  • We met with the Becks to gain a clear understanding of their overall financial position and the value they placed on generosity. This allowed us to estimate a generous amount to gift, while also ensuring they would continue to be secure in retirement.

  • Our advisors did extensive follow-up work with the Christian organization to better understand how they operated and what type of gift would most benefit their mission.

  • After looking through Becks’ assets and spending time in conversation with them, Legacy determined that the couple owned a real estate asset they were currently renting, but had little interest in either continuing to rent or keeping up with the property.

  • Our advisors presented a recommendation to the Becks of gifting the real estate property to the ministry, and explaining the favorable tax treatment such type of gift would engender, to which they were very receptive.

  • Legacy took care of the details of the property transfer and facilitated the gift of property to the ministry, which was sold in a short period of time and resulted in a substantial gift to the ministry.

 

Ongoing Results

The plan we developed for the Becks had a number of positive impacts in their life, which was all made possible through the clarity that was gained by delving into their situation to better understand their desires, and determining the best method through they could gift. In meeting with the Becks a number of times, we were able to develop a plan that resulted in the couple being able to gift an asset they no longer needed or wanted to contend with. The asset provided the ministry with a substantial amount of funds, and the Becks received a tax benefit from the deductibility of the gift. Another positive result that came out of this work is that in performing due diligence to learn about details of the ministry and meeting with ministry leaders to better understand the methods the ministry used, one of our advisors decided to get personally involved with the ministry and is now a regular donor to the organization.

The Becks came to us with a vision about what they wanted to do with their wealth, but did not have a clear understanding of, or process for, how to make that vision a reality. It was our job to help them determine how best to use their accumulated assets to fulfill their vision and glorify the Lord in the maximizing of those assets for the benefit of a worthwhile ministry, while allowing them to maintain a financially secure lifestyle in retirement. Scripture states, “From everyone who has been given much, much will be required”. King Solomon once declared that all the riches in the world does not make one happy — a credible source considering he was one of the richest men of all time! He also knew that great wisdom was necessary to managing all that he possessed. It is both our responsibility and our joy as advisors to help philanthropically-minded clients determine the causes and organizations toward which they feel most passionate, identify the best ways to support those causes, and experience the gift of giving and serving.

 

While this client story is true, names and certain information have been changed to protect identities.