Estate Planning

In his will, Matthew Vassar provided for family and friends but left the bulk of his estate to Vassar College. In so doing, he ensured that the "magnificent enterprise" about which he cared so deeply would live on. Students whom he would never meet have benefited greatly and continue to do so because of his extraordinary generosity and his thoughtful planning.

Continuing the Vision
The legacy that is Vassar College continues today thanks to the bequests of thousands of alumnae/i and friends.

You can make a bequest through your will, trust, retirement plan or life insurance.

Should you choose to include Vassar in your estate plans, we hope you will let us know so that you may become a member of the Vassar College Society.

Wills

You can include a provision for Vassar in your will, living or other revocable trust. A bequest may be made for a specific dollar amount, a percentage of your estate or a percentage of the residue (the amount remaining after all other specific bequests have been paid). You may opt for a residuary bequest if you want the size of your gift to charity to increase or decrease accordingly with the growth of your estate. It is also possible for you to make a contingent bequest that provides for family or friends first and only benefits Vassar if the named beneficiaries predecease you.

Here is some suggested language you may wish to use:
"I hereby give, devise and bequeath__________ percent (__%) of my residuary estate to Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York, to be used for its general purposes."

"I hereby give, devise and bequeath to Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York, the sum of__________ dollars ($___) to be used for its general purposes."

Designating your bequest.
Most bequests are designated for the College’s general purposes or endowment. It is also possible to designate your bequest for a more specific area of Vassar such as scholarship, campus preservation and maintenance, the library, etc; however, unrestricted bequests tend to be the most useful. Because it is difficult to know what Vassar’s needs might be 50 years in the future, we encourage you to consider making your bequest as general as possible.

Should you have questions about an area you wish to consider supporting, please contact someone in the Gift Planning Office.

Remember: A bequest must be carefully drafted to ensure that it does what you want it to do. Please review your plans and any suggested language with your attorney.

Retirement Plans

An increasingly popular and tax-wise way of making a bequest is to name Vassar as a beneficiary of your retirement plan. You can do this by simply requesting a beneficiary designation form from your plan provider. You can name Vassar to receive all of the plan’s assets or just a portion (%) upon your death, dividing the plan among family, friends and/or other charities.

There are tax advantages to making a charity the beneficiary of a retirement plan. Because retirement funds have never been taxed, you must pay taxes as you withdraw the funds. If you die before withdrawing the funds, any of the beneficiaries named must pay the income tax on these assets. Depending upon the size of your estate, the amount your heirs receive could also be reduced by estate taxes. In some instances, after all the taxes are paid, they may receive as little as 30% of the plan’s assets. Vassar, as a non-profit organization, would pay no tax on the proceeds. For this reason, some savvy planners name Vassar (and/or other charities they hold dear) as the beneficiary of their retirement plans, leaving all the other assets in their will to friends and family who can receive "non-retirement assets" such as a house, investments, car, etc. without having to pay income tax.

The plan provider may ask for a tax identification number in order to add Vassar as a beneficiary. Vassar‘s tax id number is: 14-1338587. Please Alexas Orcutt with the Gift Planning Office at (845) 437-5487 or (800) 443-8196 and we can provide you with any information you might need.

Life Insurance

If you own life insurance that is no longer needed by family members, you may want to consider giving it to Vassar. You may simply name Vassar (and/or another charity) as the beneficiary of the policy. It is also possible to name Vassar as both the owner and beneficiary. Doing so may allow you to take an income tax deduction for a portion of the policy’s value.

↑top