Planned Giving to the BMCM endowment fund ensures that the legacy of Eknath Easwaran will continue for generations, enriching the lives of those to come.

There are a variety of ways to contribute and – at the same time – benefit yourself and your family.

Wills

You can leave a bequest to the BMCM by setting the exact amount, specifying a percentage, or allocating the remainder of your estate. You can also name the BMCM as a contingent beneficiary should one or more of your beneficiaries fail to survive you. Or you can make a life income bequest in which you donate cash or other assets and specify the income be paid to another individual throughout his or her lifetime. The principal then would go to the BMCM.

Revocable Living Trust

The BMCM can be named as a beneficiary in your living trust, just as in a will.

Insurance Policy

Naming the BMCM as either the sole or partial beneficiary on your life insurance policy can help the Center greatly, often at very little cost to you. Friends have named the Center as beneficiary of life insurance policies that they received as a job benefit. Other ways to help the Center are through transferring beneficiary status and ownership of a paid-up policy that you no longer rely upon (there is an immediate tax deduction for this). Or, you might purchase a new policy and name the Center as owner and/or beneficiary.

Charitable Remainder Trust

There are significant immediate income tax advantages to establishing this kind of irrevocable trust. In a charitable remainder trust, you place your cash or other asset into an account, which you may still manage or choose a manager to invest for you. You get an immediate tax deduction of part of the assets donated, but you can continue throughout your life to receive a designated annual income from this account. After your lifetime, what remains in the account will belong to the Center and will not be subject to death tax.

Real Estate, Stocks, Securities, or other Non-Cash Property

Donating non-cash property to a nonprofit such as the Center also brings with it an immediate income tax deduction, and it may eliminate significant capital gains taxes. A person who sells property – such as real estate or stocks – that has appreciated in value over the years often pays more than a third of that increased value in capital gains taxes. But if that person donates the same appreciated property to the Center, he or she gets an immediate deduction and pays no capital gains taxes.

Savings Accounts or Certificates of Deposit

An easy way to benefit the Center is to make it a joint owner of a savings account with rights of survivorship or the beneficiary of a trustee bank account. You continue to have access to the account with the ability to withdraw savings at will, but after your lifetime the balance reverts to the Center.

Retirement Plans

You may designate the Center as the death beneficiary of a company pension or profit-sharing plan or private accounts such as an IRA, Keogh, or tax-sheltered annuity. Anyone who is over age 59 also might consider making a year-end gift to the Center from assets withdrawn from his or her qualified retirement plan. This would offset one income tax normally due on this withdrawal and avoid death tax on the amount gifted. You may find this to be the most convenient way to give, especially if you are over age 70 and are required by law to begin withdrawing these retirement funds.