By Jay Peregrine, executive director, Urantia Foundation, Chicago, Illinois, United States
Urantia.PlannedGiving.org [2] is a free online service to help you develop a good estate plan, whether you are thinking of leaving a gift of cash or property to your family, to Urantia Foundation, to another charity, or a combination of these. This new website, recently rolled out as an adjunct to Urantia.org, includes
- an estate planning section;
- a will planning wizard;
- an online tool to help you calculate your personal financial goals;
- an interactive tool to help you Plan-a-Gift;
- ways to support Urantia Foundation (or another charity) that do not affect your current lifestyle or your family’s security;
- gifts that pay you income;
- gifts that protect your assets; and
- a tool to compare gift plans to see which is best for you.
On the site you will find free brochures covering many of these topics, which you can download and read at your convenience, share with your spouse or financial advisor, or give to a loved one who may need help with estate planning.
Do you know how to avoid the potential double taxation your retirement savings would face if you designated them to your heirs? Read the section “Put Your IRA to Work for Urantia Foundation.”
Do you know that fifty-five percent of adults in the United States do not have a will (according to WikiAnswers.com)? The government will receive a large portion of your estate if you do not have a will! Use the Will Planning Wizard to assemble the information you need to draft a will, or use the sample codicil to add a gift to Urantia Foundation to your existing will.
If you need a monthly income in retirement but want to save on your taxes, read the section on charitable or gift annuities, “Gifts that Pay You Income.”
If you have a professional financial advisor, ask him or her to look at the section entitled “For Professional Advisors.” There they will find important information about making gifts to Urantia Foundation as well as helpful free tools.
We hope this online tool will be a useful service to supporters of Urantia Foundation, and that, as you think about estate planning, you will consider remembering what The Urantia Book has meant to you by remembering in your will Urantia Foundation, the original publisher and distributor of the book worldwide.