Charles F. Lippincott '58 and Wife Eva

After leaving Kent I spent seven years at the University of Pennsylvania collecting an engineering degree as well as an MBA, a wife and three children. Two plus years later saw us transferred to Europe where I worked for seventeen years, most of it in London, and all of it in the oil industry. It was from there that my children came back to universities in the USA. We too came back to a foreign country called Texas and stayed for twelve more years of employment. Ellie’s death from cancer and a not-so-golden handshake gave me the opportunity to start another phase of my life with great appreciation for all that had gone on before. And so my life continues, but in new directions, with some heartaches and many blessings. Among those blessings is Eva whom I married in 1997. We now live in “paradise” on the east coast of Florida.

Why I gave to Kent:

My gift to Kent is a thank offering for blessings bestowed, and these I measure not in honors received, academic or sports, but rather the contribution made in developing me and ultimately my life.

Why gifts post-death instead of during one’s lifetime?....

Ideally the answer should be “both,” not “instead.” However, one can seldom plan so accurately that one’s assets will just be sufficient to last to the final day without creating great fears along the way. So our final gifts can be generous to a fault!

Why IRA assets?. ...

Looking at the various assets in a taxable estate, nothing that I found comes close to the efficiency for charitable giving of IRA/401K assets. Pre-death gifts of cash are better than post death gifts, because while both escape inheritance tax, pre-death gifts also generate tax deductions. The situation is similar for appreciated stocks as the capital gains tax liability is wiped out as well. In both cash and stock cases Kent receives considerably more than one’s non-spouse heirs might. Assuming a marginal inheritance tax rate of 55%, one’s children would net only 45% of the amount that Kent would receive. IRA/401K assets (excluding Roth IRA) are subject to income tax upon distribution as well as inheritance tax when they pass on by reason of death. Assuming a marginal income tax rate of 30%, then for every $100 of assets which could be directed to Kent, one’s children would receive 100 x (1-0.55-0.30) = $15. That is considerably less than the stock choice, and indeed about a seventh of what the Kent would receive.

Of course, few of us will know what the tax rates will be in advance of our death, so a judgment call needs to be made. The tax bites could be higher than my assumptions above. In any case the IRA assets standout as the first choice for charitable giving.

Office of Planned Giving
Kent School
P.O. Box 2006
Kent, CT 06757
860-927-6023 | 877-770-KENT | Fax: 860-927-6027
E-mail: kerrj@kent-school.edu