If you would like to support the mission of the Cutaneous Lymphoma Foundation while avoiding the very high tax burden associated with retirement plan assets, naming our Foundation as beneficiary of your retirement plan assets may be a very attractive planned giving option for you.

If the largest asset in your estate is your retirement plan—your 401(k), IRA, Keogh, or other such accounts—you may be surprised to learn that the IRS will impose income tax on any balance that you direct to a non-spouse beneficiary. This tax is in addition to the estate tax that will be imposed on the account. For estates fully subject to the estate tax, the result can be that 75% of the value of your retirement plan will be consumed in taxes before your child, relative, or another individual receives it.

There is a sensible charitable alternative: name the Cutaneous Lymphoma Foundation as the beneficiary of your retirement plan and then use other assets not subject to income tax to make gifts to your heirs. The Cutaneous Lymphoma Foundation will not pay income tax on its distribution and your heirs will receive their share of your estate without the burden of additional taxes.

In addition to providing a gift to the Cutaneous Lymphoma Foundation that will help so many patients and other stakeholders affected by cutaneous lymphoma, you will receive many benefits including:

• The deferred income tax which would be due upon distribution to an individual beneficiary is exempted for distributions to a charitable beneficiary.
• The pension or retirement plan account which would normally be subject to estate taxes is instead deducted from the gross estate.

Donors who wish to make a gift from a retirement plan may do so by simply contacting their plan administrator and designating the Cutaneous Lymphoma Foundation as a beneficiary.  If you would like to make a charitable gift through a retirement plan, your plan administrator will request that you complete a Change of Beneficiary Form and, to complete this form, you may need the following information:

Legal Name:     Cutaneous Lymphoma Foundation

Legal Address:   PO Box 374, Birmingham, MI  48012

Employer Identification Number (EIN):     38-3443135

Contact Us

To learn more and to discuss designating the Cutaneous Lymphoma Foundation as beneficiary of your retirement plan assets, please contact Jennifer A. Viano, Chief Executive Officer, at 248.644.9014, Extension 4, or jennifer@clfoundation.org.