Physician Found a Way to Give painlessly with a planned gift for the future of Gilmour

Around the time Dr. 'Theodore "Ted" Schafer '50 was wrapping up his 45-year career in medicine, he decided he wanted to make a gift to Gilmour Academy to give something back for the education he had received here.

He discovered that one method for giving, a Charitable Remainder Unitrust, not only benefits the gift recipient (Gilmour), but the donor as well, and thought it might be attractive to other prospective donors,

The Charitable Remainder Trust is a win-win situation for the donor and the beneficiary. The donor establishes the trust and funds it with cash or appreciated assets, such as publicly traded securities, He agrees upon a percentage of the trust's fair market value that he will receive as income, and the trust becomes a gift to the charitable organization - Gilmour. The donor derives an opportunity to increase his income, avoids a capital gains tax, and obtains a charitable tax deduction the year he makes the contribution. Gilmour benefits from the donor's generosity, and the donor has the satisfaction of making the gift,

"It is a painless way to give that really does not require much sacrifice," Dr. Schafer observed, "It also is a reasonable way to give, yet still leave enough for your children."

He and his wife Kay set up this kind of trust agreement with Gilmour as a way to demonstrate their commitment to help to assure the school's future financial health. They received a quarterly payment based on a fixed percentage of the annual net fair market value of the Trust. When Kay passed away, Ted became the sole recipient of the quarterly distribution and upon Ted's passing, the remaining principal and income of the Trust was distributed to Gilmour.

"I think the main thing that helped me in my career was the dedication of the Holy Cross Brothers," Ted stated at the time. "More people might feel freer to donate to Gilmour if they were aware of the option and benefits of a Charitable Remainder Trust."