Lenexa, Kansas, United States - Global Church of the Nazarene Foundation "Leaving a Lasting Legacy Through Planned Giving" for Saturday, 31 May 2014

Lenexa, Kansas, United States - Global Church of the Nazarene Foundation "Leaving a Lasting Legacy Through Planned Giving" for Saturday, 31 May 2014

“I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations.” –Psalm 89:1
Thank you for partnering with the Church of the Nazarene Foundation in helping to make God’s “faithfulness known through all generations.” Your support of your favorite ministry has an eternal impact on this generation and generations to come.
For more information on how to support the future of your favorite ministry, please reply to this email or contact us by phone at (913) 577-2983.
Check out our Facebook page by clicking here. We post articles relevant to donors, inspirational notes, and other helpful information.
Blessings,
Kenneth R. Roney, J.D.

President

PERSONAL PLANNER
Who Will Receive Your Property?

"Who should receive my property?" asked Helen to her attorney, Clara. "There are so many decisions to make. Since Morgan passed away, I need to make these decisions myself. Should I give property to the children outright or in trust? Is there a best age for them to receive the property? And what if one of them were to pass away before I do? The grandchildren are still too young to manage property. I also have made a loan to one of the children. Should I forgive that loan? And what about my dog Rover? Who will take care of Rover?"
Beneficiaries of Your Will
Helen has questions that are very common. She is trying to decide who should be the beneficiary of her will. Plus, there are questions about how old children or other heirs should be when they receive her property or how she can best plan for someone to take care of the family dog.
You might have several different types of beneficiaries. There could be primary beneficiaries, contingent beneficiaries, life estate and remainder recipients, minors who receive income from a trust, debtor beneficiaries who receive forgiveness and restricted beneficiaries.
A famous American who included all of these types of gifts in his will was Benjamin Franklin.
Primary Beneficiaries
Ben Franklin gave his son William all of his property in Nova Scotia "to hold to him, his heirs and designs forever." Because William received the property outright, he was a primary beneficiary.
You might own specific property such as land, a home, or a family heirloom that you want transferred to a primary beneficiary. This is often the starting point for planning your estate distributions.
Life Estate
Franklin owned three homes on Market Street in Philadelphia, other property within Philadelphia and pasture land on Hickory Lane next to the city. He transferred the right to use that property together with his "silver plate, pictures and household goods" to his daughter Sarah Bache and her husband Richard Bache for use "during their natural lives."
This bequest created a life estate. You may have a home or other real property and desire for a person to use that property for his or her lifetime. A life estate is an excellent way to give a person life use of property.
Final Beneficiary
After the lives of Sarah and Richard Bache, the property in Philadelphia that they used was transferred to their children. This property was then solely owned by the children.
Following a life estate, the property is usually transferred outright to the remainder or final beneficiaries. If you create a life estate for a person, then you may also designate a person or perhaps a charitable organization to own the property after your life tenant passes away.
Contingent Beneficiary
Ben Franklin wanted to transfer property to his daughter and son-in-law for life, with the final distribution to their children. But what if one of the children were to pass away prior to the demise of both parents? Franklin indicated that if one of the children were "to die under age, and without issue," that share would be "equally divided among the survivors."
A contingent beneficiary is the person who will receive the property if the first person is not living at the time of the transfer. For example, you may wish to give a gift through your will to a brother or sister. But if he or she passes away before you do, then it is important to select another person to receive the property.
Trust for Minors
Ben Franklin understood that some of the children of his daughter Sarah might be quite young at the time when both parents pass away. He stated that some of them are "under age" and "may not have capacity" to manage the property. Therefore, he ordered the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania to select "three honest, intelligent, impartial men" to manage the property.
If you plan to assist young children, you will want to create a trust to manage property for the benefit of the children. Primarily, the trust will distribute income and, if needed, principal to the child until each recipient reaches your designated age for distribution of the assets.
Debtor Beneficiaries
Ben Franklin was like many parents in that he made loans to his children. As is quite often the case, he decided to forgive the loans and indicated he would discharge his son-in-law "from all claim and rent of moneys due to me."
If you have made loans to friends or family members, it is very possible that you may choose to forgive those loans. In effect, you are forgiving the debt and giving back the note or other obligation.
Pet Beneficiaries
Ben Franklin gave away his printing materials and books and left several other bequests. However, it appears that he decided not to make any provision for a pet.
During the past few years, more than half of the state legislatures in the United States have permitted a plan to benefit a pet. The simple solution is for you to transfer a family pet to a friend and make a gift of sufficient funds to provide for care of the animal. Of course, you are trusting your friend to provide that care and to use the funds appropriately.
Some states also allow you to create a pet trust. A trust can be managed by a bank or a commercial trustee, or you can select a private trustee. The property that is transferred to the trust will be used for the care of your pet.
There have been cases in which a trust was created and the trustee was directed to continue payments to the pet caregiver as long as the pet should live. Perhaps not surprisingly, Rover seemed to survive for an unusual period of time. When each Rover passed away, the family replaced Rover with a dog of similar appearance and breed. So long as the new "Rovers" kept appearing, the trust income payments were made to the family.
SAVVY LIVING

When to See a Geriatrician

My 80-year-old mother takes several different medications for various health problems, but she hasn’t been feeling herself lately. I’m wondering if she would benefit by seeing a geriatrician instead of her regular family doctor. What kinds of health problems do geriatricians treat?
If your mom is dealing with a variety of health problems and is taking multiple medications then visiting a geriatrician may be a good idea. Here is a list of health conditions geriatricians treat and tips to help you locate a geriatrician in your area.
Geriatric Doctors
First, what is a geriatrician? A geriatrician is a family practice or internal medicine physician with specialized training in the health concerns of older adults. Just as a pediatrician specializes in caring for children, a geriatrician is trained to provide care for seniors.
While most doctors are trained to focus on the physical symptoms of a particular illness or disease, geriatricians are trained to look at all aspects that may affect elderly patients. They often work with a team of health care professionals to provide care such as geriatric-trained nurses, rehabilitation therapists, nutritionists, social workers and psychiatrists. They will coordinate treatment among a patient’s specialists.
Elderly seniors with multiple health and age-related problems can benefit from seeing a geriatrician. Geriatricians specialize in problems such as cardiovascular disease, stroke, confusion and memory problems, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases, diabetes, hypertension, depression, respiratory problems, osteoporosis, arthritis, chronic pain, mobility issues, incontinence, vision and hearing impairment and trouble with balance and falls.
Geriatricians are also particularly adept at tackling medication problems. Unique side effects and drug interactions are common among seniors since many take multiple medications and older bodies absorb and metabolize drugs differently than younger ones. A geriatrician can evaluate and monitor your mom’s medications so that they do not affect her in a harmful way.
Geriatricians also help patients and families plan for long-term care. They can help evaluate how long an elderly patient can safely live without assistance and the services that may be necessary when the patient needs extra help.
However, not all seniors need to see a geriatrician. Seniors with only a few health problems are fine to visit their primary care physician.
Find a Geriatrician
Unfortunately, there’s a shortage of geriatricians in the U.S. So, finding one may be challenging. To locate one in your area, visit the American Board of Family Medicine website at theabfm.org and run an online search. You can also use Medicare’s online Physician Compare tool. Just go to medicare.gov/physiciancompare, type in your zip code or city and state and then type “Geriatric Medicine” into the “What are you searching for?” text box. You can also get this information by calling Medicare at 800-633-4227.
Keep in mind that locating a geriatrician doesn’t guarantee your mom will be accepted as a patient. Many doctors already have a full patient roster and don’t accept any new patients. You’ll need to call the individual doctor’s office to find out.
Savvy Living is written by Jim Miller, a regular contributor to the NBC Today Show and author of "The Savvy Senior" book. The articles are offered as a helpful and informative service to our friends and may not always reflect this organization's official position on some topics. Jim invites you to send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070.
YOUR PLAN

A God-Honoring Estate Plan

Like so many others, my wife and I found ourselves without a current and viable estate plan in place. Although we had drawn up a pair of wills years before, it was a shock to see how out-dated and inadequate they had become. Our circumstances, finances, and interests had changed; but our wills had not. A last will and testament is supposed to provide instructions to family and friends about who and what was important to the will-maker in life. With time, our estate plan no longer reflected those values. And to just discard our old wills would leave us without a viable estate plan, causing state laws to take over and leaving our assets to be distributed to distant or unintended relatives, or possibly to the state itself. Neither result was what we wanted to leave behind.
So began our journey to develop a God-honoring estate plan that would include our family and the local church, as well as national and international ministries, after we are gone.
In 1985, my wife and I purchased a small family business from my parents. Over the years, the Lord blessed our hard work and commitment to quality products and services. After operating the business for a number of years, we began to realize that we had many employees who depended on us as well as a great deal of corporate responsibilities. It became obvious we needed an estate plan that would deal with the business issues as well as our personal goals. 
About that time, we were invited to our first World Challenge in Tacoma, Washington. The effectiveness of the JESUS Film was very impressive. We appreciated how the JESUS Film Harvest Partners teams work with indigenous peoples to identify pastoral and lay leadership, and how they help establish preaching points and organize local churches to disciple new believers. As a result of that invitation to the Tacoma World Challenge, we included the JESUS Film Harvest Partners ministry in our new estate plan.
Some time later, in a more recent World Challenge, my wife and I were struck with the urgency of getting JESUS Film teams and equipment out to the field. We realized we didn't want to wait until we were dead and gone to support this ministry in a more meaningful way. We wanted to be a part of the ministry during our lifetime. So, we decided to make an immediate and significant pledge.
In order to implement this pledge, we engaged the services of the Foundation. With their help, we were able to establish an endowment fund, which will be funded over a five-year period. Each year, 95 percent of the endowment earnings will go the JESUS Film Harvest Partners ministry and the remaining 5 percent will be plowed back into the endowment to help grow the fund.
After we are gone, our estate will be distributed to various ministries through the Foundation in a God-honoring way. We are so impressed with the Foundation and thankful that we can have the joy of giving now and seeing the results because of our endowments. We are confident the ministries that are important to us will keep on receiving income in perpetuity. 
WASHINGTON NEWS

IRA Rollover and Tax Extenders

On May 29, Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) of the House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing and passed five charitable bills and a business bill on bonus depreciation. The six bills will now proceed to the floor of the House for a vote by the full House of Representatives.
Under the leadership of Chairman Camp, the Ways and Means Committee now has passed 12 separate tax bills. Chairman Camp stated that he prefers comprehensive reform, but he views these individual bills as steps toward that goal. Camp commented, “We are making progress on tax reform. It may not be in a complete bill, but this is incremental progress.”
The effort to pass permanent legislation reflects Camp’s belief that many of these provisions have effectively been made permanent through continued passage. He noted, “If we have extended something for 10 years, let’s call it what it is, that’s permanent policy. We should not have to raise taxes in other places in the economy to keep current tax law.” While there are new provisions such as the ability to delay charitable gifts until April 15 and deduct them for the prior year, most of the bills make permanent tax provisions that have been in effect for a decade or longer.
The process was questioned by Ranking Member Leader Sander Levin (D-MI). He has generally supported the charitable provisions in the bills. However, he was concerned about the cost. Levin noted, “But we are not here today basically to debate the good works of charities, or nutrition programs or conservation across this country. There is agreement about their significance, but it is a mistake to approach them in a way that makes provisions permanent without consideration of their place in a broader framework and with reckless disregard for their cost and their impact on other provisions, especially at a time of immense pressures on non-defense discretionary programs.”
The five charitable provisions passed on a party line vote.
1. IRA Charitable Rollover (H.R. 4619) – IRA owners over age 70½ are permitted to make transfers directly from their custodian to qualified charities in amounts up to $100,000 per year.
2. Conservation Easements (H.R. 2807) – The deduction limits for charitable easement contributions are increased to 50% of adjusted gross income and the carry over extended from five to 15 years.
3. Food Inventory Gifts (H.R. 4719) – Enhanced deductions are permitted for gifts of food to relief organizations.
4. April 15 Gift Date (H.R. 3134) – Gifts from January 1 through April 15 would be deductible for the prior year.
5. Private Foundation Excise Tax (H.R. 4691) – The 2% excise tax on income for most private foundations is reduced to 1%.
FINANCES


Stocks - Costco Chases Millennials
Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST), operator of membership warehouses, reported its latest quarterly earnings on Thursday, May 29. The company reported better revenue than a year ago, but disappointed Wall Street analysts that expected higher revenue and earnings per share.
The company reported total revenue of $25.79 billion for the quarter. This represents an increase from the same period last year when the company reported total revenue of $24.08 billion. However, analysts expected revenue of $25.85 billion.
Costco’s President and CEO, Craig Jelinek, detailed the company’s plans to expand in 2014 in an annual letter to shareholders. “Our plans for expansion in fiscal 2014 are for nearly thirty new warehouse openings, including sixteen units in the U.S., four in Australia, two in each of Canada, Korea and Japan and one in Mexico. Plans for fiscal 2014 also include the opening of our first warehouse in Spain.”
Costco reported quarterly net income of $473 million. This is an increase from the comparable period last year when the company reported net income of $459 million. Earnings per share came in at $1.07 per share, which was below projections of $1.10 per share.
In Costco’s latest investor conference call, CFO Richard Galanti said that Costco will be increasing use of its online store to capture younger customers. It is adding categories of products to its web store and has a trial partnership with Google to offer same-day deliveries in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. It is also offering discounted memberships on sites such as Living Social and Zulilly. “We’re not going crazy here,” said Galanti. “We’re taking baby steps, but some of this stuff works.”
Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) shares ended the week of 5/26 at $116.02, up 0.9% for the week.
Dystopian Drama is Good for Lions Gate
Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation (LGF), a film and television production and distribution company, reported its fourth quarter and fiscal year 2014 earnings on Thursday, May 29. The company didn’t repeat its monster year in fiscal 2013, but has an impressive pipeline of films to pad its earnings for several years to come.
The company announced annual revenue of $2.63 billion. This represents a decrease of 2.9% from fiscal year 2013 when Lions Gate reported revenue of $2.71 billion.
“Our strong operating momentum, the diversity of our portfolio of businesses and the continued enhancement of our capital structure all contributed to another year of outstanding financial results,” said Lions Gate CEO Jon Feltheimer. “The trajectory of our business, the depth of our content pipelines and the ongoing generation of predictable income from our film franchises, television properties and filmed entertainment library continue to give us excellent long-term visibility.”
Lions Gate announced net income of $152.04 million for the year. This represents a decrease from last year when the company announced net income of $232.13 million. Earnings per share came in at $1.04 per share.
Lions Gate has been taking advantage of the popular clamor for teen-driven dystopian future films. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, the second installment of the Hunger Games trilogy, was released last November and grossed $865 million at the worldwide box office. Divergent, a story about a young woman making her way in post-apocalyptic Chicago, also launched during fiscal 2014. Divergent is the first installment of a trilogy that will include movies entitled Insurgent and Allegiant.
Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation (LGF) shares ended the week of 5/26 at $26.13, down 9.9% for the week.
Michael Kors’ Earnings Impress
Michael Kors Holdings Limited (KORS), designer and retailer of men’s and women’s apparel and accessories, reported its most recent quarterly earnings on Wednesday, May 28. The retailer nearly doubled its revenue and net income from a year ago.
The company reported revenue of $917.45 million for the quarter. This represents an increase of 53.6% from the same period last year when the company reported revenue of $597.15 million.
“We delivered outstanding financial performance in fiscal 2014 with comparable store sales growth of 26.2% and EPS growth of 63.5%,” said John D. Idol, Michael Kors Chairman and CEO. “We believe that our expanding global brand awareness is driving continued strong demand for our luxury product and fueling our growth as a global luxury lifestyle brand. In addition, Michael Kors and our talented design team continue to deliver exceptional products while the distinctive jet-set in-store experience that we offer in both our retail stores and our shop-in-shops continues to resonate well with our consumers.”
Michael Kors reported quarterly net income of $161.04 million. This is an increase of 59.3% from the comparable quarter last year when the company reported net income of $101.1 million. Earnings per share came in at $0.78 per share.
Michael Kors has been expanding its reach and competing more effectively on a global scale with Coach. Michael Kors has opened 101 new stores across the globe during 2014. North American sales have grown 20% and European sales have grown 63% during that period. Coach, on the other hand, announced last month that same-store sales dropped 20% in the first quarter. Shares of Coach have dropped 27% during 2014.
Michael Kors Holdings Limited (KORS) shares ended the week of 5/26 at $94.38, down 3.7% for the week.
The Dow started the week of 5/26 at 16,607 and closed at 16,717 on 5/30. The S&P 500 started the week at 1,902 and closed at 1,924. The NASDAQ started the week at 4,206 and closed at 4,243.
Bonds - Treasuries Rise on Disappointing Data
Treasury prices rose this week causing yields to fall to their lowest levels since January 2014. Disappointing economic growth data caused investors to backtrack on bets that borrowing costs are on the rise.
The 10-year note yield fell to 2.4% on Thursday, May 29. This is the lowest level since June 21, 2013. The yield began to rise during early morning trading and peaked at 2.48% around 10:00 am EST.
The U.S. economy contracted at a 1% annual rate during the first quarter of 2014. This contraction was twice what economists had expected. In addition, household purchases dropped 0.1% in April when economists had expected a 0.2% rise.
However, the economic news was not all bad. The Institute for Supply Management-Chicago Inc.’s business barometer rose from 63 in April to 65.5 in May. An ISMCI reading greater than 50 signals economic growth. Economists had expected this figure to fall to 61. Also, inflation remains below the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.
“Treasuries are gaining because of reduced concern on inflation,” said Robin Marshall, Director of Fixed-Income at Smith & Williamson Investment Management. “Investors are paring back their bets on rate increases.”
The main question now is, given the economy’s sluggish growth when will the Federal Reserve raise the federal funds rate? Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City President Esther George said on Thursday that the Fed may raise the federal funds rate faster than policy makers expect. Predictions put the federal funds rate at 2.25% by the end of 2016.
The 10-year Treasury note yield finished the week of 5/26 at 2.46% while the 30-year Treasury note yield finished the week at 3.31%.
CDs and Mortgages - Interest Rates Fall for Fifth Straight Week
Freddie Mac announced the results of its latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey on Thursday, May 29. The results showed interest rates falling for a fifth consecutive week to their lowest level since October 31, 2013.
The 30-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 4.12% this week. This is down from last week when it averaged 4.14%. Last year at this time, the 30-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 3.81%.
This week, the 15-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 3.21%. This represents a decrease from last week when it averaged 3.25%. One year ago, the 15-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 2.98%.
“Fixed mortgage rates eased a bit for the fifth consecutive week as reports [indicate] that existing home sales are up 1.3% but not as much as expected. However, new home sales rose 6.4% in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 433,000, which followed an upward revision of 11,000 units for the prior two months. Also, as the spring home buying season continues, we see stronger consumer confidence as house prices remain on the rise. The Conference Board reported that confidence among consumers rose in May after dipping in April. Meanwhile, the S&P/Case-Shiller® 20-city composite index rose 0.9% in March, above the consensus forecast.”
The money market fund finished the week of 5/26 at 0.4%. The 1-year CD finished at 0.7%.
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Are you a Nazarene Legacy Partner (NLP)?  The answer is “YES” if you have designated any gift to a Nazarene ministry in your will, bequest, or estate plan. This could be a tithe on your estate, an insurance beneficiary designation to your local church, college, global mission, or any other Nazarene ministry you support.
Send us your name and contact information by reply email and indicate “I am a Nazarene Legacy Partner” and we will add your name to our NLP honor roll. To model generosity inspires others to do the same. Thank you for your interest in gift planning. To access any of this updated financial and gift planning information, please select our website.
Church of the Nazarene Foundation
17001 Prairie Star Parkway, Suite 200
Lenexa, KS 66220 United States
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