Jews for Jesus "Jews for Jesus Development Department Monthly Newsletter" for Tuesday, 18 November 2014

Jews for Jesus "Jews for Jesus Development Department Monthly Newsletter" for Tuesday, 18 November 2014 Dear Friend, Thank you for your prayerful involvement in our Jews for Jesus ministry. I'm forwarding the attached Gift Legacy Newsletter that was prepared for us by Crescendo Interactive, because I thought it might prove useful to you. I will be so pleased if the Gift Legacy Newsletter is of interest and serves you with valuable information. It is a free monthly service that is provided to us for the benefit of our ministry partners. I hope you like it. There is a selection at the end of the newsletter if you wish to unsubscribe at any time. Shalom, ~ David Stone Director of Donor Relations Jews for Jesus Development Department 877-570-6620 David Stone Director of Donor Relations PERSONAL PLANNERTen Reasons to Update Your Estate Plan You have completed a will and perhaps a revocable living trust. Your durable power of attorney for healthcare and a living will are accompanied by a HIPAA release. All of your records are safely in place and carefully organized. So you now are finished with your estate planning. Or are you? Will there be changes in your circumstances or your family that should lead to a review of your plan? Could some events cause you to need to revise or update the plan? Yes, there are a number of reasons to consider revising or updating your plan. These include any of the following reasons: 1. New Children, Grandchildren or Other Heirs Your estate plan almost certainly makes provision for children and other heirs who are living when you pass away. If you have a specific transfer to one child, a new child may receive a smaller than intended inheritance. For example, John Smith had a $1 million estate and left a $400,000 residence to child A. He then divided the balance of the estate with 1/6 of the balance to child A and 5/6 to child B. If a third child is born, depending upon state law, the child might receive nothing or perhaps would benefit from a portion of the residue. In either case, the uncertainty could lead to estate litigation or to family strife. If you have a sizeable estate and there are large specific bequests, the arrival of a new heir is a good time to review your plan. One option is to transfer assets to the heirs "then living" when you pass away. If the estate is $1 million, in some states a child C who is born later would receive 1/3 of the estate. This could dramatically change the benefit for child B and leave her with a reduced inheritance. In addition, child C could be a minor or a very young adult and not be capable of managing his or her property. For several reasons, the arrival of a new heir makes a review of your plan very important. 2. Move to a Different State If you are married and move to a different state, there may be a change in the laws that affect ownership. Some states are called "common law" property states and some are "community property." If you move from one state to another and change in either direction, it may be important to clarify the ownership of your property as separate property or joint property. For individuals with moderate to larger estates, there could be significant estate or inheritance taxes. Several states have inheritance taxes that will apply at lower levels than the federal exemption per person. Depending on who among your relatives receives your property, a new state may have a substantial tax. Finally, many states have specific rules on durable powers of attorney for healthcare, living wills or advance directives or even the HIPAA release. If you acquire permanent legal residence in the state, your doctors will expect that your medical planning documents reflect their state law. 3. Sale or Purchase of a Major Asset You may have a major real estate asset or a business that is to be transferred to one of your heirs. If that property is sold or substantially increases in value, your entire plan could change. For example, if a property greatly increases in value and there is a large estate tax that is paid out of the residue of your estate, the beneficiary of that specific property could receive a much larger inheritance than you intend. Those children or other heirs who are receiving the residue could find their inheritance greatly reduced by estate tax paid on the asset transferred to the first child. Alternatively, if the first asset is sold, then a child may receive a smaller than intended inheritance. Therefore, a significant sale or purchase is a good time for an estate planning review. 4. Reaching Age 70½ The four types of estate property are generally cash and cash equivalents, stocks, real estate and qualified plans. Over the years, your qualified retirement plan may become a large portion of your estate. Your IRA, 401(k) or other qualified plan will require distributions to start on April 1 of the year after you reach age 70½. If you pass away before the entire plan is paid out to you during your retirement years, the balance is transferred to your designated beneficiary. Because retirement plans have grown substantially over the past decade (even with a reduction in plan value during the 2008 downturn), it's very important to review your beneficiary designations. Many individuals pass away and the plan value is transferred to beneficiaries who have been selected 10, 15, and even 25 years earlier. There could be many reasons why you would want to update that beneficiary designation, and age 70½ is a logical time to do so. 5. Your Selected Beneficiary is Deceased In many families there are unmarried brothers or sisters. It is quite common for these individuals to receive an inheritance and to remember the surviving brothers and sisters in their plans. However, even if there are two or three unmarried brothers or sisters, one will inevitably be the survivor and hold most of the assets. If you are remembering a sibling in your plan, there is a substantial possibility that he or she will pass away before you do. In that case, it is useful to revise the plan and select a new recipient of that share of your estate. 6. Divorce or Remarriage Estate plans for single persons are quite different from those of married couples. A single person who transfers assets to a former spouse will not qualify for the unlimited marital deduction. While property settlements are typically handled during the dissolution of marriage proceedings, there are many cases where individuals forget to change beneficiary designations on retirement plans and insurance policies. Particularly if you later remarry and then pass away with a new spouse, there is a high likelihood of litigation between the ex-spouse and the new spouse if you have forgotten to update your beneficiary designations. Therefore, your plan and your beneficiary designations should always be reviewed in the event of a divorce or remarriage. 7. Substantial Change in Value If your estate increases or decreases significantly in value, there can be major impact on beneficiaries. For example, mother has children A, B and C. She leaves a home valued at $300,000 to child A, a farm valued at $400,000 to child B and the liquid assets to child C. While she is in a nursing home and no longer able to change the will, oil is discovered on the farm. When mother passes away, child B receives not $400,000 but $4 million. To add insult to injury, the estate is now larger than the estate exemption and each child must pay estate tax on his or her inheritance. While child B with the largest inheritance will under most state tax apportionment laws pay the largest tax, it will be a matter of considerable sibling unhappiness for the two children who receive the smaller shares and still have to pay a large estate tax on their portion. 8. Adding a Major Property to a Living Trust If you have a substantial estate, you may hold your real estate in a living trust. If you invest in real estate or acquire a major new property and transfer that to the living trust, it will be useful to review the plan. In some circumstances, there may be different beneficiaries for the living trust than for your qualified plans and life insurance. The addition of a high value asset to the living trust could increase the benefits for the persons receiving shares from the trust in comparison to the rest of your heirs. 9. Selected Executor or Trustee Not Available With a will or a revocable living trust, you may also select a successor executor or trustee. While this usually will handle the situation in which the primary executor or trustee predeceases you, it still is useful to review your plan if one of these persons passes away. You can easily select a new primary executor or trustee with an appropriate backup person. 10. Passage of Time Estate plans are affected by changes in your asset value, by changes in your family, and potentially by changes in federal or state law. Therefore, it is useful every three to five years for you to sit down with your attorney and review your plan. Given all the potential areas that can change, it's quite likely that you may wish to modify some portion of the plan. SAVVY LIVINGHow You Can Quit Smoking Can Medicare help me quit smoking? I just turned 65 and would like to quit but I need some help. Yes, Medicare actually covers up to eight face-to-face counseling sessions a year to help beneficiaries quit smoking. If you have a Medicare Part D prescription drug plan, certain smoking-cessation medications are covered too. Here are some other tips that can help you kick the habit. Never Too Late Of the 46 million Americans who smoke, about 5.5 million are Medicare beneficiaries. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 50% of smokers age 65 and older indicate they would like to quit. However, since cigarettes provide the stimulant nicotine, which is considered to be more addictive than heroin, quitting is very difficult. Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable illness, responsible for an estimated 20% of the deaths in the United States each year. Many older smokers believe that the damage is done. However, research shows that quitting, even after age 65, greatly reduces your risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer, osteoporosis and many other diseases. It also helps you breathe easier, enhances the smell and taste of food and saves money. A $5 pack-a-day smoker, for example, saves about $150 after one month without cigarettes and more than $1,800 after one year. How to Quit The first step you need to take is to set a “quit date,” but give yourself a few weeks to get ready. During that time you may want to start by reducing the number or the strength of cigarettes you smoke to begin the process. Also, check out over-the-counter nicotine replacement products – patches, gum and lozenges – to help curb your cravings for nicotine. Just prior to your quit date, get rid of all cigarettes and ashtrays in your home, car, and place of work. Reduce the smell of smoke at home and at work by cleaning and spraying air freshener. The smell of smoke can be a powerful trigger. Get Help Studies have shown that you have a much better chance of quitting if you have help. So tell your friends, family, and coworkers of your plan to quit. Others knowing can be a helpful reminder and motivator. Then, see a counselor. Start by contacting your doctor about smoking cessation counseling covered by Medicare and find out about the prescription antismoking drugs that can help reduce your nicotine craving. You can also get free one-on-one telephone counseling and referrals to local smoking cessation programs through your state quit line at 800-QUIT-NOW or call the National Cancer Institute free smoking quit line at 877-44U-QUIT. It’s also important to identify and write down the times and situations you’re most likely to smoke and make a list of things you can do to replace it or distract yourself. Some helpful suggestions when the smoking urge arises are to call a friend or one of the free quit lines, keep your mouth occupied with some sugar-free gum, sunflower seeds, carrots, fruit or hard candy, go for a walk, read a magazine, listen to music or take a hot bath. The intense urge to smoke lasts about three to five minutes, so do what you can to wait it out. It’s also wise to avoid drinking alcohol and steer clear of other smokers while you’re trying to quit. Both can trigger powerful urges to smoke. For more tips on how to quit, including managing your cravings, withdrawal symptoms and what to do if you relapse, visit smokefree.gov and nihseniorhealth.gov/quittingsmoking. If you’re a smartphone user, there are also a number of apps that can help like LIVESTRONG MyQuit Coach, Cessation Nation and Quit It Lite. Savvy Living is written by Jim Miller, a regular contributor to the NBC Today Show and author of "The Savvy Living” book. Any links in this article are offered as a service and there is no endorsement of any product. These 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 Living, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070. YOUR PLANPart Gift and Part Sale Susan and Kevin bought a vacant lot along Lake Michigan many years ago. They had planned to build a second home so that their children could spend their summers along the lake. However, as time went on, Kevin's job kept him in town and the children grew up before Susan and Kevin had the financial resources to build on the land. Kevin: Over the years, that lot increased in value. It now is worth much more than what we paid for it. We paid about $40,000 for the lakeside property and it is now worth almost $200,000. Susan: The lot has gone up greatly in value, and with the children out of the house we were thinking of selling the property. We wanted to sell, but we also wanted to avoid paying so much in tax on the sale. We were thinking of making a gift of 25% of the property to our favorite charity. Kevin: I happened to be talking to a CPA at a community luncheon. He mentioned that we could probably give about twice as much with almost the same cost if we gave 25% of the property (prior to the sale) rather than writing a check after the sale. After talking to our tax advisor, we discovered that if we gave a 25% interest in the property to charity, we would receive two benefits. We would get an income tax deduction for the value of our gift plus save on capital gains tax on the 25% interest given away. Susan: That is what we decided to do. By giving charity a 25% interest in the property prior to the sale we saved the capital gains tax on that part. The deduction on that part offset a large portion of the tax on the $150,000 we received when the property actually sold. We are very pleased with the "double benefit" from giving the property, and our favorite charity received $50,000, a very nice gift. *Please note: The name and image above is representative of a typical donor and may or may not be an actual donor to our organization. Since your benefits may be different, you may want to click here to view a color example of your benefits. WASHINGTON NEWSIRA Rollover and Tax Extenders Debate As the House and Senate return for the November lame-duck session, both leadership elections and tax extenders are on the front burner. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will be the Majority Leader and Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) will be the Minority Leader in the Senate in January. Next year, Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) will be the Speaker of the House and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) will be the Minority Leader. With the leadership elections over, the focus now turns to tax extenders. House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) advocates making several tax extender provisions permanent. The House passed bills with six business and six charitable provisions that would be permanent. While there is substantial cost with a permanent extension, Chairman Camp observes that the extenders previously were passed without any offsets or tax increases. Camp enters the tax extenders negotiation with a hope that most or all of these 12 provisions could be permanent. He stated to reporters this week, “It has been the House’s position and my view that we should get as much policy permanent as possible.” When asked whether a one year extension would be acceptable, he noted that this is an alternative. Camp continued, “But I think we want to get as much policy as long as possible.” Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) is an advocate for the Expiring Provisions Improvement Reform and Efficiency (EXPIRE) Act. The Senate Finance Committee approved 53 tax extender provisions for the years 2014 and 2015 in that act. The full Senate did not vote on the bill. Wyden stated, “The Senate feels strongly about our package, but we know that we are in a negotiation.” The Senate Democratic Whip is Richard Durbin (D-IL). In discussions with reporters, he stated that there may be some “horse trading” in these negotiations on the tax extenders. Editor’s Note: Will the IRA charitable rollover be made permanent? Or will it be extended for all of 2014 and 2015? The “horse trading” that Senator Durbin mentions is the potential for the Senate to accept the House request for permanent status of some or all of the 12 provisions. In exchange for permanent status for some extenders, the House would approve the balance of the 53 Senate extenders for a period of two years. Because the legislative time is short, the outcome of these negotiations is highly uncertain. America is waiting with great anticipation for the House and Senate to announce their compromise plan. FINANCESStocks - Macy’s Enjoys a Profitable Quarter Read More Macy’s, Inc. (M) announced its third quarter results on Wednesday, November 12. Though sales were disappointing, the company posted significant earnings growth. Sales during the quarter declined 1.3% to $6.195 billion from $6.276 billion in the same quarter last year. Comparable store sales also declined 0.7%. “We are very pleased with our third quarter earnings, even though the sales performance fell short of our expectations,” said Macy’s Chairman and CEO, Terry J. Lundgren. “On a two-year basis, our third quarter sales trend was essentially unchanged from the first half of 2014. We knew we were up against very strong third quarter sales growth for our company last year, and thus we had anticipated that our year-over-year comparison would be lower in the third quarter than in the fourth quarter.” The company reported that earnings per share during the quarter was $0.61. This was a 30% increase from $0.47 during the same period last year. The top line number most analysts initially focused on in Macy’s third quarter involved the disappointing sales numbers. The company blamed the decrease in sales on warmer weather in the early part of autumn, which contributed to a lack of interest in warmer clothing and accessories. Still, investors were encouraged that Macy’s sales troubles were not unique to the company as competitor J.C. Penney also experienced flat sales last quarter. Thankfully, Macy’s earnings growth gives investors reason to be optimistic about the company’s next quarterly report. Macy’s (M) shares ended the week at $62.06. J.C. Penney’s Turnaround Is Succeeding J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (JCP) announced its third quarter results on Wednesday, November 12. The company’s results indicated its attempts at a turnaround are succeeding. J.C. Penney reported third quarter net sales of $2.764 billion. This was a slight decrease from net sales of $2.779 billion reported during the same period last year. “This quarter shows the progress we are making in the final phase of J.C. Penney’s turnaround,” said J.C. Penney’s CEO Myron E. Ullman. “We are well positioned to compete this holiday season and I would like to thank our associates for their hard work, warrior spirit and commitment to delivering an exceptional customer experience every day.” The company reported a net loss during the quarter of $54 million. This was a $347 million or 87% improvement over the net loss reported during the comparable period last year. J.C. Penney has dealt with some hard times during the past few years. The company instituted some costly changes to its business model that drove its core customer base away. That led to the ouster of CEO Ron Johnson. The company’s new leadership has since taken steps to regain its customer base. J.C. Penney’s third quarter report is an indication that those steps seem to be working. J.C. Penney Company (JCP) shares ended the week at $7.36. SeaWorld Drowning in Negative Publicity SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. (SEAS) announced its third quarter results on Wednesday, November 12. The company once again experienced a disappointing quarter as numbers across the board were down. The company reported that revenue for the third quarter was $495.8 million. This was an 8% decrease from the $538.4 million reported during the same period last year. “Consistent with the update we provided in August, the attendance trends the Company experienced in the latter part of the second quarter continued into the third quarter,” said SeaWorld President and CEO Jim Atchison. “Clearly 2014 has been a challenging year, but I am confident we are taking the necessary steps to address our near term challenges and position the Company to deliver value over the long term.” Net income during the quarter was $87.2 million. This was a decline from the $120.7 million in net income reported during the third quarter last year. SeaWorld’s struggles this year all relate to attendance declines caused by bad publicity. The company has come under fire for the treatment of its orca whales, details popularized by the documentary “Blackfish,” which is popular on Netflix. As a result, attendance fell during the quarter to 8.4 million from 8.9 million during the same period last year. The challenge for the company going forward is to come up with a successful strategy to counter 2014’s negative publicity. SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. (SEAS) shares ended the week at $16.91. The Dow started the week of 11/10 at 17,569 and closed at 17,635 on 11/14. The S&P 500 started the week at 2,032 and closed at 2,040. The NASDAQ started the week at 4,635 and closed at 4,689. Bonds - Treasuries Fall as Equities Surge Read More Treasury prices fell during the week of November 10 as investors poured money into the surging stock market. The recent fall in Treasury prices is another sign that investors are increasingly optimistic about the direction of the U.S. economy. This week the U.S. Treasury Department put $66 billion in notes and bonds up for sale. Investors showed little demand for the auction, which was the lowest in over a year. Instead, investors have shown a bigger appetite for equities, which are pushing all-time highs. This week the S&P 500 flirted with a new all-time high as it rose to 2,039 points as of early Friday, November 14. Some analysts, such as Christopher Sullivan, the Chief Investment Officer at United Nations Federal Credit Union, believe investors are waiting for cheaper bonds. “Investors are waiting for an expected cheapening so that they can add to positions at better yields. But that cheapening refuses to come,” he said. Primary dealers in Treasury bonds rate each bond auction on a scale of one to five, with one being a failed auction and five an outstanding one. The 30-year bond auction was rated a “2” while the 10-year auction was rated a “3.” Overall, Treasury notes and bonds have returned 4.8% this year. That is a significant improvement over the 3.4% loss during 2013. As the stock market begins to see signs of strength, hopefully the bond market will follow. The 10-year Treasury note yield finished the week of 11/10 at 2.32% while the 30-year Treasury note yield finished the week at 3.04%. CDs and Mortgages - Interest Rates Show Little Movement Read More Freddie Mac released the results of its latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) on Thursday, November 13. The results show mortgage rates remaining mostly unchanged from last week. The 30-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 4.01% this week. This was a slight decrease from last week when it averaged 4.02%. This week, the 15-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 3.20%. This was down from last week when the 15-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 3.21%. Frank Nothaft, Vice President and Chief Economist at Freddie Mac, had this to say about this week’s rates: “Fixed mortgage rates were slightly down on mixed results from October’s employment report. While the unemployment rate declined to 5.8%, nonfarm employment rose by 214,000 jobs, which was below consensus expectations. Net revisions for payroll employment in August and September added 31,000 more jobs to the initial readings.” The money market fund finished the week of 11/10 at 0.4%. The 1-year CD finished at 0.7%. Thank you for your interest in planned giving. To access any of our resources, please go to our website. Your Brother in Yeshua (Jesus), David Stone Jews for Jesus ____________________________ Jews for Jesus 60 Haight Street San Francisco, California 94102, United States Phone (415)864-2600

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