Beneficiary Designations

Many estate assets are not transferred through a will. You can name amfAR as a beneficiary of your estate assets such as a living trust, qualified retirement plan, or the proceeds from a life insurance policy.

Living Trust

Retain control of your assets placed in a living trust during your lifetime, and direct who you will transfer these assets to upon your death. Assets may include investments, bank accounts, real estate, vehicles, or other valuable assets.

IRAs and Other Qualified Retirement Plans

You may wish to consider naming amfAR as a beneficiary of assets remaining in your qualified retirement plans after your lifetime – and avoid a tax penalty. Also, if you are 70-1/2 or older and you have a traditional IRA, you are eligible to make a tax-free donation to amfAR directly from your IRA. Keep in mind that when you turn 70-1/2, you are required to withdraw money from your IRA, otherwise you will face a hefty tax penalty. If you choose to donate to amfAR directly from your IRA, the gift is tax free, always!

Life Insurance Policy

A simple and commonly used way to advance critical HIV research and gain tax advantages is to designate amfAR as a beneficiary of a life insurance policy. For individual life policies, you may irrevocably name amfAR as owner and beneficiary of a long-standing life insurance policy, or you may retain ownership and name amfAR as the beneficiary. If you are employed, you may be receiving group term life insurance as an employee benefit. If so, amfAR can be named as a beneficiary of the entire policy.

Charitable Remainder Trust

Make a gift to amfAR that pays income to you or others for your lifetime or for a specified term. You choose the percentage payout you wish to receive. When your trust terminates, amfAR receives the remaining principal. Many types of assets can be used to fund charitable remainder trusts including cash; appreciated securities, real estate, or collectibles; life insurance policies you plan to sell; and municipal bonds.

There are two types of charitable remainder trusts: Charitable remainder annuity trusts provide you with a set dollar amount each year, equal to your chosen percentage of the trust’s original fair-market value. Charitable remainder unitrusts provide you with a variable amount each year, equal to your chosen percentage of the changing yearly value of the trust. Over time, a unitrust may provide some hedge against inflation.

Gifts of Stocks or Wire

When you transfer long-term stock holdings to amfAR, you may be eligible to receive a charitable deduction for their full market value – and incur no capital gains tax (subject to applicable IRS rules and regulations).