IRA Charitable Rollover
Helping fight hunger in retirement
Food Bank donor “Joyce”* truly shares the Food Bank’s values. “Connecticut Food Bank is the most important charity I support. Growing up middle-class, I did not have want for food. The times have changed for the middle-class in this downturn,” Joyce said. “That’s why I support the Food Bank’s work.”
Joyce, a retired social worker in New Haven, didn’t see hunger first-hand with the families she was seeing – they could easily afford costly in-patient psychiatric care. But poverty among the remainder of New Haven was blatantly obvious to her.
To help combat hunger, Joyce applied an innovative method when making her gift. By giving through her IRA, she was able to fulfill her wish to support the Food Bank, plus realized some tax savings.
Congress has renewed the IRA charitable rollover for 2013. People aged 70½ and older may transfer up to $100,000 per year from their traditional IRAs to charity. Each IRA owner must take yearly minimum required distributions starting at age 70½ and pay tax on the withdrawals. A charitable donation may decrease the donor’s taxable distribution, as Joyce found. To qualify, the donation must be made directly to the charity from the IRA’s custodian, rather than the donor funneling the gift to the nonprofit himself.
By making a gift from her IRA, Joyce was pleased to provide meals for the hungry in Connecticut and reduce her taxable income. “If you don’t have enough to eat, you have no motivation. Hunger is disabling, both mentally and physically. It’s very challenging to get ahead in life when you must expend extra energy just to feed yourself.”
If you’d like more information on the IRA charitable rollover or other ways you can benefit the Food Bank, please contact us at cfb@ctfoodbank.org or (203) 469-5000. Please note that Connecticut Food Bank does not provide legal, tax, or financial advice; please see your professional advisor.
* The donor profiled here wished to remain anonymous.