CLARK COUNTY FINANCIAL EXPERTS OFFER WAYS TO LEAVE A LEGACY AND... KEEP YOUR CHILDREN FROM STARVING

Dick Jazbec is a millionaire by pluck more than luck. "You come into this world with nothing, other than God-given talents, and you put those to use however you can," Jazbec said. The Salmon Creek resident learned to invest at a young age. He started out as a kid collecting cans, earned good money with his expertise in turning around grocery stores, gradually built up real estate holdings and, for more than a decade now, has continued to amass his fortune in the stock market.

Jazbec, 64, represents a new breed of philanthropists. He is among a growing number of Americans who plan their estates not just to benefit their heirs but to enrich their communities in ways that were once largely the domain of the super-rich.

"I'll be darned if I was going to give anybody the ability to sail away into the sunset with this money," said Jazbec, whose estate now tops $2.5 million and could be worth far more by the time both he and his wife die. "The children have to go out and earn their own way in life. There's no free ride."
After Dick and Cherry Jazbecs' deaths, their estate plan calls for each of their two adult children to receive 1.5 percent of the estate annually, or a little more than $40,000 a year at its current size. Additional earnings will accrue and, after the children die, the estate will pay for the training of pastors for the Northwest District of the Lutheran Church -- Missouri Synod. For the Jazbecs, the choice of charity was easy. They are members of Grace Lutheran Church in Vancouver, where he is an elder and she is an organist.

Leaving a legacy
"It's more than just estate planning," said Andy Nygard, a certified financial planner at Edward Jones Investments in Vancouver. "It's legacy planning."
Nygard advises the Jazbecs, and his company will administer the couple's newly formed private foundation according to their instructions for the life of their estate.

New generation of clients
Nygard and other financial service professionals report an increase in the number of clients who include charities in their estate planning -- usually alongside their heirs but sometimes instead of passing their wealth to the next generation.

"This used to be reserved for the gazillionaires," Nygard said. Now, he added, "You can do this with a million dollars," a sum in reach for many more area residents who have seen the value of real estate and other investments soar. "I think that the very, very wealthy have done this for a long time. That's the old guard."

FOUR ESTATE PLANNING OPTIONS Charitable Remainder Trust A trust that pays a set or a variable income to you or those you name before the charitable beneficiary receives the remainder. Such a plan offers tax savings from deduction, no capital gains tax due and other benefits. Charitable Lead Trust A trust that pays the beneficiary an income for a period of years before you or your heirs receive the remainder. Tax deduction can be advanced into current tax year. Offers possible increase to amount passed on to heirs. Charitable Gift Annuity A contract in which the beneficiary agrees to pay you back a percentage of your gift annually for your lifetime. Gift annuities may provide a higher income yield than other investments and also offer a tax-deduction tax savings as well as offset capital gains taxes and income taxes. Retained Life Estate A donation of your home or farm, but with a lifetime right to remain there. Offers immedate tax deduction benefits, estate tax savings and probate cost savings.

One of those "gazillionaires," Warren Buffett, "has often said that wealthy parents should leave their children with enough money to do anything they want but not so much that they are doomed to do nothing at all," according to a USA Today article. The article appeared after Buffett last June pledged $31 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation -- created by the only people with more money than Buffett.

Estate planning experts are seeing much the same philosophy at the local level.

"More than what's good for them"

"They don't want their children to have more than would be good for them," said Randy Grove, estate planning attorney for Landerholm, Memovich, Lansverk & Whitesides in Vancouver. He also is a longtime member of the foundation boards for both Clark College and Southwest Washington Medical Center. "Many of these people want to give gifts to charity because they want to have significance. They want to feel like they're making a difference."

"They're seeing their mortality … and they're thinking about their legacy," said Dale Simison, major and planned giving officer for Southwest Washington Medical Center Foundation. "They're seeing philanthropy as a tool to build their legacy."

Nygard believes the desire to give strengthened after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. "They see more opportunity to make a difference than they ever have before. People are already asking themselves, ‘I want to help. How can I best do that?'"

A nation of givers
Nancy Hales, president of the Community Foundation for Southwest Washington, said the United States has always been a nation of givers. "I think it's part of our heritage. I think it's a wonderfully American quality."

But Hales and others also agreed that the giving has increased, at least in part, because many Clark County residents -- and many other Americans -- are wealthier than ever before. There also is a greater wealth in terms of the available ways to share an estate with one's community, including an array of "planned giving" options that not only benefit charity but also come with tax advantages and, in some cases, guaranteed income for life. Charitable organizations, armed with the Internet and related technology, also have become more savvy at educating potential donors.

"It used to be, in the old days, if you had a church or a charity that was close to your heart, you put them in your will," Nygard said.

Such bequests are still the way most money filters from family estates to charities, Simison said, but planned giving options are on the rise. For example, in recent years the medical center's foundation has struck about 50 arrangements that offer donors income for the rest of their lives before their estates benefit health care in the community.

Research at the Center on Wealth and Philanthropy at Boston College supports this shift. Associate Director John Havens, in a "Chronicle of Philanthropy" article last year, noted recent growth in the number of family foundations, donor advised funds, charitable remainder trusts and other types of planned giving. That growth, he said, may be reducing the philanthropic gifts left in traditional wills.

Glenn Lamb, executive director of the Columbia Land Trust, which preserves important and sensitive habitats in the region, said such arrangements benefit the giver far beyond a tax break.

"There's an ethic that I'm seeing happening where families are beginning to engage in philanthropy a little more personally." Lamb said that some residents are starting to embrace his and other area foundations with this notion: "I can make donations to this local group where I can actually see the benefit while I'm still alive."

Donors transformed
Grove, Hales and others said they have seen donors transformed by their gifts. Grove described donors emerging from isolated lives to bask in a "glow of appreciation" at the benefits of their contribution to their community.

"I believe that a gift given benefits not just the receiver, it benefits the giver," Hales agreed. The benefits might even be literal. Hales cited research finding that givers live an average of more than two years longer than the actuarial tables predict. Hales said: "It actually extends your lifeto give."

Interested in Donating? Written by Eric Apalategui for The Columbian For someone interested in donating money or property through their estate -- either before their deaths or after -- there are plans to fit most circumstances. The options come with tax benefits and, in some cases, income for life. With the Internet, researching estate plan options is easier than ever. Make sure the source is one you trust. Many charities -- including most in Southwest Washington -- have detailed information on their Web sites. They also have printed materials and helpful staff. Nevertheless, estate planning remains complex. What may be right for one donor might not be ideal for another. Many charities encourage donors to seek help from a financial advisor or estate attorney to sort through the options and devise a plan that keeps your intentions intact, even after you're not around. For the curious, and the anonymous, try the nifty "Calculate a Charitable Deduction" link on the Southwest Washington Medical Center Foundation site at www.swmcgifts.com. You can use the calculator and research functions to see how far your money can go -- for you and your favorite charity. You can use the site whether or not you plan to benefit the medical center through your estate, said Dale Simison, major and planned giving officer for the foundation. Clark College Foundation also offers online information on various types of estate plans at www.clarkcollegefoundation.org.