Estate Planning

  7 mistakes to avoid While there are unique aspects to every estate plan, most estate planning mistakes fall into well-known categories. Mistakes can occur regardless of the value or complexity of an estate but can often be avoided…

It’s a fact approximately half of Americans do not have wills. Many people think they don’t need an estate plan because they are “too poor” or “too young” or because “everything will go to my spouse when I die…

The COVID-19 crisis has prompted many people to take action and take care of estate planning. Here are 10 steps you can take to protect yourself, your family, and your legacy. 1) Make a will. You state who you…

WHAT CHANGES DID THE SECURE ACT MAKE TO IRAs? STRETCH IRAs ELIMINATED • Previous to SECURE, IRAs inherited by non-spouse beneficiaries could be “stretched” out, and continue to grow tax-deferred, at a rate based on the beneficiary’s life expectancy…

You can support the Franciscans with a stroke of the pen by naming the Province of St. John the Baptist as a beneficiary of your IRA, 401(k), life insurance policy or donor advised fund. Beneficiary designations are simple to arrange,…

Dorothy and Bill Harmeyer are members of the St. Anthony Legacy Circle. Six Decades of Love, Family and Community Lead Couple to Create Legacy Continuing Lifetime of Faith and Service Almost six decades after their marriage, and still…

A Tax-Wise Way to Help the Franciscans ~ IRA owners now have the option of satisfying their required minimum distribution with an easy-to-arrange IRA gift to qualified nonprofit organizations, like the Franciscans of St. John the Baptist Province.

Charitable gift annuities provide donors with an immediate tax deduction, guaranteed fixed payments for life, and the satisfaction of providing future support for the Franciscans.  As annuity rates are based on the age of the person establishing the annuity,…

Friar Works Co-Director Colleen Cushard I love my job! ~ Usually when I got a call from Julia, I would hang up afterwards laughing and shaking my head.  One of our longtime supporters, she was a feisty…

Barbara Sonnenberg “I loved her dry sense of humor and her ability to engage you in intelligent conversation,” says Sister Ann Bartko, abbess of the Monastery of St. Clare in Cincinnati, of the late Barbara Sonnenberg.  “ I…