Retirement Plans and Other Beneficiary Designations
Want to leave something to KQED from your estate plan, without changing your living trust? KQED has six popular ways to designate us as a beneficiary of your estate. Your gift keeps our communities informed about local Bay Area news and connected with depth, context and stories about the human experience.
Beneficiary Options
Please keep in mind that good estate planning requires coordinating the provisions of your will and/or living trust with all the beneficiary designations you’ve made on IRAs, life insurance policies and other financial accounts.
For IRAs, 401(k) plans or other retirement savings arrangements
For accounts at banks, savings and loan associations and credit unions
For stock, bond and mutual fund holdings
For a policy no longer needed
For an annuity no longer needed
For leaving a legacy with your DAF
Let Us Know Your Plans
By informing KQED of your legacy gift, you help us prepare for the future. Equally important, you give us the chance to thank you for your generosity.
FAQs
What is KQED’s federal tax I.D. number?
KQED’s federal tax I.D. number is 94-1241309.
Why should I let KQED know of beneficiary designations I make?
By informing KQED of your Legacy gift, you help us ensure that your intentions are fulfilled and give us the chance to thank you for your generosity and to deepen your connection with KQED.
Additional Tips
Good estate planning requires coordinating the provisions of your will and/or living trust with all the beneficiary designations you've made on IRAs, life insurance policies, and other financial accounts. Here are some additional points to keep in mind:
If you fail to name beneficiaries
If you fail to name beneficiaries for life insurance, securities or financial accounts, they will become part of your probate estate and pass under your will or state intestacy laws. This is more expensive and time consuming than naming beneficiaries.
If you have U.S. savings bonds
U.S. savings bonds cannot name a charitable organization as beneficiary, but you could leave bonds to KQED in your will.
If a named beneficiary dies before you
You should always provide for contingent beneficiaries, such as children of a deceased beneficiary or an alternative beneficiary, such as KQED.
Consider the income tax consequences of naming beneficiaries
Get professional advice when naming individual beneficiaries of retirement accounts, which are usually subject to federal and possibly state income taxes, depending on where your beneficiary resides.
Consider an annual review of your beneficiary designations
Review your beneficiary designations on an annual basis, along with your will and other estate documents.
Further considerations when completing forms
The beneficiary forms associated with life insurance, retirement accounts, certificates of deposit and other financial arrangements are often plain-vanilla, one-size-fits-all documents — especially forms made available online.
- You should contact your account manager or customer service representative if you wish to make a designation that goes beyond just the name of a person or organization. For example, it’s possible to name KQED to receive part or all of your IRA, in exchange for a charitable gift annuity payable to yourself and/or a surviving spouse.
- Make sure special instructions are included on a separate page attached to the beneficiary form.
- It’s important to ensure that the financial institution understands and consents to any special beneficiary language, and to have your attorney look over these documents as well.
Our Legacy Giving staff will be glad to provide you with appropriate language for naming KQED as one of your beneficiaries, or to assist you in any other way you would find helpful.
Get Assistance
We’d be happy to help you start planning for a tax-advantaged gift.
Donor Stories
“As a financial planner, I often work with clients in advising them on how best to leave their assets to charities like KQED. I knew that making an estate planned gift would be easy to do from my IRA. All I had to do was ask my IRA administrator for a form and name KQED as a beneficiary. I would like to feel that I am leaving KQED in good hands once I am no longer here, so that my sons, their kids, and their kids’ kids will continue to have KQED as a resource long after I’m gone.”
More Legacy Giving Options
Wills and Living Trusts
Make a gift to KQED through your will or living trust.
Endowment
Ensure public media will be enjoyed by future generations with a current or estate gift to our endowment.
Annuities
Get a charitable deduction and partially tax-free income for life with a charitable gift of $20,000 or more.