Introduction by: Q How to ensure a secure future for your loved ones Q How to leave a legacy to charity and make a positive impact on your community Q Inspiring stories about how legacies have made a difference in your community CHRIS CARTER Global BC Financial Analyst Associate Director, Wealth Management, ScotiaMcLeod LL02/ October 2008 LEAVE A LEGACY™ 1008LAL LEAVE A LEGACY™ October 2008 /LL03 Chris Carter The time to plan is now When is the best time to plan your initiating a charitable gifting plan should estate and gifting strategy? be moved further up the list for many In my early years as a financial advisor, families. most of the questions I received from cli- Recent changes relating to tax and ents involved saving for retirement, pay- estate benefits when gifting registered ing down debt, or a little of both. securities, prolific growth of donor These days my clients are a bit older, advised fund programs, and improving I’ve got a few more grey hairs, and the cost efficiencies for family and business questions have evolved from growing foundations are just a few of the changes and saving assets to preserving wealth, to affect the menu of planning options giving adult children a hand financially, that may be used to best fit or rework an and passing along the family nest-egg to estate and gifting strategy to an individu- loved ones or philanthropically-oriented al’s circumstances. interests. If you have RRSPs or RRIFs, recre- However, thoughtful and thorough ational property, life insurance, invest- planning for this inevitable hand-off ment assets or a small business, you’ll be remains low on many couple’s priority surprised at the planning opportunities a list. professional advisor may uncover in tai- The financial services community refers loring a plan just for you. to this coming shift as “intergenerational I hope you find this year’s guide to be wealth transfer.” Analysts estimate that, useful, thought-provoking, and motivat- over the next generation, a whopping $1 ing to move forward with your own con- to $4 trillion will move from one genera- siderations. The time for planning is now. tion of Canadians to the next or be gifted to charitable organizations. Given the relationship between size- Chris Carter is the Business Analyst able wealth transfer and charitable for the Morning News on Global BC endeavours, one may reasonably con- Television and an Associate Director, clude that the wealthiest Canadians Wealth Management with ScotiaMcLeod. would be well-versed in the advantages He has written extensively about estate of strategic gift planning, but anecdotal planning tips and strategies for Canadian evidence suggests otherwise. Clearly, families. Chris Carter Your plan Charitable gifts will impact the future from everyday people Message from the Chair You can have an impact on the future Message from the Chair information and the practical tools you LEAVE A LEGACY™ Greater Vancouver by taking time to plan today. LEAVE A CAGP Greater Vancouver Roundtable need to leave a legacy to your favourite LEGACY™ is a program that encour- charity. The stories you will read through- ages people to act now to enhance lives Do you ever wonder what our world The Canadian Associate of Gift Planners out this supplement illustrate how people for those who follow. The LEAVE A will be like decades after we are gone? (CAGP) Greater Vancouver Roundtable like you are strengthening and enriching LEGACY™ message is simple – ensure Will our communities thrive? Will our is pleased to bring you this LEAVE A our communities through charitable gifts. you have an up-to-date will and consider grandchildren experience similar joys and LEGACY™ feature supplement. Our hope The Canadian Association of Gift leaving a gift for charity in your will. A gift challenges that we faced? is that it will provide you with valuable Planners (CAGP) is an association of in your will or another type of estate gift gift planning professionals whose main to your charities of choice ensures your purpose is to support charitable giving in legacy. You can have an important impact Canada by raising awareness of the many on building a brighter future for your fam- ways in which individuals can make a dif- ily and community. ference in their communities through well Planning today helps you make wise planned, tax-effective charitable gifts. The decisions for the future needs of your CAGP membership is diverse and includes loved ones and also the causes in which fundraisers, lawyers, accountants, financial you believe. One is not exclusive of the advisors, trust officers and other estate other. This publication will help you learn planning professionals who work as a more about what you can do, and what team to help donors achieve their philan- others have done, to place their personal thropic dreams. imprint on shaping the world tomorrow. It If you are interested in learning how feels good to help others. Consider taking you can positively impact your community the next step through creation of a legacy with a planned gift, please contact your gift. advisor, favourite charity or a gift plan- ning professional listed in this supplement. Kathy Mannas, CFRE Never underestimate the difference that Major Gifts Officer just one person can make! The Salvation Army, BC Division Charlene Taylor Associate Director, Planned Giving VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation Kathy Mannas Charlene Taylor LL04/ October 2008 LEAVE A LEGACY™ Sarah Leyshon- Hughes is act- ing manager, Private Committee Services, Public Guardian and ™ Trustee of British LEAVE A LEGACY Columbia. Leave a Bequest in your Will To Variety – The Children’s Charity and BC’s children who have special needs. You will truly be making the Gift of a Lifetime. Your generosity will provide a future gift for children like Rebecca, pictured The importance of above, and may provide you and your estate with substantial tax benefits. Please notify us of your bequest or contact us for more information on how a charitable bequest will benefit you, your estate, and BC’s children who have special needs. Having a will Variety – The Children’s tel 604-320-0505 Did you know that by not making a will most part in their later years on pension Charity of BC fax 604-320-0535 you have no say in how your estate is dis- income. After her husband died, Molly email tributed? made a will, appointing PGT as her execu- Director of Planned Giving [email protected] The Estate Administration Act states tor, and leaving the residue of her estate to 4300 Still Creek Drive web www.variety.bc.ca/legacy that when one dies without a will and the West Vancouver Public Library. Burnaby, BC V5C 6C6 toll free in BC 1-800-381-2040 without immediate next of kin, the Public Because her estate was left to charity, Guardian and Trustee (PGT) has the right no income tax had to be paid, increasing to administer the estate with the assets, the gift she made after she passed away. after administrative expenses, passing to the next of kin through bloodlines. George, who never married or had No will, no birth certificate VA R I E T Y I S A R EG I STE R ED CH A R ITA B L E S O C I E TY children, died in 2001, leaving an estate If a birth certificate cannot be found, 1008LAL worth about $1 million. PGT administered funds from a deceased’s estate will pass to George’s estate, hiring heir locators to the British Columbia Unclaimed Property locate his rightful heirs through his birth Society (BCUPS). The funds are held in certificate. perpetuity, available for claim by a right- The estate was distributed to four ful heir, provided they can prove they are second cousins who had never known the heir and the only heir to the estate. If George. Expenses were more than $35,000 no one comes forward, the BCUPS each after seven years of work. year transfers funds to the Vancouver Had George established a will, a charity Foundation to be used for charitable pur- could have been named, resulting in bene- poses. fits to his community. Sarah Leyshon-Hughes Acting Manager, What happens when you have a will Private Committee Services Molly’s story was quite different. She Public Guardian and Trustee of British and her husband lived quietly in a rental Columbia apartment in West Vancouver for many years. They were not wealthy, living for the Our friends help . CNIB is a nationwide, community-based, charitable create vision hope organization committed to the Right now, 600,000 Canadians are living vision health of all Canadians. with vision loss. This number is expected to . More than one quarter of triple in the next 25 years. CNIB’s income from the public comes from legacies. Leave a legacy today to ensure vision health and vision hope for all Canadians. A gift in your will is one of the easiest and most significant Your long-term financial support through ways to support our work a bequest, a gift of life insurance or an in rehabilitation services, annuity to CNIB will help us to sustain our research, blindness prevention vital programs and services. and public education. For more information, please call 1008LAL 604-431-2050 or visit cnib.ca LEAVE A LEGACY™ October 2008 /LL05 Your gift is finding solutions in BC. More children survive cancer thanks to advances in research, but survival can carry lifelong consequences. Mary McBride’s study at the BC Cancer Agency is looking at the future health risks of children and is one of 27 current research projects in BC funded by the Canadian Cancer Society.