Beverlee DeCoux may have retired as Carleton’s comptroller and moved to Texas for most of the year, but finances and the college are never far from her mind. So when she started thinking about selling a piece of land she owned, she crunched a few numbers. Immediately, the school that had influenced her professionally and personally sprang to mind.
“The land was producing very little net income, but if I would have sold it, I would have had significant taxes,” DeCoux says. A planned gift helped her increase her income, avoid capital gains taxes, claim a charitable tax deduction, and invest in a place she feels is developing students to understand the world and do some good in it. She was able to accomplish all of these things through a flip charitable remainder unitrust.
“This was a way to honor the wonderful experience I had as a Carleton employee and the good Carleton does,” she says.
Because she worked at Carleton for 32 years, DeCoux was familiar with unitrust gifts and with Kaspick & Company, which manages this type of gift for Carleton. “I’d always known how it worked- in fact, I even gave speeches on why this was a good option for retirement when I was in Toastmasters,” she says.
As DeCoux planned her retirement, she wanted something she could count on for more income. The proceeds from the sale of the gifted land were invested, and the investments are valued annually. She then receives 5 percent of the market value each year for her lifetime.
“To me, it feels like a steady income,” DeCoux says. “While the income varies with market value of the assets, the highly skilled and experienced professional managers, Kaspick, are investing both for me, the beneficiary, and for Carleton in the long run. The managers are seeking long-term growth so that Carleton will have as much as possible when the fund matures.”
With a unitrust, donors may choose an endowed fund with their name, but DeCoux chose the money from her gift to be unrestricted, wanting the college to have the flexibility to apply it to the area of greatest need.
“It was just such a terrific experience to work there,” she says of her time at Carleton. “My bosses and coworkers were wonderful. I was fortunate enough to be in contact with some of the trustees and see their dedication and selflessness. I worked with faculty members on committees and saw their dedication to the students-and, of course, the students themselves.”