Gift of Retirement Plan Assets

Plan your legacy and help out your heirs by designating the AAS as a charitable beneficiary of any balances remaining in your retirement plans at the end of your lifetime. Retirement plan assets may be reduced by a combination of estate and income taxes, which means, for a large estate, less than 30 cents on the dollar of the plan's balance for your heirs. Avoid the double-tax burden by naming the AAS as the beneficiary of the remainder of your retirement plan — and the AAS will receive 100% of the balance for use in advancing astronomy.

How to Make Your Gift

Contributions that are unrestricted in nature are the most useful, and because your gift will only be realized in the future, we cannot know for sure exactly what projects or programs the AAS may be supporting at the time.

To provide the most flexibility for your future contribution to have the best impact, we ask that you use our template letter to express your desired use for the funds in a way that does not restrict the AAS to any specific project or program.

The language in the letter specifically informs the AAS of your desired use and asks the AAS Board of Trustees to designate the funds for a purpose aligned with your general wishes, but does not mandate that the funds be used in this way.

Be sure to notify your retirement plan's administrator for advice and a beneficiary designation form. If you have questions about gifts of retirement plan assets, please contact AAS Executive Officer Kevin Marvel.