Photo: Planned gifts, like Gail's, will leave a lasting legacy and transform lives.
Gail Shiel, Christel House International board member and long-time supporter, recently decided to make a planned gift to Christel House. “It is certainly no fun to think of life going on without you. But if something were to happen to me tomorrow, my kids don’t need to figure it all out. It was a family decision.”
Making a planned gift doesn’t have to be a difficult, drawn out process. Gail says, “I think people would be surprised how easy it is to do. You don’t have to have wealth to leave a meaningful gift; and you don’t need complicated financial planning advice if you have someone qualified to prepare your will assisting you.”
“If anything, it is calming to know you have some control of your resources after you’re gone,” Gail continued. “I already had a will in place, so I only had to update it to reflect my wish.”
Gail’s lawyer helped her make the most prudent choices throughout the process. They selected retirement assets because those did not affect her day to day expenses and provided the greatest tax advantages. “I’m happy to have made these provisions in my estate because even if I get busy doing other things, it still keeps me close to the Christel House family. But most of all, I wanted to do what I could to help build confidence and security for the children of Christel House that their school has enough support to ensure their future success.” said Gail.