Martha smiled as she envisioned the familiar site of the county government office building. She remembered her forty-five years working as a county administrator in her little office. Many memories had been created in that building.

She had started in the mail room while attending the local community college. Although she didn't make it beyond two years of college education, her career with the county flourished. Her supervisors saw that she had what other employees lacked. She was street-wise, savvy and well organized.

In a short time, the county administrator took Martha under her wing. She was an apprentice of sorts, learning how to keep the books, process the paperwork and make certain that everything moved smoothly through the system. When the current administrator passed away suddenly, Martha was in position to assume the role she had been so well-trained to fill.

Martha served as the county administrator during some of the best and most crucial times in her community's history. Over the years, she helped organize the groundbreaking ceremony for a new county child development facility, assisted in recovering official records when the county offices flooded due to unseasonable rains, helped redirect funds to one city when it went bankrupt due to the mismanagement of municipal funds, and planned the celebration for the county's 100th anniversary.

Martha's years with the county had been eventful and rewarding. After a lifetime of public service, Martha was now retired and free to volunteer her time in the community. Martha was a tireless volunteer who worked for many of the charities she had assisted over the years.

Although Martha loved her volunteer work, she wanted to do more. She wanted to make a financial gift to her favorite charity. However, she didn't have a lot of extra cash to make the gift. Her pension that was administered by the county had benefited from the last stock market boom. She had more IRA income than she needed to cover her modest living expenses.

Martha called our gift planner and learned of a simple and easy method to make a gift to benefit her favorite charity. Because Martha was over age 70½, she had the option of rolling over up to $100,000 from her IRA to the organization without paying any taxes.

Martha called her IRA custodian and requested to transfer a part of her required distribution amount directly to charity. Martha's custodian transferred $2,000 to the organization. It was very easy for Martha to make the gift. The part she liked best was that she could help us further the organization's mission without paying any taxes.

For more information on the benefits of making an IRA charitable rollover gift, please contact our office. We look forward to helping you achieve your goals.