By naming Missouri State University as survivor beneficiary of your qualified retirement plan, you can greatly reduce your estate’s overall tax burden and increase the amount passing to your children or heirs. Because retirement plan assets are subject to multiple layers of taxation at the owner’s death, in the form of federal and state estate tax as well as income tax, retirement assets are taxed much more heavily than other estate assets. If left to a non-spouse, taxes can claim in excess of 75% of a plan’s accumulations.

However, careful planning for the disposition of retirement plan assets will avoid unnecessary tax costs. By naming a qualifying charity such as Missouri State University as a survivor beneficiary of your retirement assets, the gift becomes completely exempt from estate tax, income tax and generation-skipping transfer tax, permitting you to make your gift at very low actual cost to your heirs. If you intend to leave a legacy to Missouri State University or another qualified charity through your will, prudent planning might call for you to make your gift from retirement plan assets instead, leaving the lesser-taxed assets to your family.