A significant lifetime gift will impact Syracuse University's immediate objectives. In turn, it will give you maximum tax benefits, especially attractive if you are in high earnings years. It can also be the simplest gift to arrange.

You may, however, prefer to leave your assets and cash flow alone until your death, and instead make your gift through your estate. Even though we would not use this gift immediately, it will be critically important for long-term financial strength and will help ensure that we can meet the opportunities and challenges the future will present us.

You use a will or revocable trust to make a gift from your estate. You may also use life insurance or the balance remaining in your retirement plan. These gifts help you keep your lifetime financial planning flexible, although they provide only limited income tax benefits. You will need professional assistance to set up most estate-plan gifts.