Despite what mummified kings may have thought, you can’t take your wealth with you when you go. Some Wharton alumni are discovering, however, that it’s possible to put it to good use. Planned giving is a way for donors to not only control where their money goes after they pass away but also to have it double as an added source of income in the years when they need it most.
You make a gift, you get income for life: That’s the idea behind Charitable Gift Annuities, according to Penn senior director of gift planning Greg Johnson. When gifting a CGA, a donor only gets a tax deduction for about half the amount, depending on age (compared to a deduction for the full amount with a regular gift). The rate of these lifetime CGA payments is determined by the alum’s age when the CGA is established; the older the donor, the higher the annuity rate. The gift is invested in a portfolio of select mutual funds by TIAA Kaspick and keeps growing in the background. When the donor passes away, the money moves from the investment account either to the default designation of the Wharton Fund or to an area of the donor’s choosing, such as the MBA Fellowship Fund.
One alumnus Johnson recently worked with, Philippe Soussand WG81, is directing his funds toward helping students. “Whether it goes into scholarships, into developing certain programs at Penn, or it doesn’t give any constraints to Penn as how to use the money, you have a good flexibility there,” says Soussand, who owns a fashion consulting business in New York City.
There are also perks to CGAs that might catch the attention of entrepreneurs and former CFOs like Soussand. For example, part of the income may be tax-free for a period of years (depending on the age of the donor at the time of gifting). To his fellow finance-world veterans, Soussand makes this comparison: “When you buy a stock in a company, you hope it’s well managed.” Similarly, when you buy into a CGA at an institution like Penn that you already trust, you can rest assured that the money will be well invested and put to good use after your lifetime.
There’s another hidden bonus for Wharton alumni: if they are in a reunion year, their donation can count toward their class gift. Jim Blinn WG80 took full advantage of this feature, utilizing his Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) from his IRA to create a matching challenge for his class.
For every donation classmates would make of at least $2,500 — which happens to be the threshold for a Benjamin Franklin Society membership — Blinn pledged that he would match it, up to $25,000. The result? They met the goal, leading to a full $25,000 extra toward the class gift.
During Blinn’s Wharton reunion last year, a few fellow alumni made some kind remarks, expressing that they had stepped up their giving to the School because of his matching challenge. “I was frankly very, very happy about that,” says Blinn. “I was able to leverage my contribution, which was fantastic.”
To make Blinn’s situation more unusual, his donation came from an IRA fund that he inherited. Usually with an inherited IRA, the inheritor has certain requirements to take out a distribution and pay taxes on that distribution. However, if the inherited IRA donor is age 70 and a half or older and that distribution is donated, no taxes are due (up to $111,000 per individual in 2026).
Donating from an IRA wasn’t the first time Blinn has led with his heart when it came to philanthropy. When his wife, Ming Blinn G80 GR85, whom he met at Penn, passed away, he made a donation in her name. “Wharton shaped my career as well as my personal life,” says Blinn. “As a consequence of that, it’s something I have prioritized in terms of the giving that I do.”
Johnson, who has helped Wharton and Penn alumni with their gift planning for 19 years, is seeing the rise in popularity of more tailored gift and financial planning as baby boomers retire. “Particularly between 1946 and 1955, from post-World War II, if you look at the number of births in a timeline, it does look like a tidal wave,” Johnson says. “And they’re all now needing income, and many want a guaranteed source of reliable, fixed income with annuities.” A Penn CGA offers a donor two significant benefits: making a gift to Wharton, and obtaining a stream of income for life.
In the midst of this influx, Penn’s Office of Gift Planning acknowledges that each alum’s situation is different, and all donors must consider their personal needs. Johnson says he’s seen alumni set up charitable remainder trusts (different from but similar to CGAs) for parents or in-laws. In addition to cash and publicly traded stock, he has seen others donate assets such as real estate and privately held stock. “It’s a way for them to make a gift to benefit Wharton and meet a need for income for themselves or other people and receive an income tax charitable deduction,” Johnson says.
It’s also a way for alumni to pay it forward. Soussand, who is a dual citizen of France and the U.S., reflected on how alumni of American schools have the unique privilege of supporting their alma maters. “You have people who have the view that universities have a lot of money,” says Soussand. “But the reason Penn is Penn is because the people before us did what they did. And hopefully, the people after us will continue to do that.”
For more information on charitable gift annuities, charitable remainder trusts and other gift planning methods, see the Wharton Gift Planning website.
