Under the auspices of the Endowment Committee, a seminar on helping people understand how they can reduce their taxes and give the difference to UUCB was held on March 19, 2016 in the Safir Room. The speakers—Laurel Randell, UUA (Legacy Gifts Manager) and Eugene Demmler, LPL (Registered Investment Advisor)—were great, and we recommend them to others! A few key learnings: 1)  For those who want to use the Required Minimum Distribution from IRA accounts to donate to the church, there are tax advantages to have the IRA pay the church directly. 2)  If you are giving away highly appreciated stock while you are alive, better to give it to charity. (If you give it to your heirs during your lifetime, they get your cost basis, and pay the gain from that point. If they inherit it, the basis “resets” to whatever it was when received by the heirs. If you donate it to charity in your lifetime, you get the full market value as your deduction.) 3) The UUA provides lots of services; check their website (http://www.uua.org/giving/planned). One of these is Umbrella Giving where, once set up with UUA, can be changed merely by mail. 4) In addition to leaving a legacy gift to the general endowment, you can designate your gift for a specific purpose, including a Building Fund and endowments for ministerial interns. (Learn more: https://uucb.org/endowment-seminar-2016-03-19/)