Kansas Rural Communities Foundation Announces Transfer of Wealth Research: $598 Billion Potential in Kansas over 50 Years
(May 12, 2008) Wamego, KS — Research results announced today by the Kansas Association of Community Foundations, including the Kansas Rural Communities Foundation (KRCF), projects that over the next 50 years, more than $598 billion will transfer from one generation to the next in Kansas. By the year 2020, this wealth transfer is estimated at more than $66 billion. Five percent of this 12-year transfer would bring $3.3 billion to community foundations or local nonprofits across Kansas. With a conservative five percent payout rate on these endowments, a remarkable $165 million would be available for community betterment projects.
Following the Great Depression and World War II, the United States entered a golden age of business growth and personal prosperity. Americans have created, invested and multiplied unprecedented wealth. Over the next 50 years, this capital – a conservative estimate of $41 trillion nationwide – will change hands. Most will go to heirs and taxes, but Kansas community foundations are leading an effort to ensure that a portion is preserved and invested in communities across the state.
“For generations, people lived their entire lives close to their birthplace and as wealth passed from one generation to the next, most stayed in the same county. This is no longer true,” states René Eichem, KRCF executive director. “Once the wealth leaves our communities and our state, it may never return; we hope to encourage residents to designate a portion of their estates, 401(k) and IRA accounts or life insurance policies, to their community foundation.
The Kansas Rural Communities Foundation is an endowment that will ensure that Kansas communities enjoy the long-term benefits of this transfer of wealth opportunity. By definition, community foundations are tax exempt, public charities created by and for the people of a local area. Community foundations have a long history as experts in identifying and supporting the long-term needs of communities, as well as acting as knowledge leaders in the area of philanthropy, assisting individuals, families and businesses with their charitable giving decisions.
The Transfer of Wealth study was commissioned by the Kansas Health Foundation and conducted by the Center for Economic Development and Business Research at Wichita State University. Future intergenerational wealth transfer for each county in Kansas was estimated based on a model initially created by Boston College. For more detailed information about the study, please visit www.kansascfs.org.
“We would invest the dollars and use just five percent, which is the national standard, each year for community betterment projects and programs undertaken by local and state nonprofits. Within a decade we would be able to address the challenges facing our communities and the state as a whole and enhance the quality of life for all our residents,” said Eichem.
About the Kansas Rural Communities Foundation
The formation of the Kansas Rural Communities Foundation in 2006 as 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation created an efficient mechanism through which individuals, families, corporations, nonprofit organizations, and private foundations have been able to create funds and make gifts to benefit their communities.
Donated dollars have established scholarships, built new community playgrounds, assisted families who have children with disabilities, and aided historical preservation, just to name a few. Some of the communities that have benefited from the services provided by the KRCF include Belvue, Havensville, Norton, Olsburg, Onaga, St. George, St. Marys, Wamego, Westmoreland, and Wheaton.
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For more information about the KRCF, contact
René Eichem, executive director
Kansas Rural Communities Foundation
P.O. Box 25 | 529 Lincoln Ave. | Wamego, KS 66547
Phone: 785-456-8444 | Fax: 785-456-8443
E-mail | http://www.thekrcf.org
| KRCF • P.O. Box 25 • 529 Lincoln Ave. • Wamego, KS 66547
Phone: (785) 456-8444 • Fax: (785) 456-8443 • E-mail the KRCF y |