Tim and Cindy Jacobson

Three generations of Jacobsons have worn the Wheaton College football uniform. Tim Jacobson’s ’81 father, Richard, attended Wheaton in the early 1950s before being drafted in the Korean War, and Tim’s son, also named Richard, graduated in 2012. Tim and his wife, Cindy, enjoy reconnecting with Wheaties in the stands at McCully Stadium.

“The Wheaton football program was a huge part of my life while I attended Wheaton,” says Tim. “What has blessed me over the last three years is the current football team and ministry. When I attended, our football team did not have its own mission trips, nor did we have discipleship groups among the football team. I’m impressed with the spiritual growth that the football players have exhibited these last few years.”

Gift Planning Services helped the Jacobsons set up a provision for a  charitable remainder trust (CRT) through their living trust. For Tim and Cindy, this was the perfect way to provide for their children while also leaving a legacy at Wheaton. At their deaths, their retirement plan assets (the most heavily taxed assets in their estate plan) will pass tax-free into the CRT, which will provide income to their children for 20 years. The CRT will then be distributed to a Wheaton College donor advised fund that will benefit the football team’s annual missions trips as well as Wheaton’s unrestricted fund, which provides for the various needs of the College.

“We initially had a charitable remainder trust with another organization. When we read that Wheaton offered these services, since we had no personal experience with the other organization, we decided to utilize Wheaton’s full line of services,” says Tim. “Since Wheaton has its own bank [ Wheaton College Trust Company] and could double as executor, it seemed the perfect match, especially with the knowledge of Wheaton’s ethics and integrity over the years, and given its stable institutional environment since 1860.

“Gift Planning Services has also been terrific in helping us and our attorney set up our living trust, as well as the charitable remainder trust. They worked closely with my attorney in Tucson to establish our trust, and they helped me set up my  donor advised fund too, allowing us to donate our money from the CRT to specific programs at Wheaton.

“I can’t say enough about the peace we feel, knowing that the assets God has blessed us with over the years will be distributed to our heirs and will benefit Wheaton, too.”