08 Aug 70% of Americans never do this
As an education major for my undergrad degree, I had to take a music class. Seemed pretty harmless. I love music. My Spotify playlist right now has all the summer vibes and it’s making me so happy! Little did I know that this specific music professor would require every student to sing on-key in order to get an ‘A’ in the class. Crud, this just got a whole lot harder.
It’s likely no surprise to you that I’m a Type A personality—as in, I needed to get all A’s. That was a hyper-vigilant obsession I developed back during my school years that I’ve spent every minute since trying to overcome. I’ve heard the saying “C’s get degrees” plenty of times; after all, what do you call a doctor who got all C’s in school? Yeah, DOCTOR! Nonetheless, I was on a mission to learn how to sing on-key.
By week 2 of the class, it wasn’t looking good. So, I approached the prof and asked him if he could ‘tutor’ me. He agreed and said that with a bit of his help, I’d be singing on-key by the end of the quarter. From then on, every Tuesday and Thursday after class, I’d stay behind, listening, learning, and singing. I didn’t hate it. Like I said, I love music. He may have hated it, though! He may have grown to hate music—or at least whatever one would call the joyful noise that was emanating from my mouth. Poor guy.
Finally, tutoring was over as the quarter ended. The dedicated professor asked me to stay after class one final time to chat prior to the release of the grades. He expressed how impressed he was with my sticktoitiveness and willingness to work hard toward something that was clearly hard for me. Then he said a sentence I’ll never forget. I have repeated his words several times in retelling this story since that day. With sincere calmness and maybe even a bit of sadness, he said, “Honey, you just can’t sing.”
Luckily, that dedication earned me his first, ‘can’t-sing-on-key’ A and was proof that not everything can be taught, no matter how dedicated the teacher or the student may be.
So, yeah, I can’t sing like Amy Winehouse, Prince, Kurt Cobain, Michael Jackson, Bob Marley, or Jimi Hendrix. They were severely gifted and the music they made has changed the lives of many. However, both you and I have the ability to do something that none of those musicians ever did—create a will.
It’s hard to believe that those powerhouse musicians, despite having so many hired hands helping them out and so much money in their bank accounts, never thought about putting their wishes in place for their loved ones after they passed away. And I get it, they probably thought they’d live forever or could just do it later. Or maybe you’re thinking, “Yeah, but musicians are artsy, they probably used their right brain all the time and didn’t think about the logical left brain forms they’d need to make their will official.”
It’s a nice thought until you realize that Sonny Bono, Abraham Lincoln, and Martin Luther King, Jr. didn’t have wills in place either. And what makes it worse is that most Americans are just like them! Alas, where there is a will, there is a way. And we’re here to help.
Giving through your will is a way to establish your family’s legacy. Unfortunately, there are more than 45,000 people in Grant County who don’t have a will in place. You don’t want the court to determine what happens to your money, your belongings, and your legacy, do you? This can put undue stress and heartache on your family while they are still grieving your loss. Planning ahead, and crafting a will now, is the solution to this problem; yet 70% of Americans never do this.
As a generous donor, we want you to consider creating a will as a gift to your loved ones. Making those decisions today will make your wishes crystal clear when the time comes. And, while you’re thinking about your legacy, it’s simple to allocate just 5% of your estate to the Community Foundation of Grant County to be designated to an endowment named in honor of your family. Think about it, won’t you?
I think we can all agree that 5% isn’t much. A 5% slice of this Sugar Cream Pie still leaves plenty to go around for others that you love, doesn’t it? Heck, at a blood drive you donate 10% of your blood and can still walk! That’s why we’ve developed a new program at the Community Foundation called The Pie Society to encourage a 5% planned gift!
To join The Pie Society, all you need to do is include the Foundation in your will or estate plan. By allocating a slice of your accumulated wealth to the Foundation, you can support your favorite charitable cause. And the best thing is that you get to determine how big that slice is! But wait, there’s more!
The Community Foundation has partnered with FreeWill, a secure, online will-maker, which will allow you to fill out your free, legally valid will forms in less than 20 minutes. Just answer a few questions about yourself, your assets, and your wishes, and the will-making tool provides forms and instructions for how to make your will legally binding in the state where you live. And it couldn’t happen at a better time, since August is National Make-a-Will month!
Use this blog as your motivational reminder to finally sit down and create your last will and testament. And with the new Freewill tool provided by the CoFo, we think you’ll find the process isn’t long or tedious and makes it easy to leave Grant County a slice of charitable pie through the Community Foundation to any cause you love! Your contribution, whatever size, would radically change our community for the better!
When you include the Community Foundation in your estate plans, you ensure that your charitable goals are met for the betterment of Grant County. We can help you get started. Once you include the Community Foundation in your will or trust, please contact us to let us know. We would love to thank you and Welcome You to the Grant County Pie Society—our community-wide giving society made up of generous donors like you who have promised to leave a portion of their accumulated wealth – or a piece of their pie – to charity.
Give us a call at 765-662-0065 and we’ll help you with a 5% planned gift that will change Grant County and cement your legacy for now and forever. Or just go online to create your free will by visiting GiveToGrant.org/FreeWill.
Sure, we’ll always have the musical legacies of greats like Prince and Amy Winehouse. But thankfully, you don’t have to sing on-key to leave a legacy—you just have to plan ahead. Because legacies outlive us all!
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