Interview with Rob and Cheryl Shallish '71

Q. What prompted you to make a planned gift?

Cheryl: We decided about six years ago when Rob retired.

Rob: Part of it was tax planning, we had more income than usual the year I retired. One of the advantages of a planned gift, like this, is you get a tax deduction when you make the gift and then there's income for a lifetime as a result. It seemed to make sense to us, helping out our Colleges, helping out our tax situation and knowing it would provide a flow of income to us over a course of years.

Q. What do planned gifts give you that other donations don't?

Rob: The tax benefits. The idea of having annuity in a way is beneficial to us in retirement. But more than anything we wanted to recognize our colleges for giving us our start. Cheryl got started in Education and I got my start in Finance.

Q. Was it important to support both of your schools?

Cheryl: Yes, and to support them equally.

Rob: We like them both equally and it doesn't make sense to choose one over the other.

Q. Would you say the process was easy?

Rob: Being an accountant helped, but we did talk with our lawyer. There are various ways to set this up, various trusts to use. For example, here at Elmira College, the trust is through a bank, whereas at my college, the college is the trustee. Just a different approach at each place.

Q. What does this planned gift mean to you? Does it provide you peace of mind?

Rob: It's good to stay in contact with the colleges and this is one way to do that. We appreciate getting together with people we know and knowing that we're helping the next generation of students, making sure the colleges can continue on.

Cheryl: It's especially important for the smaller colleges, like Elmira. That is why you get involved as a class agent or with Reunion. When you see the students today with their energy, you can tell the love they have for this school. EC continues to lead with spirit, comradery, and feeling like you have a friend. I think it's unusual, but there is something special about this place and you want to give back to that. You want to make sure this school is open in 10 or 20 years, because a lot of schools aren't. It's important that people give back.

For more information on making a planned gift, please contact Angela May at 607-735-8656 or [email protected].