The Benchmark Society honors individuals who have included Baruch College in their wills or trusts, established life income gifts that benefit the College and themselves, or used retirement fund assets or life insurance to make a gift to Baruch. In so doing, we also commemorate Bernard Baruch's transformative gift and his love for his alma mater and its students. The legacy he created will live on forever.
By including Baruch College in their wills and estate plans, Benchmark Society members have chosen to support our students and the College beyond their lifetimes. And because estate plans are most often about families, by making Baruch part of your estate plan you are including the College as a member of your extended family. We couldn't be more touched or more grateful.
Members of the Benchmark Society are recognized with:
- An invitation to the annual recognition event
- The Benchmark Newsletter, with information about fixed payments for life, tax and estate planning, and Baruch College news
- Inclusion in the listing of society members in College publications and Web site (with your permission)
- Invitations to special events on campus
- A commemorative Tiffany & Co. lapel pin
Baruch College's first planned gift was made by Bernard Baruch himself. When he passed away in 1965, he left the bulk of his estate to the College and this gift established an endowment that continues to this day to provide significant support to our students. Mr. Baruch's generous story has been rewritten in countless ways by hundreds of alumni and their relatives, by friends and by faculty members.
They are stories of people who have helped the College in numerous ways -- by establishing scholarships or naming a classroom, for example. They are stories of people who have helped themselves, by structuring gifts that provided tax savings and income for life while benefiting Baruch students. They are stories of people who have dreamed of making the gift of a lifetime to Baruch and were able to fulfill that dream by thoughtful and creative estate planning.