Savannah Alumnae Chapter April 2016

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Savannah Alumnae Chapter

A MESSESAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT: IF NOT US, THEN WHO?

During Delta Days at the Nations Capitol, our

National President and Social Action Commission

Chair strongly encouraged Delta chapters to form

coalitions and work collaboratively with others

during this campaign season that would greatly

impact the Get Out The Vote (GOTV) effort.

It is imperative that we get every eligible individual to

the polls during the Presidential and Congressional

election of 2016. This next election will determine the

swing of the Supreme Court, the continuance of

Obamacare, and many other vital issues that will

impact our and the lives of those we serve.

Our Social Action mandate lead Savannah Alumnae

Chapter to engage other community leaders

including the Divine 9, National Council of Negro

Women, and the NAACP to begin discussion on

how to ensure voter turn out is monumental.

Savannah Alumnae Chapter was chartered mandate required all graduate

chapters to be known as alumnae chapters of the city in their as the Beta Delta

Sigma Chapter on May 15, 1941. In 1957, a Grand Chapter service area. With

that mandate, Beta Delta Sigma became Savannah Alumnae Chapter

In a little over two weeks on Saturday, May 14 at 7 p.m., SAC will celebrate 75

years of providing outstanding service to the Savannah community. With more

than 200 active members and countless friends of the sorority, it promises to

be a fun filled evening.

Tickets are still available! Contact Sorors DeVita Slaughter at

912-429-9565; Renee Cannon at 912-272-1888 or

cnay1990@aol.com or Omesha Coppock at 912-272-2363

or ohmesha@bellsouth.net

Celebrating 75yrs of Sisterhood, Scholarship and Service

GOTV is our mandate!

Important dates to remember:

Early voting begins May 2

Georgia Primary is May 24

Any registered voter can request a mail-in absentee ballot

through their local county registrar or through the Georgia Secretary of State’s website at https://www.mvp.sos.ga.gov/MVP/mvp.do.

As we form partnerships and devise strategies to get our citizens to the polls, please check our corner for volunteer opportunities. The most important thing that we all can do now is spread the word to EVERYONE we know:

Our votes matter…Let’s go to the polls.

The National Social Action Commission hosted Delta Day at the United Nations on March 18, 2016. The theme was: “Gender Motivated Violence: Empowering Women and Girls with Solutions”. Local chapters are encouraged to become informed and engaged in gender based oppression issues.

Resources include: unicefusa.org/endtrafficking, notmylife.org, slaveryfootprint.org and ww.ggenyc.org

“So Act” Corner Information and updates from the Social Action Committee

message cont. from cover

Our first meeting was very successful in dialoging about not

only GOTV efforts, but other areas of concern in our

community.

Please stay tuned as the Social Action Committee keeps us abreast of what actions we need to take. The “SO ACT” Corner, debuting in this issue of the newsletter, wil l continue to provide information and updates as the political season progresses.

With Love & Devotion to Delta,

Soror Laura N. Wiggins, President

Savannah Alumnae Chapter

Estate cont. from front cover

leave taxable assets to charities if charities are

included in your list of beneficiaries, and leave

your tax-free assets, such as Roth retirement

accounts, life insurance and after-tax savings,

to your other beneficiaries.

Also, you can reduce your taxable estate

by gifting amounts to your beneficiaries while

you are alive, and the gift would be nontaxable

if it is under $13,000 for each recipient.

4) OFFSET TAXES WITH INSURANCE

Your beneficiaries can lose a significant

amount of the taxable assets that they inherit

to estate and income taxes. This can be offset

with the proceeds from life insurance.

For instance, if your estate planner estimates

that your beneficiary will owe $500,000 in

estate and income tax, you can purchase

a life insurance plan for that amount and name

the affected party as the beneficiary. Since life-

insurance proceeds paid to your beneficiaries

are tax-free, the entire $500,000 would be

available to pay the taxes owed.

5) WORKING WITH AN ESTATE PLANNING

TEAM

You may need the assistance of experts from

several fields. This includes the following:

An estate planning attorney who can help with

the designing and creation of trusts and wills,

as well as ensuring that your estate plan meets

federal and state requirements. It is often best

to work with a local attorney as he/she is more

likely to be familiar with the laws of the area in

which you reside.

A tax professional that can help to minimize

the amount of income taxes that your

beneficiaries would pay on the amounts they

inherit.

A financial advisor can help you to design a

suitable investment portfolio for your assets.

When choosing a financial advisor, ensure that

he/she is knowledgeable about the estate

planning needs and rules for

retirement accounts.

BOTTOM LINE

Many individuals tend to focus on the aspects

of finances that affect them during their lifetime

and procrastinate about making decisions for

their estate. However, failing to put an effective

estate plan in place can be costly to your

beneficiaries and cause friction if some feel

they were unfairly disinherited by your inaction.

Make appointments with your estate planning

team, and make sure that your estate plan is

customized to suit the needs of you and your

beneficiaries.

SAC’s Mental Health Symposium: Promoting Good Mental Health for

Our Youth and Young Adults featured four health professionals:

Dr. Anne McDaniel, Dr. Regina Brown, Ms. Amelia Castilian-Moore and

Ms. Seketa Bing-Nelson, who provided information on mental health

disorders and methods for supporting good mental health.

Each of them stressed the importance of recognizing the symptoms of

metal illness, seeking help when needed and having a support system

during difficult times in life.

The more than 125 college students in attendance engaged the

panelist with questions about overcoming the stigma associated with

mental illness and ways to encourage family and friends to seek

assistance from professionals.

1) DECLARE WHO GETS WHAT

If you fail to prepare a will, the laws that govern your

domicile determines who inherits your assets. This

includes nonfinancial assets for which you might consider

the disposition important, such as that vintage car you

consider to be your pride and joy, or the piece of jewelry

that your favorite niece has always admired.

Be careful here, as your will might not govern your assets

for which beneficiary designations are subject to the terms

of the governing agreements. This includes tax-deferred

retirement accounts in the United States and life insurance

policies. Check with the financial institution that holds the

asset to determine the rules that apply.

2) CHOOSE HOW IT SHOULD BE SPENT

If you plan to have some of your assets allocated to cover

specific expenses, you may need to create a trust that

includes such provisions. For instance, you might want to

earmark specific amounts to cover college and special

needs expenses for certain individuals. The trustee of the

trust would be legally bound to ensure that the designated

amounts are used to cover these expenses.

3) MINIMIZE ESTATE AND INCOME TAXES

If you anticipate that your beneficiaries will owe estate

and income tax on the amounts that they inherit, you might

be able to minimize these taxes by using tax-efficient

strategies. For instance, you could

Savannah Chatham Metropolitan Police Department Savannah Chatham Metropolitan Police

Depart Chief Joseph Lumpkin and Maxine Bryant, Ph.D., project manager for the city of

Savannah’s new gun violence reduction initiative, End Gun Violence: Step Forward. led an

engaging discussion on public safety following the April chapter meeting. They shared the

City’s plan to address crime and solicited the support of Savannah Alumnae. Social Action

Chair, Jacqueline Elmore, pledged to work more collaboratively with Dr. Bryant and the

Chief's office and to use them as resources when we prepare our advocacy materials.

HOW TO START A CONVERSATION ABOUT ESTATE PLANNING

Regardless of the size of your estate, an estate plan is necessary if you want to make sure that the right parties inherit your assets. If tax is an issue, your estate plan can help to limit the amounts that your beneficiaries will owe. You might find the following tips helpful, even if you already have an estate plan in place.

cont. on back cover

Crime Dialogue

Mental Health Symposium

Pictured left top: Symposium audience. Pictured left bottom L to R: Soror Sametria McFall-Dickerson; Seketa Bing-Nelson, SSU; Amelia Castilian-Moore, ASU; psychologist, Dr. Anne McDaniel and Dr. Regina Brown, and SAC president Laura Wiggins.

SCMPD Chief Joseph Lumpkin