The Ramirez Scholarship Fund
Bill Ramirez began his career in June 1973 on the docks of the then small, private delivery company called United Parcel Service (UPS). Bill was a recent high school graduate, he enjoyed his job and UPS treated him and its employees very well, so he stayed for 32 years. All those years of service have paid off in a way that Bill and DeAnna would never have expected.
Bill and DeAnna, who he met during high school, eventually got married and started a family. Bill continued to work at UPS, while DeAnna ran the house and together they raised their two daughters. "Knowing that DeAnna was at home taking care of our children and managing the household allowed me to focus on my job and that brought me a lot of peace of mind," Bill stated.
Bill had a very simple reason for staying with UPS for more than three decades. "I had a responsibility to my family," Bill said, "and I had an epiphany - that life at UPS was more than satisfactory." That revelation inspired Bill to spend his entire career working in Los Angeles for UPS until he retired as district manager in March of 2006.
While working at UPS, Bill acquired a large number of UPS shares. Some were granted to him as a part of the company's compensation plan and others he purchased. That turned out to be a financially savvy move for the Ramirez family. In 1999 UPS issued an initial public offering of 10 percent of the company's shares. In 2005, after several stock splits, UPS' stock price hit an all-time high. Bill and DeAnna realized that all their hard work, dedication and commitment would allow them to retire early and enjoy their lives with their daughters in Southern California.
After retiring, Bill and DeAnna worked with their financial advisor to ensure financial security throughout their retirement years. This involved a big decision: what to do with their highly appreciated UPS stock. Bill's friends and colleagues at UPS, Bob Beaman and David Deland, had already established CRTs with Pepperdine and were extremely happy with them. They were pleased with their trusts and advised the Ramirezes to do the same.
Bill and DeAnna met with Pepperdine University's Center for Estate and Gift Planning and decided that instead of selling stock and paying taxes they would transfer a portion of their UPS holdings to a CRT with Pepperdine. The CRT allowed Bill and DeAnna to diversify their portfolio, sell their stock without the payment of capital gains tax, reduce their income taxes with the charitable deduction, and create a lifetime income stream for them. Bill stated, "I realized that I would have had to sell my stock and I didn't want to do that. Then I realized I could just trade it. This is a good thing to secure the future for the kids, I'm going to make this money work."
Perhaps best of all, the Ramirez' gift will be used to support scholarships for Hispanic students at Pepperdine's undergraduate school, Seaver College. On their tour of the Malibu campus Bill and DeAnna were impressed by the beauty of the place. Bill's vision for such students, who struggle against life circumstances and who must "fight all the time," is to "give these students, especially if they are hard workers, the opportunity to be a part of all this - especially to study and to look out on that beautiful ocean!"
Bill attributed the trustworthiness of Pepperdine vice president for advancement and public affairs Keith Hinkle and the staff of the Center for Estate and Gift Planning in his decision to set up the CRT and scholarship fund at Pepperdine. "Dealing with good people like you all, I'm dealing with people whom I can trust. I found that to be important. That's what makes this decision a good decision."
Editor's Note: While visiting with the Ramirez family for this article, we had the pleasure of meeting one of their daughters. We asked her how she felt about her parents setting up their CRT at Pepperdine. She said she was very excited because it was going to give future students an opportunity to move ahead in life. It was such a delight to see that at her young age she had already learned the value and joy of helping others. Bill and DeAnna's hard work has paid off tremendously not only in the financial success they have achieved, but more importantly in the success of their children. Both daughters are currently enrolled in college pursuing careers as teachers.
