IRA Rollover Gifts--Nancy and Bill Newmeyer '57
"I've set foot on every continent, including Antarctica," says Bill Newmeyer '57. "That was a rough trip, and one my wife chose not to experience!"
Bill and Nancy travel from their home base in San Francisco Bay area where they've lived for several decades. Recent trips include visiting the Panama Canal and Costa Rica, attending a friend's wedding in Spain ("If you're already there, you have to see a bit of the country."), and they're looking forward to a return visit to India in a few months. This time the itinerary will cover the southern part of the Sub-Continent. (Bill recommends the movies, "Monsoon Wedding" and the 2007 release "Namesake.")
After graduating from Haverford with a degree in chemistry, Bill and some twenty of his classmates went to medical school. Bill went to Cornell (now Weill Cornell) in Manhattan. Trained as a general surgeon, he served an army tour in Korea, working in a M.A.S.H. which he says was very much like the movie and television program. Upon returning to the United States, Bill became a hand surgeon and practiced until his retirement in 1999.
There's no question that retirement suits the doctor. Bill's an avid bicycler, and he enjoys volunteering at the San Francisco Mechanics Institute Library and Chess Club where he serves on the board of directors. He and Nancy are involved in book clubs through the library and he finds it a congenial place to spend time—all those newspapers and periodicals to read!
Then there's the travel. Enjoying good health and a healthy financial situation, the Newmeyers appreciate the chance to continue to learn about the larger world—an interest that Bill partly credits to the liberal arts education he received at Haverford. He especially remembers the thrill of freshman English where the students read a book a week and wrote a report. Then small group discussions required them to defend their ideas and intellectual rigor was demanded.
Bill also recalls Andy Scott's political science classes which opened him up to politics—an interest he retains as an "interested observer and financial contributor" in the district represented by Nancy Pelosi.
Aided by his financial advisor, who happens to be his son, Bill and his wife reviewed their finances when the law on giving an IRA to a charity was passed. They concluded that the tax advantages to making such a gift were worthwhile, and that they were fortunate that their family situation allowed them to make Haverford (and several other charities) the beneficiaries of two IRAs. "It's the proverbial win-win situation," Bill states. "I feel good about this move and hope other Haverford alumni will follow our example."