After three decades working as a psychiatrist, Irene Kitzman enjoys spending her semiretirement behind a telescope, gazing into distant stars and galaxies from her home in Arizona. Her passion for astronomy has inspired Kitzman to support Technion research that aims to provide humanity with even deeper glimpses into the cosmos.

By leveraging her individual retirement account (IRA), she is funding Technion astronomy research now while making provisions for further support after her lifetime — and, in the process, sparing her retirement savings from taxation.

Kitzman supports this research using annual distributions from her IRA. Like all individuals with an IRA who are 73 or older, she must withdraw a certain amount from the fund each year, known as a required minimum distribution. If she used the funds as personal income, they would be subject to income taxes. By using the funds instead to support ATS, through a qualified charitable distribution, she avoids incurring income tax on this distribution.

Thanks to her estate plans, Kitzman’s IRA will further advance Technion’s astronomy program after her lifetime. The balance of the fund will benefit the Technion at 100 cents on the dollar and support graduate students in astronomy and cosmology.

“I love knowing that the full value of my IRA will go to work for the Technion,” said Kitzman. “To play even a small part in helping to expand our knowledge of the universe is a real honor and privilege.”