For Bob Johnson, managing partner of Founders Capital Partners, a venture capital angel group concentrating on early-stage technology-based businesses, investing in a charitable remainder unitrust (CRUT) alongside the MIT endowment helped him feel confident in his financial planning as he looked toward his family’s future. Not only will the trust provide income for the Johnson family, it will further MIT’s mission of building a better world.

The goal: financial security.
Johnson’s primary concern is to make sure that his blended family is financially secure for many years to come. “I don’t want my wife, Lisa, or my adult children having to worry about evaluating and selecting investment managers.” he says. “I want to make sure they are being served well.”

Why planned giving at MIT?
Investing in a CRUT at MIT has proved to be the best choice for the Johnsons. The income generated by the CRUT will go to Johnson’s beneficiaries—with all fund management taken care of by MIT. The latter is particularly important to him. “MIT’s endowment goals are exactly my goals,” Johnson observes, “and there are smart, committed people who have been managing it for a long time. When I invest alongside the endowment, I get the same current earnings and long-term performance that MIT gets. If something happened to me, Lisa and my kids would be beneficiaries of MIT’s endowment investment management for the rest of their lives.”

“In addition to everything else MIT has given to me in my lifetime, now MIT has given me peace of mind. I give to MIT so that its great work in education and life-changing research is supported far into the future.”

Research for a better world.
Contributing to MIT’s mission of creating a more positive future for all aligns with Johnson’s core personal beliefs and philanthropic goals. In particular, he recognizes that funding basic science research is critical for innovative discoveries over the long term and is often overlooked in favor of short-term gains. “For the most part, financial incentives of our modern world economy do not support long-term fundamental research,” he says. “My philanthropic objective is to bolster MIT so it can perform its mission: strengthening modern civilization and improving the human condition, and the planet’s.”

Generations of impact.
The first in his family to attend college, Johnson received scholarships and other financial support that made it possible to attend MIT and earn his SB in physics. “An MIT education is a gift at many levels,” he says. “My life path is entirely different than it would have been if I had gone anywhere else.” He firmly believes that the best education should be available to all scholars regardless of their financial circumstances, and knows his investment in MIT helps provide more opportunities for students to forge their own paths at the Institute.