Next Gen Athletes: Ensuring Your Money Works for You and Lasts for Generations

By prioritizing financial planning, saving diligently, setting life goals beyond their sports careers, and seeking advice from seasoned professionals, athletes can ensure their money works for them and lasts for generations

Read More

Greenleaf Trust receives three national awards for workplace culture and wellness

Greenleaf Trust is pleased to share the receipt of National Best and Brightest Companies to Work For, National Best and Brightest in Wellness, as well as 2024 Top 100 Most Loved Workplaces®.

Read More

4 Ways To Get Rich Earning Just $50K a Year

Wealth Management Advisor, Mike Laske, discusses the three levers for generating wealth in GoBankingRates.

See More

Choosing the Right Wealth Manager: Key Considerations for Your Financial Future

Finding the right wealth manager can make all the difference in achieving your financial goals and securing your future. Here are six considerations when choosing a wealth manager.

Read More

May Retail Sales – Below Expectations

U.S. retail sales barely changed in May and prior months were revised lower, pointing to ongoing erosion of consumer strength.

Read More

May Inflation – Broadly Cooler With Fed Ahead

In May, consumer prices rose 3.3% compared to a year ago, down 0.1% compared to April and below expectations. This marks the second consecutive month of deceleration – a positive sign for Fed policymakers.

Read More

Wealth Management Industry Trends

As we approach the end of those 10 years, I have put together a talented team of forward-thinking leaders at Greenleaf Trust to develop our strategic goal for the next 10 years.

Read More

Economic Commentary

After retreating 4% in April, the S&P 500 bounced back in May reaching a new record high on 5/21 and closing out the month with a 5% return.

Read More

Beyond Bias: Navigating Financial Decisions with Kahneman’s Prospect Theory

Prospect theory acknowledges that human decision-making is at times irrational and influenced by psychological biases.

Read More

The Key to Long-Term Gains: Smart Asset Allocation Explained

Asset allocation is the primary driver of long-term investment performance. So, what exactly is asset allocation? It is simply the mix between major investment types in a portfolio, including equity (stocks), fixed income (bonds), cash, and alternative assets (basically a catch-all for everything else).

Read More

Inflation Alters Perceptions:
How Americans View the Economy and Retirement

By many measures, the U.S. economy is thriving, unemployment is near historic lows, economic growth remains solid despite high interest rates, and the stock market continues to reach all-time highs.

Read More

The Modern Trust

A phrase commonly thrown around in estate planning literature is the use of a modern trust.

Read More

June 2024 Perspectives Newsletter

See More

May Jobs Report – Very Strong Hiring Might Slow Fed Plans to Lower Rates

U.S. employers accelerated hiring in May and wage growth reaccelerated after a relatively weak report in April.

Read More

GoBankingRates: 3 Ways President Biden’s Policies Impact the Middle Class’ Money

Chief Investment Officer, Nicholas Juhle, provides commentary on markets during election cycles to GoBankingRates.com.

See More

GoBankingRates: How Could a Trump Second Term Impact Rich People?

Chief Investment Officer, Nicholas Juhle, provides commentary on markets during election cycles to GoBankingRates.com.

See More

Greenleaf Trust announces Human Resources Certification

Talent Acquisition Coordinator, Gabbi May, has earned the Certified Human Resources Specialist (CHRS) certification from Michigan State University.

Read More

April Inflation – Indications of Cooling?

Year-over-year, inflation rose 3.4% in April, down 0.1% compared to march and in line with expectations.

Read More

April Retail Sales – Consumers Take a Breather

U.S. retail sales stalled in April after downwardly revised gains in the February and March.

Read More

Greenleaf Trust’s CFO Achieves Milestone with Executive MBA from Bowling Green Schmidthorst College of Business

Greenleaf Trust proudly announces the recent achievement of its Chief Financial Officer, Steve McKiddy, who has successfully completed an Executive Master of Business Administration (MBA) program at Bowling Green Schmidthorst College of Business.

Read More

Taking Our Culture’s Temperature

As you all know, culture is something that is very important to Greenleaf Trust. It defines us and differentiates us. One of our founding goals in 1998 was to find really talented teammates and create a culture that would engage and inspire them. If we could do that, then just think about what that team […]

Read More

At Any Rate…

As the year has unfolded, the labor market has been stronger-than-expected. The US has added an average of 276k jobs in each of the first three months and the unemployment rate has stayed below 4%.

Read More

Preparing for Tomorrow: Navigating Long-Term Care Options and Planning Strategies

Discussions around long-term care can be emotional, but it’s important to begin these conversations early. Long-term care planning should be a part of your overall personal risk management plan and should begin as early as your forties.

Read More

Diversification – The Only (Almost) Free Lunch in Investing

No single person can predict with perfect accuracy how markets will behave in the short term nor with consistency.

Read More

Decoding Deepfakes: Navigating the Digital Mirage Safely

As artificial intelligence (AI) technologies improve our ability to mimic real life, it’s becoming harder to tell what’s real and what’s fake in the digital domain.

Read More

Investor’s Best Interest – The Final Retirement Security Rule

On Tuesday, April 23 the US Department of Labor (DOL) issued the final Retirement Security Rule. Department officials said the rule will be active later this year on September 23 requiring investment advisers to follow impartial conduct standards and acknowledge their fiduciary status. Other parts of the rule will not be effective until fall of […]

Read More

April Jobs – Soft Report Highlights Moderating Demand For Labor

Job gains lower, unemployment higher.  U.S. employers scaled back hiring in April more than anticipated and the unemployment rate unexpectedly rose, suggesting some cooling may be underway after a robust start to the year.  The labor market added just 175K jobs in April, below consensus expectations of +240K, and the unemployment rate ticked up 0.1% […]

Read More

Greenleaf Trust announces the addition of four team members

Debby Kasemeyer, Victoria Atkins, Nicole Simon and Emily Talcott join Greenleaf Trust.

Read More

Greenleaf Trust announces CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certification

Family Office Portfolio Manager, Steve Wilbur, earns CFP® Certification

Read More

Greenleaf Trust named among Michigan’s Best and Brightest in Wellness by National Association for Business Resources

Greenleaf Trust is honored to be named among the winners in the first round of Michigan’s Best and Brightest in Wellness winning companies.

Read More

Forbes: How Social Media Affects Our Financial Health

Senior Vice President, Director of Wealth Management, James Curry, provides commentary in Forbes on the impact social media has on lifestyle inflation.

See More

Greenleaf Trust announces CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certification

Vice President, Northern Michigan Market Team Lead and Senior Trust Relationship Officer, Regina Jaeger, has been authorized by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards (CFP Board) to use the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and CFP® certification marks in accordance with CFP Board certification and renewal requirements.

Read More

March Retail Sales – Strong Print Supports Delayed Rate Cut Expectations

U.S. retail sales rose by more than forecast in March and February results were revised upward, highlighting yet-resilient consumer demand exiting the first quarter.

Read More

Debby Kasemeyer

Growing up in West Terre Haute, Indiana, Debby felt the same as everyone else. Nothing felt unusual, nothing seemed out of place. When she got to college, however, she quickly learned, there were big differences in the world when it comes to wealth and poverty.

Read More

March Inflation – Hot Print Likely Eliminates June Cut

Year-over-year, inflation rose 3.5% in March, up 0.3% compared to February and 0.1% ahead of expectations.

Read More

April 2024 Perspectives Newsletter

View PDF

From Generation to Generation

Our desire is to serve clients and their next generation. And, when appropriate, this includes serving multiple generations within the same family concurrently. This is because we believe that family is an investment with the highest returns.

Read More

Be-Labored

For some time now, surprising resilience in the U.S. labor market has underpinned a favorable narrative for the economy. Healthy demand for labor has kept American consumers employed and spending.

Read More

The Corporate Transparency Act

The Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) went into effect on January 1, 2024. The CTA broadens the reporting to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of information, including personal information, concerning the control and beneficial ownership of nearly all small U.S. companies.

Read More

Navigating Lifestyle Inflation in the Age of Social Media

Lifestyle inflation can be defined as the tendency to increase spending as income rises. The following article explores lifestyle inflation in the current media environment, as well as discusses a few of the dangers of social media on your happiness and lifestyle.

Read More

American Retirement Plan Progress

According to the Congressional Research Service, approximately two-thirds of US households had a financial stake in the U.S. retirement system.

Read More

Job Gains Strong – Stop Me if You’ve Heard this Before

Job gains were strong again in March (stop me if you’ve heard this before).  The U.S. labor market added 303k jobs in March, exceeding expectations for 214k jobs. The unemployment rate fell to 3.8%. Revisions to January and February data were marginally positive, adding 22k jobs to total employment collectively. Average hourly earnings increased 0.3%, […]

Read More

DBusiness: Julie Weston Assumes New Role at Greenleaf Trust in Birmingham

See More

DBusiness: Greenleaf Trust Among USA Today’s 2024 Top Workplaces

DBusiness shared the news of GLT being named a USA Today 2024 Top Workplace.

See More

Greenleaf Trust named 2024 Top Workplaces USA and featured in USA TODAY

Greenleaf Trust is honored to announce it is a recipient of the prestigious 2024 Top Workplaces USA award.

Read More

Greenleaf Trust recognized as Best and Brightest Company to Work For in Metro Detroit and West Michigan by National Association for Business Resources for 14th consecutive year

Greenleaf Trust is honored to be named as one of the 2024 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For in Metro Detroit and West Michigan by the National Association for Business Resources. This year marks the fourteenth consecutive year of receiving these awards. Considering the ten to one ratio of this program, these winning companies […]

Read More

February Retail Sales – Below Forecasts

On the heels of a robust holiday shopping season, U.S. retail sales decelerated sharply in January and missed forecasts in February, underscoring concerns over how household spending will hold up this year.

Read More

February Inflation – Generally As Expected

Year-over-year, inflation rose 3.2% in February, up 0.1% compared to January and 0.1% ahead of expectations.  Month-over-month, prices increased +0.4%, up 0.1% compared to January and consistent with expectations.  While inflation has declined substantially from a 40-year high of 9.1% in June 2022, today’s report reinforces the Fed’s cautious approach to cutting interest rates as […]

Read More

Greenleaf Trust deepens the bench in Governance, Risk and Compliance division

Julie Weston has transitioned from the client centric team to her new role as a special asset risk management associate as a member of the governance, risk and compliance team.

Read More