Articles, insights and analysis.

Awareness is sometimes a self-inflicted burden. Those of us that research information for a living are bombarded with data that, while informative, can lead to anxiety and increased senses of urgency. The greater experience that you have researching information, the more likely you will discover that the majority of people are living their lives in […]

As you have heard from our founder and Chairman, William D. Johnston, making progress on elimination of institutional racism is indeed hard work and Greenleaf Trust in values, mission and deed is committed to that essential progress. There cannot be any distance between the values we express and our actions as a collective company. We […]

When we hosted 2020 outlook seminars in early January, the now-ubiquitous coronavirus didn’t even make the “other risks” section of the presentation. Instead, we discussed a late-cycle, though firmly-footed economy and a year likely to be shaped by things like the presidential election, US/China trade, and monetary and fiscal policy moves. When we delivered our […]

A donor advised fund is, in effect, a charitable savings account. A donor advised fund permits an individual donor to make a donation without choosing a specific charity at the time the gift. The transfer of cash or assets to the donor advised fund sponsor permits the donor to claim an immediate income tax charitable […]

Since 2002, plan sponsors have been able to electronically furnish plan information and notices in relation to qualified retirement plans; however, electronic distribution was only allowable if the employee gave consent to agree to receive electronic communications. Also, if an employer determined electronic distribution was allowable on the basis of all employees having access to […]

You have your favorite charities and you know the areas of the community on which you wish to make an impact, but in times of crisis and emergency are you ready to pivot and provide support to those most affected by the crisis? Have you thought about whether or not you would want to pivot? […]

What a change three months can bring. Back in April, Greenleaf Trust released a special Perspectives newsletter edition to address the rising concerns around COVID-19 and its impact on the economy and markets. At that time, domestic equity markets (as measured by the S&P 500) had experienced a 34% decline from market peaks on February […]

While IRAs are common, flexible vehicles for retirement savings and great planning tools, the beneficiary distribution rules are complicated, and became even more so with the passage of the SECURE Act in December. IRAs often represent a significant portion of a person’s investment portfolio; naming the beneficiary or beneficiaries is an important decision and worthy […]

Transportation spending is down 41.9 percent, restaurants and hotels spending is down 21.9 percent and spending on health care is down 16.5 percent. But it’s important to note the spending increase in low-income ZIP codes likely is much less on a dollar-to-dollar basis in the wealthier ZIP codes, said Nick Juhle, senior vice president and […]