Articles, insights and analysis.

Kalamazoo-based Greenleaf Trust announced the promotions of Daniel Baker to senior vice president, director of business development and trust relationship officer; Sarah Johansson to senior vice president, director of marketing; and Nicholas Juhle to senior vice president, director of research. Read more in the Grand Rapids Business Journal

As you can imagine, recent events such as the US drone attack that killed a top Iranian military commander, Qassem Soleimani, in Iraq has caused many questions from clients and readers of our newsletter. Nick Juhle and his research team have offered their perspectives and advice with respect to the economic and investment implications of […]

Welcome to 2020 and the start of a new decade! As I sit at my desk writing my first article of the new year, the Kalamazoo office of Greenleaf Trust is relatively quiet. The hustle and bustle of wrapping up end of year matters ahead of year end deadlines has been replaced with a more […]

What a difference a year makes. In our 2018 year-end seminar we recapped a period where almost every major asset class posted disappointing returns as investors grew increasingly concerned by the prospect of a global economic slowdown. To the pleasant surprise of most observers, 2019 unfolded as a year characterized by stronger-than-expected returns across most […]

Continuous improvement is one of Greenleaf Trust’s core values – it is a pillar of our culture and has become part of our DNA. Every tangible improvement we have made on behalf of our clients stems from a disciplined review of our practices. As we look for opportunities to serve our clients better, we begin […]

The Social Security Administration (SSA) announced cost-of-living adjustments to the maximum amount of earnings that are subject to the Social Security tax, as well as a 1.6% increase to monthly Social Security and Supplemental Security Income benefits. This is good news for the nearly 69 million Americans receiving benefits, though this is a modest number […]

A significant amount of time is spent with clients focusing on their current wealth plan and discussing strategies for passing wealth to the next generations. Often, the more challenging conversations center on identifying clients’ qualitative goals for passing family values over generations and keeping the family together after the oldest generation dies. Our Senior Trust […]

A durable power of attorney for health care, sometimes called an advance directive, is an important instrument that assures patient autonomy and ensures that a patient’s wishes with regard to their health care decisions and treatment will be followed. Overlooked, and sometimes misunderstood, is the right of autonomy of medical providers not to provide treatments […]