Currently, many married couples are encouraged to establish a trust for their spouse as part of their sophisticated estate plans. They are prompted to utilize their federal transfer tax exemption while it is large, since come 2026, if Congress does not act in the interim, their individual exemptions are set to drop from close to $14 million to about $6 million.

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.

Understand what is happening with your business’s retirement plan. Christie Dando shares some of the most important deadlines you should be aware of for 2024 and beyond.

Next year will mark the tenth and final year of our long-term strategic plan to be Top of Mind. The goal of the plan has always been to be top of mind with our clients by creating a unique holistic wealth management experience for them through our continuity of care and commitment to continuous improvement.

Thanksgiving is over, December is here and the holiday season is in full swing. I’m honestly not sure where the last twelve months have gone, but it has certainly been both an eventful and fruitful year. In what follows, I’ll spend some time covering both the events and the fruits as we wrap up 2023.

While rising markets may lead to more gains than downward trending markets, many funds continue to generate taxable gains no matter the market environment.

The IRS recently announced that many of the key retirement plan limits will increase next year. These limit increases are more modest than the 2023 increases, with some limits remaining the same.

This is the traditional time for gift-giving, but there can be many advantages to making financial gifts earlier in the year, to both family and charity.

With the holiday giving season and year-end quickly approaching, many clients are planning their gifting strategies for 2023. For those families with larger estates, it is not too early to talk with your trusted advisors to develop a plan to take advantage of the larger current lifetime gift tax exemption scheduled to sunset at the end of 2025.

In order to achieve our goal of serving clients from generation to generation, we need to ensure we not only have the financial strength and stability to do so, but equally critical is making sure we have the right talent in the right roles. That is why as we have matured and grown over the last 25 years, so has our focus on thoughtful succession planning.

The fourth quarter is underway and somehow the end of the year is in sight. While economic momentum remained robust in the third quarter, the markets, forward looking as they are, began pricing for a new set of risks as the fourth quarter approached.

When an individual creates an irrevocable trust, often the drafting attorney will remind the trust’s creator, “You understand, this is an irrevocable trust that cannot be changed, right?” That is often the impression left with the trust’s creator — once their trust is signed and assets are transferred to it, it’s “locked in place.” Right or wrong, that conclusion may not entirely be accurate.

Money market mutual funds are a type of mutual fund that invests in cash, cash equivalents and short-term debt securities.

During the holiday season, scammers prey on online shoppers, urgent delivery deadlines, and our generosity. The most prevalent scams are non-delivery and non-payment scams, where buyers pay for items or services online, but never receive them, or the seller is never paid for their goods or services.

I have experienced many times the value that diversity of background and thought have added to the work we do on behalf of our clients and how we collaborate with teammates. It’s the main reason we serve clients with three-person client-centric teams supported by the larger team.

After two big steps forward in the first half of the year, the third quarter was arguably a half step back for the markets.

One of the most important tasks we frequently do with our clients is to review their estate planning documents in the context of changes in tax law, fiduciary law, assets, goals and objectives, and family changes.

Solid retirement plan governance process helps protect fiduciaries from liability.

Monte Carlo analysis can illuminate the long-term consequences of early-life purchases and aid in making complex financial decisions.

It’s an exciting time of year for us. Yes, we are all excited about college football, kids returning to school, and pumpkin spice everything. We are really excited though because it is our strategic planning season.

After five straight months of gains, and a year-to-date return of more than 20% through July, the S&P 500 retreated 1.6% in August.

Like other states, Michigan provides the opportunity for disabled individuals to hold investments to help them cover costs that support their health, independence, and quality of life without affecting their federal Medicaid or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) support. ABLE is the acronym for Achieving a Better Life Experience.

On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, which included a major package of retirement savings provisions known as SECURE Act 2.0. There is a lot in SECURE Act 2.0. Consideration of and compliance of provisions will require due diligence.

Even if you are 100% convinced problems will not arise amongst your family, naming one of them to act as your trustee may be teeing up a perfect storm for problems to surface.

When working alongside a client, it is essential to take stock of the personal values that create an environment for them to live authentically.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) currently dominates the technology headlines, and rightfully so. The launch of ChatGPT by OpenAI in November 2022 has ushered in a revolutionary era of more natural and efficient human-technology interaction.

Greenleaf Trust continues to grow across the state of Michigan with the addition of six teammates across the company.

If you sold in May and went away this year, my condolences. The third quarter is off to a healthy start. Investment markets performed well in July, and while second quarter earnings are down compared to a year ago (as expected), forecasts call for recovery in the second half and a strong outlook for 2024.

Have you ever Googled the answer to a question that you were too embarrassed to ask anyone else? For example, “Why does my dog keep sniffing my eyes?” or “Why am I lightheaded?” My sister and close friends know the first thing they need to do when I pass away is to erase my Google […]

What to expect during your first Retirement Plan audit.

When it comes to credit cards, there are many different types of cards you can carry, some of which include standard cards, travel cards, cashback cards and store specific credit cards.

Mike Odar reflects on the 25 years of Greenleaf Trust

After a challenging 2022, investors should be pleased with the market experience in the first half of 2023. In stark contrast to a period when both stocks and bonds moved lower together, financial markets have largely been in recovery mode over the last six months. Several positive themes have bolstered markets including a strong labor […]

The selection of a trustee is pretty much the choice between either a professional or an amateur

The triple tax benefit of Health Savings Accounts

How to Help Participants Balance Current Needs vs Future Security

Trusts are a major part of most estate plans and attorneys and financial advisors love acronyms to describe the various types of trusts, but what do all these letters mean and what purposes do they serve?

Our Retirement Plan Services Division traces its roots back to the foundation of our company in 1998.

The US Department of the Treasury manages payments for the federal government. Congress, by law, limits the maximum amount of debt that the Department of Treasury can issue to finance budget deficits. This limit is commonly referred to as the “debt ceiling.”

When it comes to investing for retirement you have a multitude of options to choose from. Making the decision about how you are going to manage the taxation of your retirement plan contributions makes the decision even more complex.

Let’s explore some options worthy of consideration for the administration and distribution of real estate assets.

SECURE Act 2.0 offers a creative solution for funding Roth IRAs for the youngest members of our families by leveraging excess 529 plan savings.