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I’m encouraged by a conversation topic that seems to be coming up more and more regarding philanthropy, trust-based philanthropy. It’s not a new topic, but one that has and will take time to become the norm. As with most changes, it is understood and adopted at varying rates and levels of engagement. For the sake […]

Increasingly popular methods to raise employee participation in defined contribution retirement plans are various “automatic” features. These include auto-enrollment, auto-escalation, and automatically diversified qualified default investment alternatives (QDIAs). Let’s explore the opportunities auto-enrollment, in particular, affords plan sponsors. There are three forms of auto-enrollment, or automatic contribution arrangements (ACAs). Basic Auto Enrollment (ACA) Participants are […]

For much of 2021, there was plenty of angst expressed in the news with regard to the potential reduction of an individual’s federal unified gift and estate tax exemption amount. That exemption, $11.7 million per individual in 2021, was regularly threatened by several bills filed in Congress to reduce the exemption to a much lower […]

We believe meaningful recognition should be appropriate and deserved. It should be acknowledgement for a job well done. At the end of the year, we announced the following 20 promotions. These were teammates from throughout the organization who successfully executed customized purposeful growth plans with their coaches. Promotions are always based on merit at Greenleaf […]

With the end of 2021 around the corner, many individuals who work at both publicly traded and private companies may find themselves in a position where their employers have given them opportunity to receive equity compensation as part of their benefits package. There are two basic types of equity compensation – options and grants. Under […]

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act was passed by the House of Representatives on November 5 and signed into Law by President Biden on November 15, 2021. It’s approximately 2700 pages long and includes $1.2 trillion of spending into broad infrastructure improvements. The bill has bipartisan support. In fact, it passed the Senate by a […]

As fall gives way to winter, families across the nation turn their attention to holiday festivities, football, and the coming of a new year. Similarly, financial advisors and tax experts at Greenleaf Trust spend this time preparing for year-end capital gains distributions. While this annual tradition may largely go unnoticed by those outside of the […]

I thought navigating 2021 would be a lot easier when we started. After all, what could be more difficult than 2020? I was wrong. Although we will have had our most successful year in the history of our company, it seemed like the rules and guidelines were always changing. Are we still in the pandemic, […]

Download our monthly Perspectives Newsletter. Read More

Download our monthly Perspectives Newsletter. Read More

Background Cash has always been king when purchasing a home, especially in today’s hot housing market. Being able to purchase a home with cash can give you a significant advantage over the other potential buyers. The ability to purchase a home in cash is not feasible for many people without having to draw from their […]

While the 2017 Tax Act effectively doubled the federal transfer tax exemption per person, it also provided that the lower transfer tax exemption would automatically drop beginning in 2026. That scheduled sunset of the higher federal transfer tax exemption has produced among many wealthy individuals a “use-it-or-lose-it” mindset when it comes to estate planning these […]

Much has been written this year about potential changes to tax law in 2021 and many across the country are trying to divine just what exactly Congress will accomplish before December 31, 2021. I will not use this space to add another voice attempting to make that prediction because the real answer is: none of […]

Halloween is just behind us and it’s scarier than ever out there. Consider these fear factors: The damage caused by cybercrime reached $4.2 billion in 2020. (IC3,2020) The average cost of a data breach on remote work is about $137,000 per attack. (IBM,2020) In 2020, malware increased by 358% overall and ransomware increased by 435% […]

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Business owners and highly-compensated executives often want to know how they can get more money into their company-sponsored retirement plan. It is common for plans to be designed to assist the high earners of companies with achieving their ultimate goal of ensuring they have a large nest egg of qualified tax dollars at their retirement. […]

“Anything is possible,” were the iconic words spoken by former Boston Celtic, Kevin Garnett, upon clinching Game 6 of the 2008 NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers. At Greenleaf Trust, we would love to be able to peer into a crystal ball and tell you exactly how things will turn out, but we simply […]

If you’re like most people, you give to charity because you want to make an impact on the world or support a cause you care about. But how much and when you give is typically a financial decision. Tax incentives may help you to give more than you could otherwise and provide even more resources […]

It’s highly likely that by the time you’re reading this, the US Congress will have spent the final week of September 2021 debating two momentous spending bills: the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a budget reconciliation bill (what is being called the “Build Back Better Act”), not to mention a $1.6 trillion continuing resolution to […]