April 16, 2019
April 16, 2019
Know Your Ride Share Driver
April 16, 2019
Your Most Valuable Asset – Your Personal Story
April 16, 2019
Introducing Multi-Factor Authentication to Your Retirement Plan Account
April 16, 2019
Grief and Financial Services
April 16, 2019
Triple Tax Benefit – Health Savings Account
April 12, 2019
Notable Women in HR: Karen Baldwin
Congratulations Karen Baldwin! Your recognition as one of Michigan’s most Notable Women in Human Resources is well-deserved. Read more at Crain’s Detroit Business.
Read MoreApril 11, 2019
Greenleaf Trust named Great Place to Work and Best and Brightest Company to Work For
Greenleaf Trust Named Great Place to Work® and Best and Brightest Company to Work For® Firm earns accolades as premier West Michigan and financial services employer April 11, 2019, Kalamazoo, MI – Greenleaf Trust, an independent Michigan-chartered, trust-only bank and wealth management firm with $12 billion in assets under advisement, announced it’s been named to […]
Read MoreApril 1, 2019
Forging Your Path
Sarah Johansson joined the Greenleaf Trust team on a blind leap of faith. At her interview for the position of director of marketing almost nineteen years ago, Johansson laid her hesitations on the table: “You know, I couldn’t find anything about this company—anywhere. You don’t even have a website.” William D. Johnston, chairman of Greenleaf, […]
Read MoreMarch 26, 2019
The Yield Curve Inverted…What Now?
On Friday last week, the U.S. treasury yield curve inverted. Weak economic data out of Europe spurred heavy demand for bonds, pressuring the 10-year yield to 2.44%, its lowest level in over a year and about a basis point lower than the 3-month T-bill yield. This is significant because a curve inversion is considered one […]
Read MoreMarch 22, 2019
Basis Planning: Qualified Small Business Stock Exclusion
Considerable time these days is spent identifying ways to include the value of trust assets in the settlor’s gross estate in order to obtain an income tax basis adjustment to those assets. But the settlor or beneficiary’s death is a condition to this planning strategy. What if capital gain exclusion could be obtained while the […]
Read MoreMarch 21, 2019
Use Caution with Gifts of LLC Interests
Family LLCs (FLLCs) and/or Family Limited partnerships’ (FLLPs) have long been popular devices to use when making intra-family gifts (note the terms are used interchangeably below). They are easy to understand and administer, and require very little reporting at the state level, unlike a corporation. Read the full article at Private Wealth.
Read MoreMarch 13, 2019
March 2019 Perspectives
March 13, 2019
Look Who’s Working Now
March 13, 2019
Preventing Financial Elder Abuse
March 13, 2019
Is it Time to Move My 401(k) Balance to a Money Market Fund?
March 13, 2019
Balancing Debt into Retirement
March 12, 2019
2018 Annual Report
March 1, 2019
Disclaiming to Reach a Higher Basis
Disclaiming an interest in property has always been a way to add flexibility to an estate plan. By exercising of a timely qualified disclaimer, the disclaimant effectively moves assets to another individual, or to a trust, without incurring any gift tax. Consequently, disclaimer planning takes center-stage in many estate plans these days by spouses to […]
Read MoreFebruary 8, 2019
February 2019 Perspectives
February 8, 2019
Brexit: Where Are We Now?
February 8, 2019
Is Your Durable Power of Attorney Aging with You?
February 8, 2019
Digital Assets – Are You Planning for Them?
February 8, 2019
Millennials: Building Their Legacy
February 8, 2019
Hardship Distributions Made Easier in 2019
January 15, 2019
January 2019 Perspectives
January 15, 2019
2019 Strategic Initiatives
January 15, 2019
2018 Review and Outlook
January 15, 2019
Reflect, Resolve, Relax
January 15, 2019
Your Children and Their Financial Inheritance
January 15, 2019
Happily Ever Asher
January 11, 2019
Greenleaf Trust named national winner of Best and Brightest Companies to Work For
January 10, 2019, Kalamazoo, MI – The National Association for Business Resources has named Greenleaf Trust one of the nation’s Best and Brightest Companies to Work For. Greenleaf Trust is one of only 512 winning companies out of 2,400 contenders. Other national winners include Sony, Panasonic, Prudential, Ace Hardware, and SpartanNash. This is the eight […]
Read MoreJanuary 9, 2019
Greenleaf Trust’s Year In Review: A Seminar on Financial Markets and Our Outlook for 2019
December 19, 2018
December 2018 Perspectives Newsletter
November 14, 2018
November 2018 Perspectives Newsletter
November 7, 2018
Greenleaf Trust Research: Dems take the House, GOP holds the Senate
In last month’s Perspectives newsletter, we detailed expectations, as well as probable and possible outcomes heading into midterm elections. The article: “Democrats or Republicans…Who Will Ace the Midterms” is available here for your reference. Midterm Outcomes Aligned with Expectations Yesterday, Americans cast ballots to elect members for all 435 seats in the House of Representatives […]
Read MoreOctober 15, 2018
October 2018 Perspectives Newsletter
September 25, 2018
Remainder Purchase Marital Trust Strategy
A couple of months ago I wrote about the possible use of spousal lifetime access trusts (SLATs) as a way for a married couple to exploit the recent $5 million increase in their respective federal gift tax exemption amount, while still retaining access to the cash flow generated by those transferred assets. Yet another technique […]
Read MoreSeptember 12, 2018
September 2018 Perspectives Newsletter
August 15, 2018
August 2018 Perspectives Newsletter
August 2, 2018
For eighth year in a row, Greenleaf Trust named one of the Best and Brightest Companies to Work For in Metro Detroit
July 30, 2018, Warren, Michigan – Companies of every size and purpose across Detroit compete annually to be named one of Metro Detroit’s Best and Brightest Companies to Work For®. Only those that distinguish themselves as having the most innovative and thoughtful human resources approaches receive the honor. Greenleaf Trust once again is, for the […]
Read MoreJuly 23, 2018
‘Enhanced’ Defined Dollar Value Formula Transfers
The 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act provides more incentives for individuals to gift assets either to their family members or to dynasty-type irrevocable trusts. The temporary increase in the applicable transfer tax exemption amount by $5.6 million per individual encourages the wealthy to consider making large gifts when no federal gift tax will be […]
Read MoreJuly 9, 2018
July 2018 Perspectives Newsletter
June 13, 2018
June 2018 Perspectives Newsletter
May 16, 2018
May 2018 Perspectives Newsletter
April 18, 2018
April 2018 Perspectives Newsletter
April 6, 2018
Greenleaf Trust Announces New Hires and Promotions
August 2016, Kalamazoo, MI Hanna Channell joins Greenleaf Trust as a wealth management assistant. She is responsible for the development of comprehensive wealth management plans, the execution of goal-based planning strategies, and the management of investment portfolios. With her bachelor’s degree in math education and master’s degree from Western Michigan University, Hanna has over seven […]
Read MoreApril 4, 2018
On Tariffs and Trade Policies
The first quarter of 2018 was exciting if nothing else. Stock market strength in January was followed by a correction in February sparked by inflation concerns and monetary policy uncertainties. Stocks rebounded into March until tariff announcements from the White House and speculation over a possible trade war pushed markets lower again. Evolving U.S. trade policy begets uncertainty […]
Read MoreMarch 13, 2018
March 2018 Perspectives Newsletter
March 13, 2018