Greenleaf Trust Gives – Our Communities

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Corporate Debt, a Rising Concern?

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Capacity Planning: Is Your Agent Up to the Task?

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Spring into Retirement Savings

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Take a Holiday from Fake Holidays

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Recent Michigan Legislation Regarding Directed Trusts

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US/China – Perspective on Recent Developments

Less than two weeks ago, investors were operating under the assumption that a U.S./China trade deal was all but certain.  Much has changed in a short period. Uncertainty has been reintroduced around when, or if, an agreement will materialize.  We continue to believe an eventual compromise is the most likely outcome, but for now, visibility […]

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Greenleaf Trust announces promotions and new hires

April 2019, Kalamazoo and Birmingham, MI – Greenleaf Trust announces promotions and new hires Greenleaf Trust is proud to announce the promotion of two employees, as well as the addition of a new team member: After a year of service as Participant Services Coordinator, Lisa Hojnacki has been promoted to Participant Services Coordinator – Team […]

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The Retirement Plan That Got Overlooked On Tax Day

https://www.fa-mag.com/news/greenleaf-trust-exec–its-never-too-soon-to-reduce-your-income-taxes-44506.html

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April 2019 Perspectives

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Monetary Policy 2019 World Tour

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Know Your Ride Share Driver

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Your Most Valuable Asset – Your Personal Story

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Introducing Multi-Factor Authentication to Your Retirement Plan Account

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Grief and Financial Services

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Triple Tax Benefit – Health Savings Account

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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.

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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 […]

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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, […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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.

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March 2019 Perspectives

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Look Who’s Working Now

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Preventing Financial Elder Abuse

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Is it Time to Move My 401(k) Balance to a Money Market Fund?

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Balancing Debt into Retirement

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2018 Annual Report

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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 […]

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February 2019 Perspectives

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Brexit: Where Are We Now?

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Is Your Durable Power of Attorney Aging with You?

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Digital Assets – Are You Planning for Them?

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Millennials: Building Their Legacy

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Hardship Distributions Made Easier in 2019

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January 2019 Perspectives

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2019 Strategic Initiatives

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2018 Review and Outlook

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Reflect, Resolve, Relax

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Your Children and Their Financial Inheritance

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Happily Ever Asher

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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 […]

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Greenleaf Trust’s Year In Review: A Seminar on Financial Markets and Our Outlook for 2019

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December 2018 Perspectives Newsletter

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November 2018 Perspectives Newsletter

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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 […]

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October 2018 Perspectives Newsletter

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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 […]

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September 2018 Perspectives Newsletter

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August 2018 Perspectives Newsletter

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