January 15, 2019
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January 15, 2019
2019 Strategic Initiatives
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January 15, 2019
2018 Review and Outlook
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January 15, 2019
Reflect, Resolve, Relax
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January 15, 2019
Your Children and Their Financial Inheritance
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January 15, 2019
Happily Ever Asher
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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 […]
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December 19, 2018
December 2018 Perspectives Newsletter
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November 14, 2018
November 2018 Perspectives Newsletter
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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 […]
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October 15, 2018
October 2018 Perspectives Newsletter
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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 […]
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September 12, 2018
September 2018 Perspectives Newsletter
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August 15, 2018
August 2018 Perspectives Newsletter
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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 […]
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July 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 […]
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July 9, 2018
July 2018 Perspectives Newsletter
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June 13, 2018
June 2018 Perspectives Newsletter
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May 16, 2018
May 2018 Perspectives Newsletter
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April 18, 2018
April 2018 Perspectives Newsletter
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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 […]
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April 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 […]
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March 13, 2018
March 2018 Perspectives Newsletter
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March 13, 2018
2017 Annual Report
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February 17, 2018
February 2018 Perspectives Newsletter
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February 13, 2018
Charitable Remainder Trusts: An Old Tool to Fix A New Problem
The Tax Cut and Jobs Act (the 2017 Tax Act) provided several surprises, although I am not sure that it actually delivered that much simplification to a complex tax code as was promised. One big surprise was to make alimony or spousal support no longer tax deductible by the payer or taxable to the recipient. […]
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February 12, 2018
Community Property Agreements and Trusts: Old and New Planning Tools
Structuring an estate to obtain an income tax basis ‘step-up’ upon the death of a client continues to be a significant goal of many estate plans. New planning strategies try to exploit old estate tax rules to intentionally cause an asset to be included in a decedent’s taxable estate. This approach attempts to create rights […]
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January 17, 2018
January 2018 Perspectives Newsletter
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December 19, 2017
December 2017 Perspectives Newsletter
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November 14, 2017
November 2017 Perspectives Newsletter
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October 13, 2017
October 2017 Perspectives Newsletter
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September 21, 2017
Greenleaf Trust named one of Michigan’s Best and Brightest in Wellness®
September 8, 2017 Kalamazoo, Michigan – Greenleaf Trust has been named one of Michigan’s Best and Brightest in Wellness® companies to work for. The Best and Brightest in Wellness award recognizes and celebrates quality and excellence in health and wellness. The Best and Brightest in Wellness winners were evaluated by SynBella, the nation’s leading wellness […]
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September 18, 2017
September 2017 Perspectives Newsletter
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September 14, 2017
Trust Modifications: The Material Purpose Limitation
Modern trust statutes provide several ways in which to modify an irrevocable trust. For example, in Michigan an irrevocable trust can be decanted to move its assets to a new trust that is created by the trustee. MCL 700.7820a. Additionally, Michigan’s version of the Uniform Trust Code also offers several other procedures that can be […]
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September 13, 2017
Equifax Has Been Hacked…Now What?
By now you have probably heard that Equifax, one of the three national credit reporting agencies, was hacked and the personal information for 143 million individuals was compromised. Please be assured the Equifax breach is in no way associated with your Greenleaf Trust accounts. The Equifax breach exposed information including names, social security numbers, birth […]
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August 30, 2017
Greenleaf Trust is #3 (out of 100) Coolest Place to Work in Michigan: Crain’s Detroit Business
August 29, 2017 Kalamazoo, Michigan – Wealth management firm, Greenleaf Trust, has been named the #3 (out of 100) Cool(est) Places to Work in Michigan. The annual list is compiled by Crain’s Detroit Business and Best Companies Group. “Just being in the top 100 Cool Places to Work is, in itself, an accolade we welcome,” […]
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August 14, 2017
August 2017 Perspectives Newsletter
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July 28, 2017
Regina Jaeger
Personable and bright, Regina Jaeger, CTFA, is the ideal trust relationship officer to bring extraordinary client service back to Northern Michigan. But how? For clients of Greenleaf Trust, you see, extraordinary client service never went away. So Regina will set her sights on raising a high bar even higher by advising, serving, and meeting the […]
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July 14, 2017
July 2017 Perspectives Newsletter
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July 11, 2017
Greenleaf Trust welcomes new trust relationship officer, Regina Jaeger
Traverse City, MI, July 1, 2017 – Wealth management firm, Greenleaf Trust, announced today the hiring of Regina Jaeger, who is joining the firm’s Northern Michigan team. As Vice President and Trust Relationship Officer, Regina will be responsible for providing trust services to individuals and nonprofit organizations. She has over 29 years of experience in […]
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July 5, 2017
Alter Ego: An Asset Protection Trust’s Achilles Heel?
Much has been written lately about Michigan’s recent venture into the asset protection trust waters with its adoption of the Qualified Dispositions in Trust Act (the Act) effective in March of this year. The Act clearly indicates that a transfer of assets into the Qualified Dispositions Trust can only be set aside following by the […]
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June 19, 2017
Decanting a Trust: Are There Public Policy Limits?
Decanting a trust is one way to eliminate or change provisions in an existing trust that are viewed as undesirable, or which are no longer workable due to changes in the law or the beneficiary’s circumstances. While there are some statutory limitations imposed on the trustee’s decanting power (e.g. the inability to decant-away the beneficiary’s […]
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June 16, 2017
June 2017 Perspectives Newsletter
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June 8, 2017
An Overview of Michigan’s Qualified Dispositions In Trust Act
Why it is relevant: The draft persons of the proposed bill, which ultimately became the Michigan Qualified Dispositions in Trust Act [MCL 700.1041 et. seq.] thought that the Act could possibly result in a business boom for estate planning attorneys and trust companies in northern and western Michigan. Their reasoning was based on the notion […]
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May 26, 2017
Greenleaf Trust recognized as Michigan Economic Bright Spot
Kalamazoo, Michigan, May 23, 2017 – Wealth management firm Greenleaf Trust has been named by Corp! Magazine as a Michigan Economic Bright Spot. Of the 250 companies nominated for the award, only 85 made the cut. Companies were reviewed and selected based on 2015/2016 increases in revenue, number of employees, locations, etc. Greenleaf Trust competed […]
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May 12, 2017
May 2017 Perspectives Newsletter
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May 11, 2017
Allard: What Exactly is Michigan’s Public Policy?
No one really seems to know these days what Michigan’s public policy is when it comes to prenuptial agreements or for that matter, postnuptial agreements. We are told that if a married couple enters into a postnuptial agreement while living together and with divorce not imminent, their agreement is against Michigan’s public policy and thus […]
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April 12, 2017
April 2017 Perspectives Newsletter
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March 17, 2017
Greenleaf Trust Marks President’s Day with Second Annual Day of Caring
Kalamazoo, Michigan, February 20, 2017 – The recent President’s Day marked Greenleaf Trust’s second annual Day of Caring. With banks and capital markets officially closed for the holiday, team members were given the option of going to work or volunteering for a community organization of their choice. More than 80 percent of the Greenleaf Trust […]
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March 14, 2017
2016 Annual Report