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.