Record-Eagle: Firm Celebrates 25 years

Traverse City Record-Eagle includes 25th anniversary news in Business in Brief section.

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Greenleaf Trust announces CTFA designation

Michael Holmes, a Trust Relationship Officer in Kalamazoo, Michigan, was recently awarded the Certified Trust and Fiduciary Advisor designation from the American Bankers Association.

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Greenleaf Trust announces project management certification

Project Manager, Mercedes Sims receives Certified Associate in Project Management designation through the Project Management Institute

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April Retail Sales – Soft YoY; Resilient MoM

U.S. retail sales were stronger than expected on a month-over-month basis, but remain lower on a year-over-year basis.   

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FOMC Update: No Surprise on Pause, but a Slightly Hawkish Dot Surprise

The Fed paused its rate hikes to allow for additional time to assess incoming economic data.

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BenefitsPRO: Can a whole new government backed program close the retirement savings gap?

Executive Vice President, Director of Retirement Plan Division Chris Middleton, CTFA provides byline on the retirement savings coverage gap for Benefits PRO.

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Founding Roots in Retirement Plan Services

Our Retirement Plan Services Division traces its roots back to the foundation of our company in 1998.

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May Update

The US Department of the Treasury manages payments for the federal government. Congress, by law, limits the maximum amount of debt that the Department of Treasury can issue to finance budget deficits. This limit is commonly referred to as the “debt ceiling.”

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Roth IRA vs Roth 401(k): What’s the Difference?

When it comes to investing for retirement you have a multitude of options to choose from. Making the decision about how you are going to manage the taxation of your retirement plan contributions makes the decision even more complex.

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A Slice of Real Estate Advice

Let’s explore some options worthy of consideration for the administration and distribution of real estate assets.

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Fund a Roth IRA with College Savings

SECURE Act 2.0 offers a creative solution for funding Roth IRAs for the youngest members of our families by leveraging excess 529 plan savings.

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June 2023 Perspectives Newsletter

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May Jobs – Mixed Signals

The U.S. labor market added 339K jobs in May after an upwardly revised +294K in April and the unemployment rate jumped 0.3% to 3.7%.

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Greenleaf Trust announces role change

Greenleaf Trust is proud to announce the addition of Elva Clayborn to the client centric team.

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Crain’s Grand Rapids: Greenleaf Trust Expands Downtown Grand Rapids Office to Accommodate Growth

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April Retail Sales – YoY Deceleration Continues

U.S. retail sales increased less than expected month-over-month and decelerated further on a year-over-year basis.

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Greenleaf Trust announces two certifications in Human Resources

Senior Talent Acquisition Specialists, Lisa Luebke and Jacqueline Sperling receive certifications in Human Resources

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Greenleaf Trust announces addition of two new teammates

Greenleaf Trust is pleased to share the addition of Audit Associate, Ashleigh Egler-Williams and Associate Participant Services Administrator, Nicholas Bourbeau

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April Jobs – Job Gains and Wage Growth Signal Resilience

The U.S. labor market added 253K jobs in April after a downwardly revised 165K in March and the unemployment rate fell back to a multi-decade low of 3.4%.

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May 2023 Perspectives Newsletter

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Purposeful Culture

One of our founding goals in 1998 was to find really talented teammates and create a culture that would engage and inspire them.

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April Update

The second quarter of 2023 is off to an interesting start. For the most part, investment markets performed well in April and first quarter earnings season is shaping up better than expected.

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Gifts – Deceptively Simple

Lifetime gifts remove the asset, and any future asset appreciation, from the donor’s taxable estate.

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Retirement Saving Coverage Gap

Recent Perspectives articles have called attention to the newly passed SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022, which initiated several retirement plan changes and enhancements.

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Higher Interest Rates Lead to a Paradigm Shift in Financial Planning

While the strategy of aggressively raising rates can affect various aspects of consumers’ lives, it also creates an opportunity to reevaluate and refresh the traditional financial planning guidance that has been in place for the past decade.

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Grandchildren Trusts and Education Trusts

During our meetings with grandparents, a common topic is leaving assets to their grandchildren. While direct gifting, paying for tuition or medical bills, or funding 529 educational savings accounts are all effective techniques, this article focuses on another popular technique: establishing trusts for grandchildren. We will explore the different types of trusts, incentivizing them, and […]

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Fed Raises 0.25%; Last One?

Fed Statement Side-by-Side Fed raises interest rates by 0.25%, bringing the Fed Funds Rate range to 5.00-5.25%. This has the potential to be the last rate hike as the Fed Funds Rate now matches the 2023 year-end dot plot from the March meeting. Key takeaways: The Fed raised interest rates 0.25%, as expected, to a […]

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JPMorgan Acquires First Republic from Regulators

Earlier this morning, JPMorgan took over embattled First Republic Bank (ticker FRC) following an auction process initiated by regulators over the weekend.

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Plan Sponsor: Threat of Social Security Depletion Emphasizes Importance of HSAs, Proponents Say

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ThinkAdvisor: For This HNW Firm, It’s Crunch Time for Estate Planning

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March Retail Sales – Losing Momentum

U.S. retail sales fell for a second straight month in March, an indication that household spending is waning amid inflation and increased borrowing costs.  In real terms, retail spending declined 1.1% month over month and 2.1% year over year.  Monthly data helps to highlight current trends, however we focus more closely on year-over-year results as […]

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Greenleaf Trust named National Association for Business Resources 2023 Best and Brightest Winner in West Michigan and Metro Detroit

Greenleaf Trust, a Michigan-chartered wealth management firm with $16 billion in assets under advisement*, announced that it has been recognized as one of the 2023 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For® in West Michigan and Metro Detroit by the National Association for Business Resources

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March Inflation – Brisk, But Better Than Expected

March inflation data showed overall annualized price increases slowing for a ninth straight month to 5.0% compared to expectations for 5.1%.

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InvestmentNews: Finlit makes the grade in high schools

Greenleaf Trust’s Wealth Developer program is featured in an important discussion of financial literacy in high schools.

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March Jobs – Solid But Moderating

Job gains moderated, unemployment declined.  With 236K jobs added in March, payroll additions aligned closely with expectations, but marked the lowest monthly gain since December 2020 amid Fed efforts to slow labor demand and cool inflation.  Meanwhile, the unemployment rate fell slightly to 3.5%.  Average hourly earnings increased 0.3% compared to February contributing to wage […]

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Greenleaf Trust the Bank

There are a lot of headlines out there questioning the safety and liquidity of our banking system after the recent failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.

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2023 First Quarter Update

When we delivered our year-in-review seminars in early January, we characterized our outlook for 2023 as “cautiously pessimistic.”

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Employee Stock Options, A Primer for Employees

Executive compensation is the combination of salary, benefits and bonuses offered to executives and other top management in exchange for their efforts on behalf of an employer.

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How to Protect Yourself from Online Tax Fraud

In 2022, there were nearly 7.8 million reports of suspicious activities related to taxpayer returns according to the Identity Theft Tax Refund Fraud Information Sharing Mission & Analysis Center, a partnership between the IRS, companies and states. Most of these suspicious activities related to online tax fraud.

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Ready or Not, Rothification is on the Way

Is “rothification” even a word? Probably not, but to me it seems a fitting term to describe several of the changes in store for retirement plans as a result of new legislation signed by Congress at the end of 2022.

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Retirement Transitions – We’re Not In Kansas Anymore

Retirement is an ongoing process of emotional adjustments.

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April 2023 Perspectives Newsletter

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2022 Annual Report

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Fed Raises 0.25%; Signals Hiking Cycle Close to Over

Fed raises interest rates by 0.25%, bringing the Fed Funds Rate range to 4.75-5.00%. It maintained projections for a year-end 2023 top rate of 5.25% – implying one additional 0.25% increase this year.

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Greenleaf Trust receives two awards in Southeast Michigan: Best and Brightest Iconic Award in Metro Detroit from the National Association for Business Resources and the Community Engagement Award from DBusiness Top Corporate Culture Awards.

Greenleaf Trust recognized as a Best and Brightest Iconic Award winner in Metro Detroit as well as the Community Engagement Award winner for DBusiness Top Corporate Culture Awards.

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Financial Planning: Soul-searching wealth advisors ponder banking turmoil: Where do I want to work?

Chief Investment Officer Nick Juhle provides commentary on recent bank collapse and what it means for investors.

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Crain’s: Smaller banks, startups focus on diversification in wake of bank collapses

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Credit Suisse and Banking Sector Update

After a brief reprieve yesterday, equity markets are selling off again this morning amid fresh turmoil at Zurich-based bank Credit Suisse Group AG (CS).

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WOOD TV 8: What does recent bank collapses mean for Michiganders?

Chief Investment Officer, Nicholas Juhle discusses recent bank failures and its impact with WOOD TV 8.

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February Inflation – Overall In Line; Fed in The Hot Seat

February inflation data showed overall annualized price increases slowing for an eighth straight month – matching analysts’ expectations

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