July 7, 2023
July 5, 2023
USA Today: Roth IRA Withdrawal Rules
Vice President, Senior Wealth Management Advisor, Nicole Asher is featured in USA Today with commentary on Roth IRA withdrawal rules.
See MoreJune 30, 2023
Greenleaf Trust announces additions to the client centric team and Retirement Plan Division
Greenleaf Trust is pleased to share the addition of four new teammates.
Read MoreJune 29, 2023
Greenleaf Trust named National Association for Business Resources 2023 Best and Brightest Winner in Wellness
Greenleaf Trust, a Michigan-chartered wealth management firm with $16 billion in assets under advisement*, announced that it has been recognized as one of 2023 Michigan’s Best and Brightest in Wellness® by the National Association for Business Resources.
Read MoreJune 29, 2023
Record-Eagle: Firm Celebrates 25 years
Traverse City Record-Eagle includes 25th anniversary news in Business in Brief section.
See MoreJune 15, 2023
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.
Read MoreJune 15, 2023
Greenleaf Trust announces project management certification
Project Manager, Mercedes Sims receives Certified Associate in Project Management designation through the Project Management Institute
Read MoreJune 15, 2023
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.
Read MoreJune 14, 2023
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.
Read MoreJune 13, 2023
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.
See MoreJune 5, 2023
Founding Roots in Retirement Plan Services
Our Retirement Plan Services Division traces its roots back to the foundation of our company in 1998.
Read MoreJune 5, 2023
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.”
Read MoreJune 5, 2023
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.
Read MoreJune 5, 2023
A Slice of Real Estate Advice
Let’s explore some options worthy of consideration for the administration and distribution of real estate assets.
Read MoreJune 5, 2023
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.
Read MoreJune 5, 2023
June 2023 Perspectives Newsletter
June 2, 2023
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%.
Read MoreJune 1, 2023
Greenleaf Trust announces role change
Greenleaf Trust is proud to announce the addition of Elva Clayborn to the client centric team.
Read MoreMay 30, 2023
Crain’s Grand Rapids: Greenleaf Trust Expands Downtown Grand Rapids Office to Accommodate Growth
May 16, 2023
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.
Read MoreMay 9, 2023
Greenleaf Trust announces two certifications in Human Resources
Senior Talent Acquisition Specialists, Lisa Luebke and Jacqueline Sperling receive certifications in Human Resources
Read MoreMay 8, 2023
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
Read MoreMay 5, 2023
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%.
Read MoreMay 5, 2023
May 2023 Perspectives Newsletter
May 5, 2023
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.
Read MoreMay 5, 2023
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.
Read MoreMay 5, 2023
Gifts – Deceptively Simple
Lifetime gifts remove the asset, and any future asset appreciation, from the donor’s taxable estate.
Read MoreMay 5, 2023
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.
Read MoreMay 5, 2023
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.
Read MoreMay 5, 2023
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 […]
Read MoreMay 3, 2023
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 […]
Read MoreMay 1, 2023
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.
Read MoreApril 14, 2023
Plan Sponsor: Threat of Social Security Depletion Emphasizes Importance of HSAs, Proponents Say
April 17, 2023
ThinkAdvisor: For This HNW Firm, It’s Crunch Time for Estate Planning
April 15, 2023
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 […]
Read MoreApril 13, 2023
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
Read MoreApril 12, 2023
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%.
Read MoreApril 11, 2023
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.
See MoreApril 7, 2023
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 […]
Read MoreApril 4, 2023
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.
Read MoreApril 4, 2023
2023 First Quarter Update
When we delivered our year-in-review seminars in early January, we characterized our outlook for 2023 as “cautiously pessimistic.”
Read MoreApril 4, 2023
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.
Read MoreApril 4, 2023
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.
Read MoreApril 4, 2023
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.
Read MoreApril 4, 2023
Retirement Transitions – We’re Not In Kansas Anymore
Retirement is an ongoing process of emotional adjustments.
Read MoreApril 2023 Perspectives Newsletter
March 25, 2022
2022 Annual Report
March 23, 2023
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.
Read MoreMarch 22, 2023
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.
Read MoreMarch 17, 2023
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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