A couple spent much of their lives making intentional decisions about their careers, their family and the future they hoped to build. When it came to managing their wealth, they approached it with that same level of care, seeking disciplined investment guidance and a partner committed to their family's best interests […]

In nearly every family, there comes a time when roles begin to shift. Parents become grandparents, and children quietly step into the role of caregivers. As two siblings navigated the growing responsibility of caring for aging parents while also supporting a brother with special needs, they weren’t simply looking for financial planning […]

When the wealth you have built is self-earned over time, entrusting its management to someone else can be difficult. At least that’s what a young, successful photographer believed after a previous financial advisor mismanaged his early career earnings. When he was introduced to Greenleaf Trust through a friend, however, it felt different […]

He still remembers the sound of the pager at 4:00 a.m. The jolt out of sleep and the unwavering drive back to the hospital to care for a patient in dire need. For years, that rhythm built both his reputation and his wealth. None of it came easily or without great sacrifice. So, when it came time to trust someone else to manage his wealth […]

With that bit of heartfelt advice, the couple in their early 50’s reconsidered what they’d previously assumed to be out of reach: the purchase of a small cottage on the big lake. The prompting came not from their children, but from an astute financial advisor who was looking at the couple’s financial position relative to […]

In her capacity as CFO for one of the region’s leading manufacturers, the executive bore a weighty responsibility: to continue providing decent jobs, and to ensure that her company’s 401(k) plan was properly managed. It was the latter point that worried her. For years, the plan provider had been a large, regional bank that was […]

Even with its $8,500,000 retirement plan, the concrete and construction services company could not get its 401(k) provider to meet with the majority of its employees, who were usually on the job at nearby construction sites rather than in the office. “It’s not the way we prefer to do it,” said the plan provider, a […]

The medical practice had the familiar hallmarks of an investment quandary. Its physicians were highly educated, respected, successful and accustomed to calling the shots. Including where and how to invest wealth—their own, as well as their practice’s 401(k). But being a first rate doctor (or any other high level professional) doesn’t always translate into being […]

In the fullness of three generations of marriages, births, deaths and naturally diverging interests, the heirs to a family fortune were concerned. Their once simple, single pot of money had grown so complex, so time consuming and so expensive to manage, that it was becoming a source of anguish rather than comfort. The large bank […]

At the cusp of retirement twenty some odd years ago, a successful executive needed his assets to work harder than ever. He desired to travel widely; spend summers at the family cottage; support favored charities; help the grandkids pay for college; maintain the style of living to which he and his wife had become accustomed; […]

After three attempts with three different providers, the CEO had finally had it with the banks and financial service firms who’d mismanaged her plumbing business’s participant-directed 401(k) fund. It wasn’t just the high fees. It wasn’t just the poor service from providers who were too large and inattentive, or too small and inexperienced. And it […]

Enough is enough, concluded the CFO of the tool and die company; the fees being charged by its bank had increased one too many times. The account was moved to a smaller bank that provided relief in all but one important area: it had no trust department to manage the company’s 401(k) retirement fund. Wisely, […]