On Our Minds

Securing Your Legacy: The Importance of Wills and Trusts

Creating a comprehensive estate plan is a critical step in ensuring that your wishes are honored, and your loved ones are protected. Two essential components of any effective estate plan are wills and trusts. While both serve to distribute assets upon your passing, they possess distinct features and advantages. Let’s explore the importance of having wills and trusts and shed light on how they can provide peace of mind and financial security for you and your family.

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Create a Lasting Legacy by Supporting Causes You Care About

By giving to a community foundation, you can support the causes that matter most to you and make a real difference in the lives of others. Professional staff and portfolio managers help ensure that your donation is used effectively and efficiently. They also provide ongoing monitoring and oversight of the organizations they support, ensuring that your gift is making a lasting impact. The first donation to the Harvard Endowment of approximately $20,000 in today’s dollars was over 400 years ago.  Therefore, a timeline of 500 years for an endowed fund is possible. 

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The Power of a Lasting Gift: Why Charitable Giving Through Your Will is Essential

Including your favorite charities in your will is a wonderful way to leave a lasting impact and help make the world a better place for future generations. By designating a portion of your estate to charity, you can continue to support causes that matter to you long after you're gone.

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What’s the Difference Between a Will and a Trust?

Estate planning is an important subject that almost everyone—but especially older people—needs to address. Many believe that estate planning is for those with substantial means. However, estate planning determines how an individual’s assets are preserved, distributed, and managed, so even people with assets limited to a residence, bank accounts, and a retirement plan need to form a plan. 

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The Answers to 4 Frequently Asked Questions About Roth IRAs

If you have typed your questions about Roth IRA retirement plans into Google, you have most likely come across articles from the IRS that detail the retirement plans in ways that aren't exactly reader friendly. 

Sometimes, the easiest way to understand Roth IRA retirement plans is to have a question and answer session with a knowledgeable source. Consider this blog post one of those “conversations.” 

Here are four frequently asked Roth IRA questions and answers.

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Which Estate Planning Documents Do I Need?

Estate planning is the process of deciding who will receive an individual’s assets, who will manage their financial affairs if incapacitated, and settle the estate after death. Estate planning is necessary for anyone who owns property that they wish to pass down to a relative, close friend, or charitable interests, and to name a guardian for minor children or provide care for pets. 

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Best vs. Worst

Some investment managers promote a strategy called “Sector Rotation” where they try to time the market by trading between the 11 major sectors of the economy. The gains can be tempting, but the risk is high. For instance, if you owned all energy stocks, you would be up +40% year to date, but if you thought communications was the place to be, you would be down -20%. This is a possible difference of 60% in your returns. According to the chart, which includes more sub sectors, the difference is the highest since 2000.

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Why Should You Begin Your Estate Planning Now?

Google “things to do before you die” and you’ll get over four billion hits. Most will involve experiences like “go on an African safari,” “visit the Grand Canyon,” “see a live Broadway show,” “swim with dolphins,” “ride in a hot air balloon,” etc.

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A Beginner's Guide to Understanding a Living Trust

One of the most common misconceptions about trusts is that they’re only for individuals of high net worth with substantial estates. While it is true that anyone with significant wealth should consider a trust, those of more modest means can benefit from asset protection and other features offered with a trust.

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Happy (SECURE Act) 2020!

The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019, better known as the SECURE Act, is so new that estate planners and accountants are still learning ways to plan around it to minimize the impact on existing and future clients. Following are some items to ponder as you review your estate plans through the year.

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