What is a Last Will and Testament and What Does it Do?

Market Memo – Planning Article

March 2023 – By Tom Rueger, J.D., CFP®

What is a Will and what does it do? A Will is a legally binding written document that sets out specific desires regarding the distribution of property and the care of minor children. It allows a person to be very specific about who gets (or doesn’t get) which asset(s) and how much of it they get. Assets or minor children can be kept out of the hands of people that you do not want to have them. You can also appoint someone you trust to oversee the process of distributing your assets.

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SVB on the Run

Market Minute

March 2023 – By Bob Veres

One might be forgiven for thinking that runs on a bank, and banking failures, are a thing of the Great Depression, not something you encounter in modern times.  One would be wrong, thanks to the highly-publicized failure of a once-obscure institution called Silicon Valley Bank, which collapsed on Friday and was taken over by federal regulators in order to protect the assets of its depositors.  It was the largest failure of a U.S. bank since the 2008 economic crisis.

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The Roof Might Be Leaking

Market Memo

February 2023 – By Kyle Rohrwasser

According to the Case-Shiller National Home Price Index, American home values fell roughly 25% from the beginning of 2006 to their bottom in early 2012. Since that low point, average home prices in America have skyrocketed, largely due to low-interest rates, government quantitative easing, and the involvement of large real estate companies purchasing single-family homes as investments. These three major factors created a market where debt was cheap, excess dollars were present in the system, and homes were scarce – a trifecta for increasing real estate values.

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Spousal Lifetime Access Trusts (SLAT)

February 2023 – By Tom Rueger, J.D., CFP®

Fred and Wilma have done well during their lifetime and accumulated a significant net worth. Now they are looking into their options for estate planning. The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act increased the federal lifetime gift and estate tax exemption to $12.92M/$25.84M for 2023, but it is set to expire on 1/1/2026 (and revert back to the prior amount of $5M, adjusted for inflation). Fred and Wilma are concerned that their estate will be liable for significant taxes if the exemption returns to its prior amount in a few years. They want to remove assets from their estate without making current gifts to their children as they are concerned it might affect their future standard of living. A SLAT could be the solution.

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