Dear Garden State Trust Company: What happens to my debts when I die? —STILL PAYING THE MORTGAGE Dear Still: According to a study by the credit bureau Experion, released in December 2016, some 73% of consumers have debts when they die, including mortgage debt. Some 68% have credit card debt; 37% have mortgage debt; 25%…
Month: June 2017
The Trouble with Powers of Attorney
Reportedly the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease among those 85 and older is about 47%. This population needs help with financial management. Perhaps the most common tool to permit a family member to assist with handling an elderly person’s assets is the power of attorney. Unfortunately, the power of attorney can also be an avenue that…
Tax Reform Stalls
There has been surprisingly little progress on tax reform, given the high hopes that so many had last January. On May 17 Republicans and Democrats from the Senate Finance Committee met with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn. The key takeaway seemed to be that the Senators want to pursue…
Tapping Retirement Funds to Pay for College
Dear Garden State Trust Company: Should I withdraw or borrow from my 401(k) plan to help pay for my child’s college expenses?—PUZZLED ON FUNDING Dear Puzzled: As a general rule, impairing your retirement savings to meet current spending needs is not a good idea, even for higher education expenses. There are other sources of…
Choosing a Trustee: Pro vs. Average Joe?
From the perspective of a trust officer, the benefits of a professional trustee are endless and obvious. Professional asset management, trust administration, and tax planning are the most commonly cited, but they don’t even scratch the surface in terms of the full job description. With such a wide array of services provided, we at Garden…
Living Trusts & Financial Privacy
Remember when “hidden treasure” resided in chests buried by pirates? Today’s precious assets may be invisible to the naked eye until retrieved from a hard drive. Case in point, Pirate Latitudes, an adventure yarn set in Jamaica in the 1600s, found in computer files left by author Michael Crichton. Although Crichton is best remembered for…