Author: gstc

Trust is part of all brands, not just trust companies, as that is where brand loyalty comes from. Good product or service, on time delivery, truthfulness in advertising — all are part of building that trust. Unfortunately, with the chaotic digital marketplaces this trust can be broken in many ways. The most recent accusation: Fake…

No fanfare, or announcements about the large bequests. Philip Roth worked with an estate planner to create an estate plan that would promote his wishes, and we are now learning about notable parts of it. For example, he left more than $2 million to the Newark Public Library. How much money did Philip Roth have…

A grocery store for the children. It started as a dairy farm: Clover Farms Dairy in Norwalk, Connecticut, to be precise. Even at that point, it was no ordinary milk delivery service. Their trucks had plastic cows on the front that mooed for the children. This small differentiator has become larger and larger. In 1969,…

Inspiration can be found everyday when we notice people treating each other as with respect, and smiles can be found whenever expectations are surpassed. It doesn’t need to be a big expectation either – A simple gesture often creates joy that snowballs into inspiration that allows people to become better people. Everyday happens everyday, but…

One of the conventional pieces of investment advice attributed to Peter Lynch is: invest in what you know. The advice may have been paraphrased from his book, Beating the Street, in which he provides a number of principles for investing. Principle #14: “If you like the store, chances are you’ll love the stock”. This observation…

All trust companies, including Garden State, are held to the “fiduciary standard”, but we don’t hold the monopoly on fiduciary services. In May, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) removed the word “fiduciary” from the mandated language registered investment advisors (RIAs) use in their customer relationship summary concluding the word is “legal jargon”.  Based on…

Last year, many speculated on why Aretha Franklin did not have estate plans in place though she likely knew her end was quickly approaching from pancreatic cancer. The family and her attorney believed there was no will, so the disposition of her complex estate was going to be handled based on the laws of intestacy.…