Monthly Tips
April 2025
TIP 1 Easter Greetings
According to the National Retail Federation, last year Americans were expected to spend $22.4 billion dollars on the Easter holiday. The cost of cocoa was much higher due to a global shortage, which may have contributed to fewer chocolate eggs being purchased, bringing the total down from 2023. This year, we may have fewer non-chocolate chicken eggs due to the egg shortage caused by the avian flu.
A potential side effect of the egg shortage is discussed in this interesting article about companies that have Easter-related products – those that produce egg dyes and coloring kits. With global changes or shortages, a company might be doing everything right but still end up in a difficult spot. Paas at least still believes that the tradition of dyeing eggs is “sticky” and sales will still be strong. There have been some reports of egg prices dropping as well, so perhaps the difficulty will have passed by Easter time.
Whether you are dyeing eggs yourself this Easter, or celebrating in some other way, we hope you and your family have a wonderful celebration.
https://gstrustco.com/about-us/our-founders/
TIP 2 Tax Planning
Some people wait until the last minute to prepare their taxes, and the April 15th deadline is quickly approaching. Very few tax planning strategies can still be implemented so close to the deadline, such as making an IRA contribution to lower your adjusted gross income. Others require longer-term planning, such as bunching charitable gifts into a single year for larger itemized deductions, taking the standard deduction other years.
Though there is a single deadline for tax-filing, tax planning should be a year-long process. If you’d like to hear more ideas on tax planning throughout the year, don’t hesitate to let us at Garden State Trust Company know.
https://gstrustco.com/solutions-services/boomers-beyond/
TIP 3 Initial Thoughts on Gene Hackman’s Estate
You don’t need to have $80 million to glean useful insights from Gene Hackman’s estate plan. Details here Initial Thoughts On the Estate Plan of Gene Hackman
https://gstrustco.com/trusts-estates/executor-services/
TIP 4 Financial Literacy Month Is Almost Over
April, financial literacy month, is almost over. Being financially literate doesn’t mean being a financial expert, it means knowing enough of the basics so that you don’t need to be anxious about your wealth journey. To that end, this year Garden State Trust Company has added a financial glossary to our website here, to help clients have a better understanding of the financial jargon that might get thrown around in a meeting or courtroom when it comes to fiduciaries and estates.
Please feel free to share the glossary with others too, or any of our blogs, articles, or monthly newsletters.
