Monthly Tips December 2024

Monthly Tips

December 2024

 

TIP 1 Take the Jargon Out of Financial Management for the Family

At Garden State Trust Company, we not only try hard to take the jargon out of wealth management for our clients, but also help you take the jargon out of the financial management for your family. That’s where the family meeting comes in. A Garden State Trust officer can meet with the person in the family that manages the familial wealth and those it may pass down to so they become familiar with the management. Beyond knowing who to call should incapacity or worse come about, it provides an area where it is appropriate to ask questions about financial management that might be awkward to bring up otherwise.

Expertise is not created in one sitting, but we are happy to help clients (or prospective clients) get the ball rolling so members of the family that have not participated in financial management have a basic understanding and are not blind-sided should that role fall to them.

https://gstrustco.com/

 

TIP 2 Create a “When I’m Gone” Box in the New Year

New executors approaching the handling of an estate often have a tough job.  Where are all the different accounts, insurance policies, and assets? Humans tend to assume everyone knows what they know, and for many people knowledge that is unique to them disappears upon their passing. A professional executor such as Garden State Trust Company knows how to ask many of the estate-related questions early, and even if that wasn’t done can come in to help as an agent for the executor after the fact because they know how to navigate the state resources for finding those answers.

Consider 2025 the year to create a “When I’m Gone” Box. This would be a box to be opened upon your death with instructions as to where your accounts and assets are located, who your lawyer is that might have additional information, and other pertinent details.

https://gstrustco.com/trusts-estates/executor-services/

 

TIP 3 Charitable IRA Rollovers

There are some problems that may seem pleasant to deal with, but actually still require quite a lot of effort to resolve. One of those is Required Minimum Distributions from retirement accounts, which generally must begin at age 73. Taking those distributions may incur additional taxes on other categories of income, such as Social Security benefits. One way to avoid the additional taxation for the philanthropically minded could be a charitable IRA rollover.

Read more about that and another year-end giving strategy in our latest blog: Take Care of an RMD With a Charitable Gift

https://gstrustco.com/trusts-estates/charitable-trusts/

 

TIP 4 Merry Christmas & Happy Hanukkah

May all that is beautiful, meaningful and brings you joy be yours this holiday season and throughout the coming year. Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah from Garden State Trust Company!

https://gstrustco.com/about-us/our-founders/