Monthly Tips
September 2022
TIP 1 Rock the Farm
Life expectancy has been decreasing since the pandemic started, but it’s not just because of COVID-19. Unfortunately, one of the larger culprits has been an increase in drug overdoses. One thing to consider to help those we cherish get clean and stay clean is financial incentives, and these could be put in place through the use of an incentive trust (click to learn more).
Another thing to consider would be to support institutions that provide outlets for fun, social-sober activities, such as Rock The Farm. It is being held again this year on the 24th later this month, and is a way to meet people that want to be social without the use of narcotics.
https://www.gstrustco.com/assets/Embracing-Your-Goals-Together.pdf
TIP 2 Life Insurance Awareness Month
September is Life Insurance Awareness Month. Many Americans continue to be uninsured or underinsured, even as they agree that insurance is a sound part of a financial plan. Life insurance is a great way to provide a substantial financial resource so that progress toward important goals is not interrupted upon the passing of a wage earner. Those goals could be going to college, paying off a mortgage, ensuring continued support for a spouse, or even something as simple as getting the monthly bills paid.
Most importantly, it gives those left behind time to focus on grieving rather than financial obligations. That peace of mind can lead to better mental health, and less stress on a daily basis that might help in unexpected ways. With the market as volatile as it has been this year, it is easy to see why many would want to get off the investment roller coaster.
If you are feeling anxious about your portfolio, that’s where having a financial co-pilot might help. At Garden State Trust Company, we build each portfolio based on the unique needs of each client assessing their time horizon and appetite for risk. Please let us know if you’d like to know more.
https://gstrustco.com/about/why-garden-state-trust/
TIP 3 Collectables Tax Treatment
Yogi Berra once said “records and achievements are meant to be broken”. His words were likely meant more to apply to the value of actions of players rather than the value of the denotation of earlier players by their baseball cards. Nevertheless, his words are applicable with, yet another baseball record surpassed: the most ever paid for sports memorabilia. A mint condition Mickey Mantle baseball card sold for $12.6 million last month.
The collectibles market seems to continue to grow both in what is considered a collectable and how much collectors are willing to pay for those items. For investors wondering what kind of taxes await the seller of the Mickey Mantle card – read our latest blogpost: The Tax Treatment For Collectables.
https://gstrustco.com/investments/managing-preserving-wealth/
TIP 4 New Tools for Memorials
As technology gets more and more clever, so will our ways to both remember and memorialize ourselves and others. In this past year, several companies have stepped up in remarkable ways:
Amazon has created a way for the Alexa voice assistant to mimic the voice signature of the deceased. This would allow a child to still hear grandma reading stories to them at bedtime each night.
HereAfter AI pairs stories you record with pictures so that those experiences can be passed on to family.
The company Storyfile takes videos of you answering questions so that they can be pulled up in snippets to have conversations with your loved ones. You can try talking to William Shatner on their website.
What’s next, and how comfortable are we with creating a digital identity that we can’t adjust after we pass away? It may seem new and unfamiliar, but it may also be a tremendous resource