News & Insights

No one likes to think about their demise.  However, like Ben Franklin’s ubiquitous saying goes, nothing in this world is certain except death and taxes.  This Viewpoint is a practical warning about steps you need to take, or need to have your elderly parents take if you are fortunate to still have them with us.

Without proper planning, successor trustees or executors could spend 6-9 months of their lives dealing with dozens of insurance companies, mutual fund providers, brokerage firms, and transfer agents in charge of dividend reinvestment programs (DRiPs).  Each firm has its own terminology, policies and procedures, and paperwork.  Many of these forms need to be notarized, have signatures guaranteed, or even have them “medallion guaranteed.”

The massive Equifax data breach occurred approximately one year ago, resulting in the theft of Social Security numbers, birthdates, names, addresses, and in some cases driver’s license numbers.  The number of individuals involved was staggering, nearly 147 million.  Shortly following the breach, Scott wrote a Viewpoint outlining potential countermeasures for individuals interested in protecting themselves from identity theft.  Not to fully rehash these alternatives but they included placing a fraud alert on your credit file, the use of a credit protection service, or a credit freeze.  Scott’s article is still accessible on our website, and given the prevalence of credit fraud, the use of one of these alternatives is worth strongly considering.

Although we consider ourselves money managers, not experts on taxes or charitable giving, we think our clients should be aware of a potential tool for optimizing tax and gifting strategies.

Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs) are charities whose purpose is to help donors give money to other charities.  They have existed for over 80 years and have recently enjoyed a surge of popularity.  DAFs are similar to private foundations in many ways, but they offer a cheaper, more accessible alternative for the 99.5% of people who don’t have the wealth or the energy to organize and administer their own foundations.