Rachel Pettis

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May 25, 2023

Creating a complete estate profile for a client requires blending family, estate plan, and financial information together in one place. Today, we’re happy to announce a new partnership and integration between Addepar and Vanilla to simplify bringing financial data into the Client Profile. Addepar is one of the leading portfolio management systems for wealth advisors, and by bringing the account data from Addepar into the Vanilla Estate Advisory Platform, we will help advisors create a more comprehensive picture of their client’s estate plans. During the onboarding process, advisors can save time and avoid unnecessary manual data entry by connecting their...

Rachel Pettis

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May 18, 2023

With the launch of taxable and non-taxable sample profiles, advisors can now review an example of a completed client account in Vanilla. Their clients can see how the complete picture of their estate and financial plan would be represented on the platform before onboarding their own family, financial, and estate information.  During client and prospect conversations, advisors can share the completed sample profile or download the taxable or non-taxable estate PDF report. The Taylor Family is an example of a high-net worth family living in Florida with a taxable estate of $117,050,000. Their estate plan includes revocable trusts, an irrevocable...

Gene Farrell

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May 17, 2023

  [Watch Legacy Now on demand, to learn more about Vanilla’s vision for estate advisory.] I believe that technology – when used thoughtfully – can be truly transformative. And this week at our Legacy Now event, with the help of Vanilla co-founder Steve Lockshin, I had the opportunity to share how Vanilla plans to transform not just estate planning, but financial advising as a whole, with the new Vanilla Estate Advisory Platform.  The technology itself is only a part of the picture. It’s a tool. It’s the enabler that, when paired with exceptional advisors, will allow for a new kind...

Vanilla

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May 16, 2023

Wealth advisors can now help clients with document creation and on-going estate advice At Vanilla, we believe it’s every wealth advisor's job to ensure that their clients have an estate plan that matches their values and goals.  But more often than not, clients have out-of-date estate planning documents or no documents at all. In fact, according to a 2023 Wills and Estate Planning Study, while 64% of Americans think having a will is important, only 34% of Americans have an estate plan.  When asked why they don’t have those basic documents in place, complexity and time required to hire an...

Vanilla

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May 11, 2023

Life is unpredictable. And as a financial advisor, one of the essential parts of your job is to help prepare clients for that unpredictability – whether that comes in the form of balancing a portfolio so that it’s not over reliant on a single company or sector or ensuring they have the right documents in place in case of an accident or health scare. One of these key documents is a power of attorney.  A power of attorney (POA) is a legal document that authorizes an individual, known as the agent or attorney-in-fact, to act on behalf of another person,...

Vanilla

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May 03, 2023

  Many clients (and some financial advisors as well) tend to reduce estate planning to two simple categories: taxable estates and non-taxable estates. While it’s true that there are important differences in these asset levels, estate planning is not binary. It takes a nuanced approach, one that requires understanding a client’s situation and goals deeply.  However, even with the understanding that a good advisor will always tailor their approach to each individual client’s needs, it can be helpful to think of client needs according to a few different distinct buckets of asset classes – beyond just taxable and non-taxable. We’ve...

Vanilla

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Apr 25, 2023

  A living trust (also called a revocable trust) is a legal document created by a person during their lifetime that directs how their assets are managed during their life, and how they are to be distributed after their death. It can also help bypass or minimize the sometimes expensive and time consuming probate process required by a traditional will.  A living trust is typically used in conjunction with a short will that directs all assets held in the individual’s name to “pour over” to the revocable trust on death (referred to as a “pour-over will”).  This living trust estate...

Daniel Brockley

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Apr 19, 2023

  In a recent report by Spectrem Group, a full 93% of respondents said they want estate planning advice from their advisors, but only 22% of clients are actually receiving that advice. Vanilla aims to change that. Clients crave help from their advisors on estate planning because they recognize that their advisors are in the perfect place to provide real insights. Although clients need attorneys to draft legal documents, those attorneys don’t have the same holistic view of clients’ financial pictures–their assets, their hopes, their dreams–or their family feuds–as their financial advisors have. Not only do financial advisors have more...

Vanilla

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Apr 18, 2023

  SALT LAKE CITY, UT - APRIL 18, 2023  Vanilla, a leading provider of estate planning solutions, today announced the launch of its new Estate Advisory Platform, the first fully integrated model of an estate, bringing together family, financial, and estate planning data into one place.  The Vanilla Estate Advisory Platform The Vanilla Estate Advisory Platform offers dynamic visualizations of the estate, beneficiary summary and projections, estate tax projections, a dynamic balance sheet integrated with the leading personal finance management tools, and an on-demand report builder. With these features, financial advisors can deliver differentiated advice, expand client relationships, win new...