Blog
Daniel Brockley
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Jul 20, 2023
True estate planning story: A new client facing death, without an estate plan
For Mariner Wealth Advisors paraplanner Gillian Cassidy and team, estate planning is always part of the conversation with a new client. In their onboarding process, the Mariner Wealth Advisors team inquires about existing estate plans and any life changes that may have happened since their estate documents were drawn up. They upload existing docs into Vanilla and walk through where it stands as well as potential opportunities to improve the strategy with the client. So, when a new couple came to Gillian and team, they naturally asked about their current estate plan. What they found surprised and saddened them. Gillian...
Blog
Daniel Brockley
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Jul 13, 2023
How to avoid creating a trust fund monster: Building estates that empower (not...
We want the best for our kids–for them to be happy, healthy, and love one another. And after a lifetime of working hard and weathering the ups and downs of the market, it can be heartening to know that the toils of your labor might help set up your children for success along their own paths. But money often serves as a magnifying glass, enhancing opportunities when things go well or fraying family relationships when jealousy or greed creep in. And as you consider how to leave your estate to your children, you may have a nagging feeling you can’t...
Blog
Vanilla
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May 03, 2023
Level setting: How to approach estate planning differently depending on estate size
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...
Blog
Amjad Hussain
•
Apr 13, 2023
The four ways Artificial Intelligence (AI) will transform estate planning
We’ve been hearing a lot about AI recently, and for good reason. The innovation happening with Large Language Models (LLMs) and Generative AI are remarkable, have sparked our imagination, and beg the question: What does the future hold? Of course I can’t predict the future, but I do have some thoughts about what it will mean for our industry. When it comes to estate planning, machine learning has the potential to reshape things in some important ways. This evolution may be more subtle in the present and near future – with AI playing a role in the background – but...
