Category: What’s New

Jessica Lantz

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Aug 10, 2026

Great planning conversations depend on trust, and trust depends on being able to show your work. If a client can't see how you got from a total estate to what's actually going to them, to charity, and to taxes, the numbers become something to take on faith rather than something to build a strategy around. That's exactly the gap we closed with this update to Vanilla Scenarios. When you walk a client through a strategy, every number needs to hold up in the moment — where it came from, how it was calculated, and how it ties back to the...

Jessica Lantz

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Aug 06, 2026

Estate planning is a critical component of comprehensive financial planning. For most RIAs, it's also the hardest part to operationalize, because the financial data lives in one place while the estate work is done somewhere else entirely. The disconnect can be costly: manual data entry, version control problems, and siloed estate planning conversations (or no estate planning conversations at all). In 2024, Vanilla became the industry’s first estate planning solution to bring together AI-powered estate planning and leading financial planning capabilities when we launched our integration with eMoney, a collaboration designed to help advisors offer a more holistic approach to...

Jessica Lantz

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Jul 31, 2026

July brought the heat, and a full slate of updates to match. From a clearer client-ready Personal Financial Statement, to expanded branding options in reports, and easier-to-follow scenarios, here's what's new: Confidence at every client conversation Open every Personal Financial Statement with the big picture The challenge: A client's financial picture holds a lot of detail. When you're walking them through it, the story of the estate is easier to land when it's summarized up front. The solution: Estate at a glance: A new overview page leads the Personal Financial Statement (PFS) with the story of the estate — how...

Jessica Lantz

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Jul 09, 2026

Every estate plan eventually needs to leave the page and land in a client's hands. That deliverable is often the first real proof of the work behind it, which means how it looks and how quickly you can build it matters just as much as what's in it. Vanilla's reporting experience is built around a simple idea: you should see your report take shape as you build it, and the final product should look like it came from you — not from a generic template. [video width="1280" height="720" mp4="https://www.justvanilla.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Report-Builder-Experience.mp4"][/video] How our reporting experience elevates your practice: Live, split-screen editing. See...

Jessica Lantz

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Jun 30, 2026

Great client conversations are the result of showing up with the right deliverables, the right data, and the right preparation. June's release addresses all three of these things, with an expanded eMoney integration, on-demand data syncing, and Vanilla's reporting refresh. We're especially proud of our new report experience — it's the most substantial update we've ever introduced on that front, and we think it will change how you think about every client deliverable you send. Confidence at every client conversation Get to a client-ready report faster — and make it unmistakably yours The challenge: Client deliverables are often the first...

Jessica Lantz

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May 27, 2026

Estate planning conversations don't always start with a trust structure. Sometimes they start with a client who wants to give — to a cause they care about or to an institution that shaped who they are. What makes these conversations worth having carefully is that charitable intent and estate planning goals don't have to live in separate lanes. When structured thoughtfully, a charitable strategy can honor a client's values while doing meaningful work on their estate at the same time. That integration is increasingly where advisors are finding differentiation. Clients with appreciated assets, concentrated positions, or taxable estates are asking...

Jessica Lantz

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Apr 29, 2026

Great planning conversations don't happen by accident. April's updates are designed to reduce the friction between you and the moments that matter most. AI that elevates you Track every version of your V/AI estate summaries  The challenge: When a V/AI summary is edited, the previous version is overwritten, making it difficult to compare iterations, revisit an earlier draft, or validate changes. That uncertainty creates risk — without a record of how a summary has evolved, auditability and traceability become harder to defend. The solution: Every time a V/AI estate summary is edited, the previous version is automatically saved and accessible...

Jessica Lantz

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Mar 25, 2026

Starting this month, you'll notice something a little different about how we talk about what we're building. In 2026, we're anchoring our product enhancements around three commitments: Getting you faster to the moments that matter — less friction between where you are and the moment estate planning becomes meaningful for a client Arming you with confidence at every client conversation — giving you the conviction and coverage to go deeper with every client you serve Providing AI that elevates you — a partner that makes every advisor more prepared, more proactive, and more present with clients We'll connect each release...

Jessica Lantz

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Feb 25, 2026

This month's releases are about removing friction—the kind that slows advisors down before they ever get to the work that matters. From smarter AI verification to an upgraded integration, February's updates are built around one idea: your time is better spent on clients, not on your tools. Here's what's new. Source tracking for all of VAI’s work: Trust every insight, across every document The challenge: When V/AI generates a full estate summary, advisors need to know exactly where each insight is coming from. Manually cross-referencing AI-generated insights against a stack of documents takes away time advisors should be spending on...