Blog
Madison Eubanks
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Dec 10, 2024
18 Stats to Know from Vanilla’s 2025 State of Estate Planning Report
In case you missed it, our recently released Vanilla’s 2025 State of Estate Planning Report is chock full of relevant facts and figures about what’s new and noteworthy in consumer mindsets around planning. This annual survey of 1,000 US consumers is designed to unlock insights about how people view their families and values as well as the role of advisors and technology in the context of estate planning. While the full report is well-worth a read, we also put together this skimmable roundup of some of the most important (and sometimes surprising) findings. Read the complete, ungated State of Estate...
Blog
Vanilla
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Dec 05, 2024
3 All New CE Courses Now Available in Vanilla Academy
The best advisors (and, truthfully, our favorite people) are the curious ones—they dig in, ask questions, and are always learning. They want to bring clients great advice that’s backed by education, experience, and perspective. For all the lifelong learners out there, Vanilla is your partner for refreshing, broadening, honing, brushing up, mastering, reviewing, or just dipping your toes into estate planning topics and skills. Vanilla Academy launched earlier this year as an estate planning learning hub for advisors who want to up-level their offering and show clients a breadth of expertise, and we’ve just added three additional courses to the...
Blog
Vanilla
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Dec 03, 2024
A New Year, a New Approach: How to use estate planning to keep...
Let’s face it—most people procrastinate. Deadlines are often the only motivators that spur action, and for financial planning, this “crunch time” tends to hit in November and December. Unfortunately, this end-of-year rush isn’t ideal for a number of reasons: The holidays: Advisors and clients alike are juggling travel, vacations, and family obligations. Emotional rollercoasters: Whether it’s the stress of family reunions or the joy of celebrations, emotions can cloud judgment. Rushed decisions: Big-picture financial planning requires clarity and focus, neither of which are easy to achieve in a hectic environment. The result? A less-than-optimal setup for making critical long-term decisions....
Blog
Brian Falldin
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Nov 20, 2024
What’s New in November: Vanilla Document Builder™ and Platform Enhancements
This month, Vanilla introduces powerful updates designed to address the real-world challenges of estate planning. From expanded client options to time-saving innovations, these features reinforce Vanilla Document Builder™ as the premier solution for advisors and their clients. Vanilla Document Builder™ updates Advisor Access: Clearer collaboration with clients Advisor Access allows clients to share questionnaire progress and drafts of their planning documents directly with their advisors. Advisors gain insights into client planning without clients giving up control of their data. This feature helps collaboration happen more smoothly and securely, while keeping advisors informed. Guardians, stepchildren, and future children: Plan for possibilities...
Blog
John Costello
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Nov 19, 2024
Vanilla Releases 2025 State of Estate Planning Report, Unveiling New Insights into Modern...
New findings highlight increasing expectations for comprehensive estate planning services and technology including AI Vanilla, the award-winning estate planning software company, today announced the release of its second annual State of Estate Planning report, which surveyed 1,000 U.S. consumers on their estate planning priorities, challenges, and expectations. Vanilla’s 2025 State of Estate Planning report reveals that consumers are seeking comprehensive services and strategies from advisors to preserve both their wealth and their personal values across generations. It also highlights the need for advisors to harness technology to efficiently manage complex estate plans and provide comprehensive wealth advisory with the personal...
Blog
Vanilla
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Nov 13, 2024
Estate Planning for Business Owners: Strategies and Solutions for Wealth Advisors
There are over 33 million small businesses in the United States, employing over 60 million people. In many ways, private businesses are the heart and soul of the country’s economy, and—unsurprisingly—business owners often feel passionately about what happens to their share when they pass away. Wealth advisors should be prepared to help their business-owning clients create a thoughtful succession plan, regardless of the size or value of their business. In a recent webinar, estate planning experts Steve Lockshin and Patrick Carlson sat down to discuss everything from foundational concepts to advanced strategies wealth advisors should consider for clients who own...
Blog
Madison Eubanks
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Oct 24, 2024
An Intro to Revocable and Sub-Trusts for Estate Planning
A sub-trust, often created within a larger trust, is a type of estate planning tool that can allow you to customize how portions of your estate are managed and distributed to specific beneficiaries. They can add both flexibility and control to your plan, bringing peace of mind that your estate will be distributed according to your wishes and your beneficiaries will be cared for. Whether you want to set aside funds for minor children, protect a special needs beneficiary, or create tax-efficient structures, sub-trusts offer a tailored approach to address the unique needs of your family. In this blog post,...
Blog
John Costello
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Oct 24, 2024
Vanilla Named to the 2024 CB Insights’ List of the 100 Most Innovative...
Vanilla recognized as a leader in modernizing estate planning for wealth management NEW YORK, October 24, 2024 – CB Insights today named Vanilla to its seventh annual Fintech 100, showcasing the 100 most promising private fintech companies in the world. “The 2024 Fintech 100 winners are high-momentum companies shaping the future of financial services,” said Laura Kennedy, Principal Analyst at CB Insights. “Unsurprisingly, this year’s cohort is deploying AI across a wide variety of solutions. But they’re also diverse in their reach in emerging and developing economies, and focus on everything from fraud prevention to financial inclusion.” "As Vanilla continues...
Blog
Jim Sinai
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Oct 16, 2024
Vanilla Closes $35m Funding Round to Accelerate Adoption of Estate Planning in Wealth...
this blog was originally published on 8/15/24 and updated on 10/16/24 to reflect new investors in the round Award-winning estate planning software company to accelerate investments in AI, expansion of platform, and customer adoption. Welcomes Edward Jones, Nationwide, and Allianz as strategic investors Vanilla, the award-winning estate planning software company, today announced it has closed its latest fundraising round at $35m, led by returning investor Insight Partners, in addition to contributions from Venrock, Vanguard, and other previous investors. Vanilla also welcomes new strategic investors, Edward Jones Ventures*, Nationwide, and Allianz, and new investor Alumni Ventures. In addition to supporting its...
Blog
Rachel Pettis
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Oct 16, 2024
Vanilla Announces eMoney Integration to Simplify Estate and Financial Planning
Vanilla, the award-winning estate planning software, is excited to announce a strategic integration with eMoney, the industry’s leading financial planning platform. This collaboration delivers a seamless, unified planning experience for financial advisors, combining sophisticated AI-powered estate planning tools with comprehensive financial data to offer a more holistic approach to client wealth management. With this integration, Vanilla is the first estate planning solution to bring together the best of both worlds: AI-powered estate planning combined with eMoney’s industry-leading financial planning capabilities. This allows advisors to provide their clients with a truly holistic financial plan that includes not only investment strategies and...
Blog
Vanilla
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Oct 11, 2024
Vanilla Academy Live: Sneak Peek & Why You Don’t Want to Miss It
At Vanilla, we believe in making estate planning accessible to everyone—and that means providing advisors and financial professionals with the education and resources they need to deliver estate planning services. On October 30th, we’re hosting Vanilla Academy Live, a free half-day estate planning summit featuring two hours of free CFP® CE credit, an estate planning tech spotlight, and an advisor-led panel discussion on streamlining the estate planning experience day-to-day. Curious to learn more about what’s in store? Here’s a quick overview of what you can expect at Vanilla Academy Live for Fall 2024. Register to attend here. Welcome & Tech...
Blog
Rachel Pettis
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Oct 10, 2024
What’s New in October – General availability for the Client Portal, Planning Calculators,...
At Vanilla, we’re constantly innovating to help advisors and planners streamline their estate planning process, and we’re thrilled to share a preview of some powerful new tools coming soon to the Vanilla Estate Advisory Platform. These new features will enhance how you work with clients, improving everything from initial conversations to advanced estate planning. Here’s what’s coming later this month: Legacy Planning Calculators for quick, detailed insights IDGTs, a new table view, and other enhancements in Vanilla Scenarios™ The Client Portal available to all Vanilla customers My Notes Library in Vanilla Estate Builder™ Provide clients with quick, actionable insights with...