There are times through the simplest of conversations you learn things you would have no idea ever existed.  For instance, recently, I was part of a conversation about repairing socks.  I for one [...]

When you go to a party or an event, as soon as you walk in most of the time you will scan the room to see if you know anyone else in attendance.  Why?  Because we are all more comfortable talking [...]

Just sold the family business? Preparing for a trusted confidant to retire? It may be time to consider a family office. Our own Bill Walker explores what family offices are – and what questions [...]

Recently, I was interviewed by the Grand Rapids Business Journal on the predicament parents face between choosing to pay for their children’s college versus saving for their own financial [...]

It seems like every time you turn on the TV, listen to the news or open an email…..lurking in the shadows is yet another way to have your identity stolen or become the next victim of a scam.  So [...]

Since my last post reflecting on market behavior in the first half of the year, U.S. equities have continued their upward climb.  The three most commonly quoted U.S. stock indexes – the Dow, the [...]

We want to share this week’s Inside Track on our founder and CEO, Bill Walker. Bill talked with The Grand Rapids Business Journal reporter Charlsie Dewey about his background and the experiences [...]

Well, the Dog Days of Summer are upon us.  You know those long, hot, humid days that signal back to school is just around the corner?  Unfortunately, not every student is able to look forward to [...]

In the spirit of summer, we decided to visit the local food trucks and have a nice meal at the steps of the Grand Rapids Art Museum. Each Thursday around lunchtime, throughout the summer months, [...]

Over the last month or so I have been helping a close family member adjust to life in an assisted living arrangement.  This has become necessary after a long battle against kidney disease and [...]

With the first half of 2016 officially behind us, mid-year always seems like a good time to look back and take stock.  Following years of relative calm and unusually low volatility, the past [...]

I recently wrapped up a four month long leadership development program that has changed the way I view things in such a profound way.  As a young leader in my company, my household and in my [...]

I love seeing my family and friends when I return to my hometown for a visit.  Most have a general idea of what I do, yet some think of me as either a banker (“what are you paying on CD’s these [...]

On August 27, 2016, I will be getting married to an amazing guy; he proposed at a fundraising event I have been a part of for going on six years, in front of a crowd of 250 people back in [...]

Ever wonder what the investment process looks like at Legacy Trust? Laina Mills explains how Legacy Trust’s advisory team comes together to tailor customize strategies for each person’s unique [...]

Someone or something is trying to send me a message.  A few weeks ago, we had an internal training session about how telling stories can send a powerful message.  Just a few days ago, I was [...]

You know what is said about change; that it is inevitable, which is so true.  With that being said the reason for change and how we adjust to it is solely up to each of us as individuals. In 1991 [...]

As a young professional still in my 20’s, I thought I would shed some light on what I am doing to better my financial position. Nowadays the majority of college graduates come out of school with [...]

When we meet with our clients to discuss their portfolio positioning and performance, an important part of the conversation is a review of current economic conditions.  We emphasize this review [...]

At Legacy Trust, we believe it is possible we will be in a low return environment for some time to come.  This presents an unsettling situation for all investors, but can be especially [...]

Being a Minnesota native, my first thought on hearing about Prince’s passing was “how can this be?! Is it a horrible hoax?” He was an icon in Minnesota, and growing up in the ‘90s meant I was [...]

Five Michigan celebrities will serve as judges for the Legacy Trust Award Collection, a statewide competition for adult artists with disabilities in advance of ArtPrize. This year, more than 100 [...]

Some of you may or may not be aware that the Department of Labor just published the final rules of an important piece of regulation called “Fiduciary”; Conflict of Interest Rule—Retirement [...]

One of the most important aspects of investment success is an alignment of thought and decision making with the relevant time horizon. That is, if we want attractive results five years from now, [...]

Michigan legislators just recently passed the Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act.  This new law provides you with the ability to name someone that can have access to your digital assets when [...]

Investors can be broadly broken down in to two classes:  individuals and institutions.  While the distinction between individuals and institutions is self-evident, the category of “institutional [...]

In an effort to broaden our restaurant options, I have decided to switch our monthly “Burger Blog” to be focused on local, unique cuisine. This will hopefully allow us to sample all of the new [...]

I get asked occasionally what benefit our company receives by sponsoring the Legacy Trust Award Collection Art Competition (LTAC).  My answer to the question may surprise you. The basic [...]

For Immediate Release                                                                               Contact:  Mary Ann Sabo Sabo Public Relations, 616.485.1432 Or Erin Nemastil Sabo Public [...]

At Legacy Trust, we provide wealth management, trust and family office services to individuals and families in West Michigan, designed to meet the needs of our current and prospective clients.  [...]

In the years following the global financial crisis of 2007-2008, central banks around the globe led by the U.S. Federal Reserve took unprecedented steps to stimulate economic growth through [...]

I’m sure you’ve heard the stories or have seen the headlines about the eccentric multi-millionaire that left their $13M fortune to their beloved cat Tommaso or the three Texas pups set to inherit [...]

Around tax time each year we are reminded about how critical it is to be vigilant in protecting confidential personal information.  As mentioned in a release from the IRS (see the link below), [...]

With the recent decline in the equity market, the time is ripe to discuss how to take this opportunity to turn a “lemon into lemonade”. Nobody likes seeing a decrease in their portfolio value, [...]

As we begin 2016, you will undoubtedly see many publications on the internet, in the news, in the paper and so forth talking about how to get your finances in order for the New Year. The truth is [...]

The New Year has begun with a broad-based selloff in global equities. China’s stock market posted heavy losses this week, causing trading activity on the Chinese exchange to be halted two of the [...]

As 2015 comes to a close let’s take a look at a few of the most memorable burger joints we visited throughout the year. Before we get into the winners for this year, I want to give an update on [...]

It’s not what you think.  The Harvard Study of Adult Development is the longest study of adult life that’s ever been done.  It has tracked the lives of 724 men over 75 years and what the [...]

On December 18, 2015 President Obama completed the federal government’s Christmas gift to U.S. tax payers by signing the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act of 2015.  The PATH Act [...]

Last year at this time, I wrote a short blog  titled “The Robot will see you now!”  The critical point I was trying to make is that while technology-centered robo-advisor platforms are likely to [...]

We believe in giving back to our local community. As a business, we recognize we have a social responsibility to support non-profit organizations in West Michigan. Our contributions and volunteer [...]

Did you hear the story about the guy who was appointed the trustee of a woman’s trust and he totally took advantage of her and stole all her money?  Or the one about the attorney who appointed [...]

Carl Jandernoa, vice president of 42 North Partners, has joined the board of directors for Legacy Trust and Legacy Trust Holding Company. Jandernoa brings more than 15 years of executive and [...]

As the Thanksgiving holiday passes and we enter the Christmas season, I typically like to take time to reflect.  I, for one, feel like I have much to be thankful for. This year brought a number [...]

As a consumer, you are a key part in helping small businesses thrive. By shopping or dining at small businesses, you’re showing your support for the small businesses in your community. [...]

Periods of market volatility such as we experienced in August and September often bring with them a chorus of advice, reminding investors to stick with their long-term strategy rather than to [...]

If you have a loved one with special needs, you worry about their future and caring financially for them long term.  Some good news hit Michigan recently – legislation was signed that will allow [...]

It is that time of year when many people start to think about their charitable giving. This probably explains why I have received so many recent questions about the status of the Qualified IRA [...]

In the estate planning and administration worlds there are a lot of moving parts and it can be overwhelming to understand them if you don’t work in those areas every day. If you’ve been told that [...]

President Obama designated October as National Cyber Security Awareness Month to raise awareness of threats to the data systems that have become part of our everyday lives and to encourage each [...]

Quan Mac has been recognized as Grand Rapids Business Journal’s “40 Under Forty” Class of 2015, honoring young business and community leaders making a difference in West [...]

Too often these days’ market pundits, academics, and other media outlets define risk as volatility. They continue to pound the table stating that the more violently the price of a security [...]

Charlie Secchia, a member of the Board of Directors at Legacy Trust, and John Inhuslen, a local attorney rallied over 40 local businesses and individuals to donate the funds needed to display [...]

Legacy Trust Senior Portfolio Manager Laina Mills has joined the Board of Directors of Catholic Charities West Michigan (CCWM). Mills will serve a three-year term on the Board of Directors. [...]

We have the privilege of working with many clients on a very personal and technical level. Our role is to help clients get from point A to point B. Very rarely is that route linear, which means [...]

Brian M. Balke Receives Promotion to Associate Portfolio Manager Brian M. Balke, an Investment Associate with Legacy Trust, has been promoted to Associate Portfolio Manager. Balke will now be [...]

The Winchester is located in the Wealthy Street Corridor of Grand Rapids which has undergone a major renaissance over the last decade. The Winchester has been considered one of the main leaders [...]

Legacy Trust employees participated in Family Promise’s Back to School Backpack Campaign again this year! The team worked together to purchase items and fill the backpacks for children in need at [...]

In the news: Laina Mills joins two local professionals in a Grand Rapids Business Journal article to offer insight into recent stock market activity. Read the full article here: Grand Rapids [...]

Curtis D. Ballast has joined Legacy Trust as Vice President & Operations and Compliance Manager. In his new role with the Grand Rapids investment and wealth-management services provider, [...]

As you know, August has brought significant volatility to the stock market with both the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 5.8% last week and another 4% on Monday. The [...]

In her new role with the Grand Rapids investment and wealth-management services provider, Umlor is responsible for the administration of all accounting based activity for the corporation and [...]

Carl Erickson, CEO of Atomic Object, has joined the board of directors for Legacy Trust and the Legacy Trust Holding Co. Erickson brings more than two decades of leadership and management [...]

For anyone who relies on an investment portfolio for a significant amount of their retirement income, volatility control is critical to ensuring that the portfolio will survive a long [...]

We are excited to announce a new online system for our clients. To keep pace with your expectations, Legacy Trust is offering a new web experience called C-Connect. This web-based solution is [...]

In the spirit of summer, I have decided to do this month’s blog on a burger joint that is located Up North on the Lake Michigan shoreline. I recently went on vacation with my family up to Glen [...]

The tendency to invest disproportionately in your own country is known as home country bias and is a common inclination for investors all around the world. Note: this tendency is referred to as a [...]

As part of our community initiative, Legacy Trust employees volunteered at Kids’ Food Basket making sacked suppers. Kids’ Food Basket is the largest organization in West Michigan solely [...]

The Blue Dog Tavern is a newer restaurant in a historic corner of the Westside of Grand Rapids, located on Stocking and 4th Street. The building itself has an interesting history; it was [...]

In her new role with the Grand Rapids investment and wealth-management services provider, Erhardt will be responsible for facilitating business development activities, building company brand and [...]

In his new role with the Grand Rapids investment and wealth-management services provider, Blower will provide sophisticated financial planning solutions, retirement income strategies, estate [...]

In this edition of our monthly newsletter, we would like to personally thank Legacy Trust co-founder, Bob Prevette. After eleven successful years, Bob will be retiring at the end of June. His [...]

We sat down with Tom Blower, a Senior Wealth Planner at Legacy Trust, to talk about retirement planning and supplemental retirement income. Q: What is supplemental retirement income and why is it [...]

In her new role with the Grand Rapids investment and wealth-management services provider, Mac will primarily be responsible for managing the anchor relationships of Legacy’s Family Office [...]

This month a group of Legacy Trust employees and myself enjoyed burgers at Logan’s Alley, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Children’s Assessment Center. If you are not aware, the CAC [...]

At a prior firm, one of my co-workers introduced me to a husband and wife who had been clients for many years.  The husband was planning on retiring in the next few years and they were going to [...]

Are you caring for someone that was born with a disability, or a person that has been injured in an accident and requires some extra care? Is there someone in your life that will need ongoing [...]

I have found in my life that working together to achieve a common goal provides a much better outcome than trying to figure everything out on my own. This same principle has carried over to my [...]

If passing your assets to your heirs is important to you, I recommend that you consider reading the book Preparing Heirs:  Five Steps to a Successful Transition of Wealth and Values”, by Roy [...]

It has happened a number of times since I began my career in investment management. The topic of investing is brought up in conversation and it is immediately compared to gambling, where the odds [...]

At Legacy Trust, one of our core values is commitment to our community.  We would like to recognize three of our board members for their continued leadership not only in their respective careers [...]

My favorite way to pass the time on my daily commute between my home in Lowell and our office downtown is to listen to podcasts as I drive.  One of the best that I have found is Planet Money, a [...]

JD Reardon’s is a unique restaurant located on the north end of Monroe Ave. It is inside the Boardwalk Condominiums, adjacent to the courtyard and pool. Reardon’s is the home of a fantastic team [...]

In my time as an estate planning attorney I met people of all backgrounds and with various levels of wealth.  One client that I remember well was an older woman who was leaving her son millions [...]

Given the experience that I have had working with high wage earners, I have uncovered a less discussed truth: they have a difficult task in order to continue their lifestyle throughout [...]

Contact:  Bill Walker Legacy Trust, 616.454.2852 or Erin Nemastil Sabo Public Relations, 616.633.0642 Terri Land Joins the Legacy Trust Board of Directors Grand Rapids, Michigan, March 12, 2015 – [...]

As much as we hear talk of the “new normal” from prominent investment personalities, we believe that it’s just another version of that fateful proclamation heard just before the [...]

What is phishing?  Phishing is the act of sending an e-mail to a user falsely claiming to be a legitimate enterprise in an attempt to scam the user into surrendering private information that [...]

GP Sports is tucked away inside the Amway Grand Plaza. It serves as the hotel’s “casual’ restaurant and caters to those attending conventions, exhibitors, the downtown business crowd, as well as [...]

I hope you had a chance to read Laura’s blog post last week about the lack of information available for prospective college students about the long term financial consequences of student loans.  [...]

In a recent blog post that I wrote just a few weeks ago I drew attention to the fact that many investor predictions for 2014 played out in the market in unexpected ways, not least of which was [...]

$1,200,000,000,000. That’s a lot of zeros. That’s also our country’s nationwide student loan debt. Student loan debt has recently passed both auto loans and credit card debt, but this shouldn’t [...]

Contact:  Bill Walker Legacy Trust, 616.454.2852 or Erin Nemastil Sabo Public Relations, 616.633.0642 Jessica M. Schilling joins Legacy Trust as Account Executive Grand Rapids, Michigan, Jan. 29, [...]

J. Gardella’s Tavern is a very popular restaurant and nightspot located in the heart of the Grand Rapids arena district. Gardella’s was converted into a restaurant from an old warehouse that has [...]

Have you thought about how your family might treat each other when you’re gone?  It’s not a fun topic to consider, but a necessary one.  They may get along great now, but I speak from experience [...]

Now that the holidays are behind us, we find ourselves entering a new season:  it’s the time of year for annual market and economic forecasts.  Economists, financial analysts, and investment [...]

As 2014 draws to an end, I thought it would be fun to retrace our steps and highlight some of our favorite burger joints from throughout the year. I have broken out three categories: best [...]

Both are highly trained and skilled. Both work within some form of established guidelines. For the investment manager it’s an investment policy. For the chef it’s a recipe. Both allow [...]

As the holiday season quickly approached, we reached out to our friends at Family Promise to figure out how we could help. Our friend Kelsy told us about the Christmas Store that they provide to [...]

The evolution of technology over the past decade is drastically changing the landscape for advice-centered businesses.  Just look at how Travelocity has displaced the experienced travel agent and [...]

I have been with Legacy Trust now for just over two years and thought I would share some of what I have learned.  I have had a couple different roles since starting. My initial role was focused [...]

HopCat is a local hot spot that has turned into one of the most popular places to go downtown. HopCat has been around since 2008 and has captured coveted awards ever since. HopCat has been named [...]

When it comes to wealth planning, it is easy for some of us to become consumed with the preservation and accumulation of assets, rates of return and cash flows.  We perceive the more we [...]

It seems that I have had an unusually large number of conversations recently about how to choose a trustee for a trust.  Therefore, I felt this might be a good time to discuss some important [...]

During one of my recent trips to Starbucks, which admittedly is a frequent occurrence, I ordered my usual Grande Americano with just a small amount of room left for cream. The barista then [...]

Bagger Dave’s is a relatively new addition to the downtown area, located on Fulton right next to the river. Bagger Dave’s is a unique place with tons of memorabilia on the wall and plenty of [...]

Twice in the past several weeks I have encountered a tax planning opportunity that was missed by families caring for a parent with diminished mental ability or confronting other life changes. In [...]

It seems like all we hear about today from the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and other market media outlets is the attack on active management and the support for passive management (indexing). [...]

The International Monetary Fund has been in the headlines recently with the release of its updated world economic outlook, coming on the heels of heightened equity market volatility over recent [...]

In a continued celebration of our new office (99 Monroe Ave), I decided to sample a burger at Z’s Bar & Restaurant. Z’s is actually located in the back of our new building and I am sure will [...]

It has been almost 6 months since I joined the Legacy Trust team and I’d like to reflect on that time for my blog post, and how my role in the company is not unlike the role of running a family [...]

In the investment world, risk generally is related to uncertainty. It refers to the possibility that you might lose your investment, or that an investment will yield less than its anticipated [...]

I read an article recently about the premier episode of “Celebrity Legacies”, a television show on the Reelz channel that investigates the legacy of a different departed celebrity each week.  I [...]

The state of the U.S. jobs market has always been watched closely by economists and financial professionals, and the current economic recovery has only served to draw closer scrutiny to the [...]