For the past two years, Pickleball has been the fastest growing sport, and one big reason is that it’s relatively easy to get up to speed and have fun after only a few hours of play, especially if you have a tennis or racquetball or even ping pong background.  Contrast this with golf and tennis where you can take lessons for years and still find yourself just bad today as you were before the lessons! These are some of the reasons Cranbrook Wealth Management recently funded a Pickleball court resurfacing, here's why we love the sport.

Chinese Style Accounting and Shareholder Management

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A staggering 18.47% of the world’s population lives in China, and by some measures, the nation makes up 18.2% of all global economic activity. This compares to the U.S. who has 12.4% of global economic activity. Yet with only 5% of the world’s population, the MSCI All-World Index that is designed to capture the total world investment opportunity set, you find that the United States makes up just under 60% of the total market allocation. Meanwhile, China makes up just 3.3% of the total market allocation.

Market Turbulence Ahead

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When you’re on a commercial flight, and the plane is approaching turbulence, the captain comes on the intercom to let you know to buckle up and expect ‘rough air.’  There should be similar warnings about ‘rough air’ in the markets, and this is a good time to offer one.

By: Randall A. Denha, J.D., LL.M.

By now you’ve heard about the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (“SVB”) and the ripple effects it had on its customer base and the concern over the banking system as a whole. While this estate planning attorney wasn’t familiar with SVB, its collapse was the second...

Many see risk tolerance as a simple measure of their financial ability to withstand market losses. While there are many financial factors to consider (including income, net worth, liquidity, and time horizon), the emotional component of managing risk can’t be underestimated. Recognizing that emotions like fear and exuberance are reactionary mechanisms that tend to flare up over short-term events may keep you in check when examining risk tolerance in the context of your long-term strategy.
Gifting and charitable donations are often used to reduce taxable incomes and redistribute wealth within a family. Annual tax-free gifting limits reset each year, but some high-net-worth individuals may wish to instead take advantage of 2022’s relatively high lifetime gift tax exemption to maximize a tax mitigation strategy.  

Talking to your Aging Parents about Finances

by Casey Bear on
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As your parents age, they may become less capable of managing their own finances. Here are some ways to approach the subject and ways advanced planning can help ease elder care transitions.
Charitable giving can be a rewarding part of many wealth management plans.  Not only does it feel good to help worthy causes, your monetary or asset donations to qualified charitable organizations may be used as a tax write-off.  However, recent tax law changes enacted with the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act have drastically reduced the ability of some taxpayers to itemize deductions. Coupling that with the proliferation of phony charitable appeals online, now more than ever, donors must carefully and diligently plan their giving strategy. 
Once you officially retire, the transition from nest egg “saver” to “spender” can be a big psychological hurdle to clear.  Even diligent savers may wonder if their nest egg can cover the many spending “wants” of retired life amid the uncontrollable variables that will almost certainly affect their savings over time, so our investment professionals recommend a few strategies to prepare for retirement spending.
With large enough balances in a taxable account, margin loans may be a wise option for high-net-worth individuals under certain circumstances. Recognizing the appropriate situations in which to draw a margin loan is an important part of a sound wealth management strategy, and at Cranbrook Wealth, we carefully evaluate individual client situation before recommending this option.