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Services: |
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| Investment
Agency |
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An asset
management account to help you free up your time, meet
your personal financial goals, handle bill paying and
effectively manage all of your assets. |
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| Rollover
IRAs |
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An individual
investment account utilized to retain the tax deferred
status of qualified retirement plan distributions. |
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| Living Trusts |
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A trust
created during one's lifetime for professional asset
management, record keeping, probate avoidance and
potential estate tax savings. The trust continues in the
event of incapacity. |
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| Testamentary Trusts |
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A trust
created at death through the language in a will for
professional asset management, record keeping and
potential estate tax savings. |
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| Charitable Trusts |
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Living or
testamentary trusts created to provide income for
specified individuals and an eventual gift to a charity of the
donor's choosing. |
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| Estate Settlement |
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Experienced
responsible estate settlement services to meet the needs
of your family. |
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| Retirement Planning |
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Assistance in
creating a roadmap for your personal well being in
retirement. |
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| Financial Planning |
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Helping you to
create a roadmap which will lead to a financially secure
future. We will give you assistance in determining your
estate tax liability, explain various estate tax
avoidance strategies and help you to distribute your
estate to family, friends and charities. |
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Investment
Agency
- Are you tired of the day-to-day responsibility of managing your assets?
- Are you constantly paying bills for routine services?
- Are you receiving phone calls about banking products or investments?
- Are your monthly or quarterly statements from financial services piling up?
- Most importantly … would you like to have someone you can trust help you make decisions about which investments to keep, buy or sell?
If the answer to any of these questions is yes, talk to Heartland Trust Company about setting up an investment agency account. With this account, you keep control of the investments in your account, just like you do with your bank, broker or mutual fund. Or, you may choose to give Heartland Trust the authority to make investment decisions for you.
Some Clients Call It Their "Freedom Account"
Our investment agency account is a convenient way to simplify and consolidate your everyday financial matters into a single account. You save time, and eliminate the need to personally monitor every investment. And you always retain the right to terminate the account relationship.
It's Easy to Set Up
Creating an investment agency account does not require complex legal maneuvering. The agreement you sign is less than two pages long and available at the Heartland Trust Company office. Once you create the account, we will notify your bank, broker, mutual fund or other financial institution that we have been named as your agent. All mail concerning these accounts will go to our office, with the details consolidated in your investment agency account statement.
Interested in freeing up more time in your schedule? Contact us about opening an investment agency account with people you trust: Heartland Trust Company. |
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Rollover
IRAs
- Have you had positions with more than one employer?
- Do you have IRAs and other retirement funds from those employers, all in separate accounts?
- Do you wonder if your various funds should be consolidated? Or if they're invested in your strongest option?
- Do you know what your retirement future looks like, based on what all those funds are doing?
Maybe you should talk with Heartland Trust Company about consolidating all your retirement funds into a single investment account through a rollover IRA.
No Taxes on a Rollover
With a direct rollover, you withdraw funds from one tax-deferred plan and redeposit them directly into another type of tax-deferred plan (for example, a 401(k) into an IRA). Since you never take physical possession of the money, there are no taxes to pay.
Wealth-Building Advantages
Heartland Trust Company will help you continue to invest tax-deferred funds for your retirement. An IRA is probably the most flexible personal retirement option. It's also a great opportunity for you to:
- Take a new look at your overall financial situation
- Review your risk tolerance, and devise an asset allocation strategy that fits your goals
- Monitor the performance of your retirement investments in a single account
- Find flexibility, while continuing to protect your assets and build IRA wealth
It Keeps Going
Heartland Trust Company will help you develop an investment goal, then select investments to create a portfolio that fits. But we don't stop there. We constantly monitor your investments and, when necessary, make recommendations for commission-free exchanges. When you retire, we handle periodic distributions from your account. Your rollover IRA keeps you in charge, but an investment professional assists you every step of the way.
Contact us about consolidating your retirement plans with people you trust: Heartland Trust Company. |
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Living Trusts
Most of us title the family car in the name of both spouses. But the car, savings accounts, brokerage accounts and even the house you live in can be owned in a variety of ways: by one spouse instead of both, or with one spouse and a child. Frequently, they are held with a "payable on death" (POD) designation to a relative or friend. Ownership by trust is simply another option as a legal form of ownership.
Reaching Family Goals
A revocable living trust can be an important tool for planning your estate and reaching family goals. As a revocable trust grantor, you establish the trust and reserve the right to change or cancel it at any time. If you set up a living trust and name Heartland Trust Company as your trustee, we hold the items in trust for the benefit or one or more beneficiaries. The trustee may be an individual or corporate trustee, or a combination of both working as co-trustees. In most cases, the grantor and primary beneficiary are the same person. Why? There are several strong legal reasons:
Protect Against Disability
An older person might own property jointly with an adult child. Upon a death, the property transfers directly to the joint owner. However, if the older person becomes incapacitated, the other might have trouble conducting business without court supervision. If all liquid assets (bank certificates or investment securities) are held jointly, the healthy owner may be left with medical or other expenses, and no way to meet them. A court-supervised conservatorship, costly and burdensome, is the only solution.
Living trusts avoid this problem by naming a successor trustee to carry on after the grantor trustee becomes incapacitated or dies. The successor trustee conducts business, cares for the beneficiary (grantor) and ultimately distributes money as directed by the trust document.
Plan Your Estate
On death, assets pass from one spouse to another without estate tax consequences. However, when the remaining spouse dies, estate taxes are generally owned on any amount above $1 million (including most insurance, real estate and investments). Estate taxes go up to 50%, so a $1.5 million estate held in one spouse's name alone could owe thousands of dollars in estate taxes.
A living trust can contain estate-planning language to avoid estate taxes on a family estate of up to $2 million for 2002-03, and for larger amounts in the future. This language alone can save a family hundreds of thousands of dollars in estate taxes.
Maintain Your Privacy
Most assets held by an individual at death pass through probate, a very time-consuming and public process. Trust assets, however, are not subject to probate. There is no court intervention to disturb your family's privacy.
You're in Control
While irrevocable trusts preclude any future changes, revocable living trusts can be changed or canceled by the grantor. You don't give up any control, financial or otherwise. In most cases, you as the grantor retain control to choose investments, withdraw money and meet daily obligations. You should designate an experienced trust manager such as Heartland Trust Company to undertake the complex task of trust management on your behalf.
If you'd like to find out whether a living trust is the right solution for you and your family, contact us at Heartland Trust Company. |
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Testamentary Trusts
- Do you want your estate to add to your family's financial security?
- Would you like to provide generous support for your spouse if he or she survives you??
- Are children or other financially inexperienced beneficiaries the potential heirs of your estate??
If the answer to any of these questions is yes, talk to Heartland Trust Company about establishing a testamentary trust. By leaving all or portions of your estate in trust, you plan for the security of your loved ones.
A Plan for Family Security
A trust for your spouse, if you're married, can provide generous support if he or she survives you. What's more, trusts frequently reduce federal estate taxes for husband and wife by reducing the tax exposure at the survivor's death. Compared with the tax consequences of a will with no trust, the savings can be substantial.
When children or other beneficiaries are young or financially inexperienced, the need for a trust is clear. Trusts are appropriate whenever you want to leave someone the benefits or property without the burdens of management.
You Direct the Trust
Your will's trust provisions can be flexible. For example, beneficiaries need not be limited to the income from a trust fund. You can give the trustee direction to draw on the fund in order to pay for a child's education or maintain your spouse's accustomed standard of living. Because our trust officers keep in close contact with the families we serve, you know that these discretionary powers will be exercised with understanding and care.
If you're interested in talking about estate planning for financial security, contact us at Heartland Trust Company. |
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Charitable Trusts
How can you provide significant support to charities that are important to you, while providing current income to yourself or someone else?
The answer may be a charitable remainder unitrust (CRUT), a special trust that pays income to you or someone you choose. After all of the income payments have been completed, the trust balance is distributed to qualified charities. As the trust grantor, you choose the percentage and frequency of the payout, the people who will receive current income from the trust, and the charities that will receive the principal of the trust after all income payments are completed.
With a charitable trust, you gain personally and financially, because you:
- Bypass capital gains tax
- Increase current income
- Receive a charitable income tax deduction now
- Support the charities important to you in a meaningful way
You should designate an experienced trust manager such as Heartland Trust Company to undertake the complex task of trust management on your behalf.
Personal and Financial Advantages
There are many non-financial reasons why you might want to create a unitrust. Many people want to make a significant gift to charity, a gift that will make a difference. A CRUT allows you to make a gift now, but retain the income flow until it is no longer needed.
There are also excellent financial reasons for creating a CRUT. Commonly, people end up holding a large percentage of their assets in a single investment, creating unnecessary risk (it's often called "putting all your eggs in one basket). Current earnings on the investment may be quite low, and you see a need for additional income. Yet, if you sell the investment, you may have to pay capital gains tax.
A CRUT is an ideal method for a tax-free sale and reinvestment. Because it is considered a charity, you bypass the capital gains tax. When the trustee sells the unwanted assets, the entire proceeds from the sale can be reinvested.
This special kind of trust can be used to create a lifetime of income for yourself or someone you love, as well as provide a substantial gift to charity in the future.
A Way to Increase Current Income
Have the investments you own been paying a low or no annual earnings? If so, you and other income beneficiaries may experience a significant increase in current income through a unitrust. A standard charitable unitrust will pay out a fixed percentage each year. Over years, income recipients can spend the additional income to enhance their lifestyle, or they can reinvest the additional income to acquire even greater economic security.
A Way to Obtain a Current Income Tax Deduction
After all income payments have been completed, the remaining balance of the CRUT is distributed to charity. Even though the charity may not receive anything for many years, you as the trust grantor can take an immediate income tax deduction when you fund the trust. This deduction is a percentage of the value of the property transferred to the trust and is calculated using the ages of the donor and the CRUT percentage selected.
Trust donors may use their current tax savings to offset income created during the year of the gift, or for up to five additional years until the credit is used up.
You Choose How Much Is Paid Out Annually
Each grantor selects the CRUT percentage, or rate of annual distribution: a minimum of 5% of the value of the trust. Each year, the trustee determines the fair market value of the trust, then pays the selected percent of fair market value to the income beneficiary.
For instance, if a trust is valued at $100,000 and the trust grantor chose a 6% CRUT percentage, the trustee would pay out 6% of $100,000, distributing $6,000 that year.
You Choose How Long Income Will Be Paid Out
In addition, the trust grantor may select the time during which payments are to be made. It may be one life, two or more lives, or a term of one to 20 years.
You Designate the Charities That Will Receive the Principal
Finally, the trust grantor selects one or more charities that will receive the trust remainder after all income payments are completed. This money could all be distributed to one charity or divided among several charities. You as grantor reserve the right to choose and change the charities that will ultimately benefit from the trust.
Your Trustee Is Important
Each trust must have a trustee, which may be a commercial institution (such as Heartland Trust Company), a charity or an individual. The trustee makes the investments, conducts any sales and files appropriate information and tax forms. Since a trust can be complex to manage and may last for many years, it is important to select a trustee in whom you, the grantor, have confidence and one that will provide continuity in managing the trust.
If you're interested in learning more about how you can establish a charitable remainder unitrust that will create a lifetime of income and provide a substantial gift to charity in the future, contact Neil Jordheim at Heartland Trust
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Estate Settlement
Do you have a will? You should. If you don't have a valid will, your estate is distributed according to your state's laws of intestacy. These laws may be very different from your personal wishes.
Who Will Make the Choices After Your Death?
Heartland Trust Company can help with the settlement of your estate. Many people name a spouse, relative or friend as the personal representative, or executor, of their estate, often considering this to be a compliment or honor they are paying the designated individual.
In reality, the settlement of any estate can be a complex and demanding process, requiring a great deal of time and attention to detail to meet all the legal requirements. The outcome of the distribution depends on the skills, judgment and diligence of the personal representative. Your personal representative is responsible for safeguarding the assets of your estate, paying outstanding debts, contesting improper claims, collecting sums of money owed the estate, and filing estate and income tax returns. Your personal representative also must decide what to sell to pay taxes and estate expenses, and what to hold for distribution to your heirs.
Consider Naming a Professional Executor
In less complicated times, many people relied on friends and relatives to settle their estates. Today, however, the naming of an inexperienced personal representative may be both shortsighted and costly.
Heartland Trust Company can assist you by being the personal representative in the settlement of your estate. As your professional representative, we will lend our experience to estate settlement in these areas:
- Financial responsibility
- Unquestioned integrity and freedom from personal bias
- Patience and understanding
- Experience in caring for all types of assets
- Informed investment judgment
- Familiarity with special tax questions
- Immortality (The lifespan of a corporate trustee is unlimited.)
If you're interested in naming Heartland Trust Company as the personal representative in your estate plan, contact us. We will be happy to discuss our services and the associated costs, and to answer any of your questions. |
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Retirement Planning
If you're like most people, planning for retirement is low on the priority list of fun activities. In fact, people generally spend more time planning a two-week vacation than they do in planning for retirement! At Heartland Trust Company, we have just seven words of advice: Do not put it off any longer!
Get Started Now with Heartland Trust
Retirement can be fun if you plan for it. Let us help you enjoy your "golden years," rather than spend them worrying about finances.
At Heartland Trust, we'll help you understand retirement plans you may have through an employer: 401(k) plans, profit-sharing plans and pension plans. We can also help you protect the income you will receive from each plan when you retire.
You may also have money tucked away in a traditional IRA, a simplified employee pension plan (SEPP) or a Roth IRA. We can help you combine all your retirement plans with after-tax investments including stocks, bonds, mutual funds, annuities and real estate, and see how much retirement income you can anticipate.
Plan Ahead to Avoid Worry
Don't forget the expense side. Just because you are retired doesn't mean you won't have expenses. In fact, you may find that some of those expenses actually increase after retirement.
Let us help you plan for a financially secure future. Contact us at Heartland Trust Company. |
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Financial Planning
- Do you have a written investment objective? Do your current investments meet that objective for growth without taking excessive risks?
- Do you own complex assets that require specialized management to make them produce income and growth for you and your family?
- Do you understand what financial resources you will have available for retirement?
- Do you understand tax law well enough to apply techniques that reduce your annual tax liability and could even eliminate estate taxes?
- Do you have adequate health, long-term care and life insurance in place to protect you and your family's financial well-being?
- Do you know what legal documents you should have in place to plan your estate, manage your affairs in the event of incapacity, or handle your health care decisions if you are unable to do so?
Perhaps you should discuss these important questions with someone who is experienced in dealing with complex financial matters: someone at Heartland Trust Company.
Manage Risks to Create a Secure Future
Wealth can be created in so many ways that many people have a hard time keeping track of where they stand and where they are going financially. Many people actually underestimate their resources, or fail to make full use of what they have. Instead of exploring new options, they take unnecessary risks.
Our trust officers work closely with attorneys, accountants and insurance professionals every day. We can help you create a secure future for you and your family. Interested? Contact us at Heartland Trust Company to start talking today. |
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