Good Riddance then Hope Good riddance is the general sentiment of many regarding 2020.  I know it is for me.  Given the number and magnitude of negatives in the past year one could pen a poem titled: How do I depress thee? let…

The current Pandemic and Worthless Securities The economic effects of the worldwide spread of COVID-19 continue to harm many different businesses and industries.  As a result of this business loss across many sectors (especially travel-related and retail), it is essential to…

Like most individuals, plan administrators are tasked with finding ways to save money on the plans they administer.  Plans are often reviewed every 3-5 years and Request for Proposals are sent out to ensure they have the best pricing for the…

November 23, 2020 Every four years, we all, try to predict which candidate will be better for the economy and the stock market.  We go through this emotional roller coaster every four years.  If we think of some prior elections, we were…

An article in Plan Sponsor from July reported that the Advisory Council on Employee and Pension Benefit Plans has issued a report to Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia on transferring amounts from uncashed checks from retirement plans to state unclaimed…

Here at First State Trust Company, we utilize a variety of market commentary from our partners to keep our investment committee up to date on market trends and overall investor sentiment. Over the recent quarter, I have noticed an overwhelming…

The upcoming election could have a considerable impact on future estate planning and gifting decisions. The budget deficit has also never been higher that it is today, and with the impact of COVID the budget deficit is only to increase.…

Trustees are often tasked with interpreting discretionary distribution language in a trust document.  Most professional trust companies have developed formal processes to ensure decisions regarding discretionary distributions – when the trust language is liberal – are made consistently without the…

What is Trust accounting and why is it important for an IRA account? Trust accounting is determined by State law, and the applicable state law is driven by the trust account’s situs.  For the purposes of this article, I am going…

A couple of months back, during the height of COVID in the Northeast region, my brother-in-law noticed how one of his neighbors, he believed, had passed.  Since we were all still in lockdown mode he made the assumption that –since…