Our tax laws are in a state of flux. Among many potential changes is the possibility of losing a large portion of the $12.06 million (or the $24.12 million for a married couple) estate and gift tax exemption along with other tried and true gifting strategies. If you have been hitting the snooze button on your estate plan, your window of ... Read More›

The first half of 2022 was the worst stretch for markets in almost 50 years, with a significant sell-off in stocks and bonds. All major asset classes are down for the year except commodities, although signs of commodity weakness are also beginning to materialize. Despite year-to-date losses, most asset classes are still higher than pre-pandemic ... Read More›

“You can’t just raise rates and reduce the balance sheet without it doing the opposite of what it did before,” said Jerry Braakman, chief investment officer of First American Trust. “When you do the reverse, you can expect it will do the opposite as well.” Read more about the current stock market and jobs report in this article by the Washington ... Read More›

Jerry Braakman and our executive guest speaker, Mark Doyle, discuss the importance of estate planning for business owners and high-net-worth individuals and provide additional insight on the following topics: Read More›

Join us for a CE course for estate planning attorneys and CPAs. Planning and maneuvering to reduce or eliminate taxes aren’t just for the living. Numerous opportunities exist to minimize taxes relating to the transmission of an individual’s property even after he or she has died. A fiduciary (or the fiduciary’s advisors) must have comprehensive ... Read More›

“One of the biggest money mistakes that investors make in a bear market is thinking they can pick the bottom,” says Jerry Braakman, President and Chief Investment Officer. He also states, “another big mistake that investors make in a bear market is moving to cash. In earlier bear markets, it took years for investors who moved to cash to come back, ... Read More›

Join us for a CE course for estate planning attorneys and CPAs. The technical intricacies of estate planning are tough enough, but the challenge becomes still more intimidating when the identity of the person(s) to whom the planner owes legal and ethics-based duties is unclear and when the period during which such duties are owed is amorphous. ... Read More›

“...It's obviously a difficult time for the markets and part of that is our economy is a little bit in transition...not just our economy, but a global economy as well...,” stated Jerry Braakman. Jerry Braakman, President and Chief Investment Officer, and Jason Nerio, Director of Investment Research & Strategy, share their insight on current ... Read More›

“In a lot of ways, it’s following a typical playbook,” said Jerry Braakman, chief investment officer and president of First American Trust in Santa Ana, California. Read more about the current stock market and how investors are reacting in this article by Bloomberg. Read More›

To Jerry Braakman, chief investment officer and president of First American Trust, it makes sense the market has dropped almost 15% since the start of the year. “Stocks trade on the future,” he said by phone. As stock continue to drop, investors are looking into estimating profits as Corporate America is doing well. Supply chain, the war in ... Read More›

Join us for a CE course for estate planning attorneys and CPAs. The deployment and use of so-called digital assets has proliferated at breathtaking speed. Virtually anyone who uses a computer or a smart phone has digital assets whether he or she recognizes them as such or not. Some digital assets are just items or information that may have ... Read More›

Exemption planning is a safe and effective protection solution for wealth preservation and is fundamental to estate planning. With exemption planning, you can properly prepare for the next financial disaster, regardless of whether it is self-inflicted or just bad luck. The first step to protecting yourself, your family, and your legacy must begin ... Read More›