Spousal Lifetime Access Trust (SLAT) – Major Update You Need to Make to Your Financial Plan

by Ethan S. Braid, CFA | May 10, 2025 | Blog, Estate Planning

A spousal lifetime access trust (SLAT) is an effective tool for saving money on estate taxes. When a SLAT trust is created, one spouse is the trust grantor, and the other is the beneficiary. The grantor spouse gifts assets to the irrevocable SLAT trust and files a...

Pour-Over Will with Testamentary Trust – Never Use One as Your Primary Estate Plan

by Ethan S. Braid, CFA | Apr 24, 2025 | Blog, Estate Planning

A pour-over will with a testamentary trust should never be used as your primary estate planning document. A pour-over will is an estate planning tool that directs your assets to be put into your trust after you die. You can use a pour-over will to fund a testamentary...

T-Bills vs Money Market. Which is Better?

by Ethan S. Braid, CFA | Apr 19, 2025 | Blog, Investing

T-Bills and money markets are both popular choices for investors looking to earn interest from their cash. T-Bills are simple and straightforward. T-Bill interest is state tax exempt. Money markets are more complicated. Money markets come in two forms, money market...

Who Will Help Your Spouse with Investing After You Are Gone?

by Ethan S. Braid, CFA | Apr 18, 2025 | Blog, Estate Planning, Fiduciary Standard, Retirement Planning

Have you been managing the family wealth yourself for a long time and your spouse is either not interested or not capable of managing the investments if you are gone? Do you fear that your spouse might be taken advantage of by an unscrupulous financial salesperson?...

Recession & Stock Crash Obvious Warning Signs

by Ethan S. Braid, CFA | Apr 7, 2025 | Blog, Investing, Market Updates

Recently stocks, particularly the Magnificent Seven stocks, have fallen off a cliff. A recession looks all but imminent at this point. At HighPass, we have been warning investors since 2024 to update their risk tolerance, shift their portfolio away from tech stocks...

4% Rule with Vanguard Balanced Index Fund – 25 Year Illustration

by Ethan S. Braid, CFA | Apr 3, 2025 | Asset Allocation, Blog, Retirement Planning

How reliable is the 4% rule when using a 60/40 equity/fixed balanced investment strategy? Will you run out of money if you have bad timing and retire right before a recession? How will sequence of negative returns affect your retirement plan? To answer these questions...