Corporate Trustees

Most families, even the most financially responsible ones, have at least one child who struggles to learn budgeting. When this continues into that child’s 30s, it becomes apparent that he/she may never learn to make wise financial decisions. That presents a problem for families with wealth that will be passed down to the next generation. What can you to do to protect your children from squandering their inheritance? One potential solution is a corporate trustee.

I’ll admit when I think of corporate trustees, I think of a stodgy bank trust department with an investment strategy from the 1990s and poor customer service skills. That doesn’t have to be the case today. There are independent corporate trustees that focus only on administering personal trusts. I even found some that do it for a reasonable fee, put the customer first, and speak plain English.

So how would this work? You can set parameters, like paying out 5% of the trust assets to your child each year. You can retain your current investment advisor to manage the assets of this trust after your death. The corporate trustee takes care of making sure the money gets paid out to your child on time, tax returns get filed, and everything is properly accounted for. This means your hard earned money will still be around for the next few decades.

Be aware that there are still plenty of corporate trustees out there that have poor customer service and high fees. If you want help finding a good one, let me know.

Legal Disclaimer: These posts do not constitute an offer or recommendation to buy or sell any securities or instruments or to participate in any particular investment or trading strategy. They are for informational purposes only. CTW gathers its data from sources it considers reliable. However, CTW makes no express or implied warranties regarding the accuracy of this information or any opinions expressed by the author and may update or change them without prior notification.

About the Author: John O’Connor