Alliance Wealth Advisors

Recently, members of our team sat down with two tax experts—Brian Kelly of Brian Kelly & Associates and Allan Karaffa of Kronick Kalada & Berdy. Both are experienced CPAs who work closely with clients on tax-related matters. For our latest episode of Off the Page, we asked them questions about how both business owners and individuals can be proactive and avoid surprises at tax time. A big thanks to Brian and Allan for joining us—it was a fantastic conversation packed with valuable insights. 

As an independent firm, we have the flexibility to partner with market leaders to better serve our clients. Stephanie Aliaga is a Global Market Strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, based in New York. Stephanie helps shape and communicate economic views, deliver timely commentary, and maintains forecasting models for weekly submissions to Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal. She is also responsible for publications such as the Guide to the Markets and the On the Minds of Investors blog. Additionally, she serves on the committee that produces the Long-Term Capital Market Assumptions, which underpin J.P. Morgan’s strategic asset allocation process. In her research, Stephanie focuses on issues related to the U.S. economy and artificial intelligence. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

We often receive questions from clients about whether they should have a trust. While the reasons vary, they most often pertain to earmarking money for children or grandchildren, protecting money if they end up in a nursing home or leaving money to charity. The reality is trusts are very complex and there are legal costs associated with them. Furthermore, there are guidelines to follow that often leave the funder with less control over his or her own money.

For that reason, we recently sat down with Attorney Scott Lynett of Legacy Planning. Scott joined us to discuss the basics of trusts and estate planning to help listeners understand this very complicated topic.