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Resource Library

Just What Does Merchants Trust Company Do?

By Jim Miller, CFP, Senior Trust Officer

This is a question that I hear frequently. It is asked by prospective clients, new acquaintances and co-workers in other areas of the bank. While our clients are familiar with what we do for them, they may not be aware of numerous ways we provide assistance to other clients. The objective of this article is to provide you with a better understanding of what Merchants Trust Company does. Once armed with this information, we hope that you will think of us when questions and needs arise in the future.

Since we have clients and prospective clients from a wide variety of backgrounds, I do my best to avoid using jargon and technical terms. One effective way of screening technical jargon from my descriptions of our services is by passing it by my kids (now 14 and 18 years old). If they understand what I am saying, there is a good chance that the communication is clear and accessible to all.

I recently described what we do at Merchants Trust Company to my kids as follows:

Our three core areas of services are:

  1. Investment Management Services
  2. Financial Planning Services
  3. Fiduciary Services

They knew that I worked with investments and had a vague understanding of what investment services were; but overall these descriptions created more confusion than clarity. So I made the following revisions:

We assist our clients in making decisions in the following three areas:

  1. How to invest their money to support themselves, their families and organizations about which they care (Investment Management Services)
  2. What will affect their financial well-being and that of their families and organizations about which they care? (Financial Planning Services)
  3. What will protect themselves and their families, in the event they are not able to act on their own behalf, due to disability or death? (Fiduciary Services)

These descriptions of our services helped my kids understand what we do, however they also raised many questions. So I walked through the following client situation in an attempt to bring the services to life.

How we helped Alice

Alice was married and was caring for two young children. Her husband was a successful business owner. Alice enjoyed working part-time; but limited her hours to maximize the time she could spend with her children, one of whom had special needs. When her husband suddenly died, she and her kids experienced a devastating personal loss.

Alice is well-educated and has a firm understanding of financial issues. She hired Merchants Trust Company because she chose to focus her time and energy on her family. Alice’s questions included the following:

  • Can I afford to continue working part-time?
  • How long will my money last (under a number of different scenarios)?
  • Should I pay the balance of my mortgage with life insurance proceeds?
  • Can we afford to continue our current standard of living or do we need to cut back?
  • How should I invest the money from the life insurance and in the retirement plans?

After getting to know Alice and her family, and understanding their needs and objectives, we provided answers to her questions and advice on a wide range of financial issues. We invested her money in a way that met her family’s current needs and will provide for a secure future.

Fortunately, Alice and her husband had planned for the possibility of their disability or death. There is currently a trust in place that will ensure that the kids are financially taken care of in the event that Alice is disabled or dies.

This example was helpful, but it failed to communicate the breadth of what we do and the ways in which we help our clients. I attempted to explain further with a list of situations where we can help and questions that we can answer.

Situations where we can help

Some of the situations that raise important financial questions are listed below. Our clients often come to us because they need help due to a change in their lives. They are:

  • Considering retirement or are recently retired
  • Dealing with the loss of a family member
  • Selling a business
  • Inheriting a large sum of money
  • Selling their house and looking for assisted-living housing
  • Looking to delegate financial management to focus on other priorities
  • Changing jobs with decisions to make regarding retirement plans
  • Relocating to Vermont and looking for a local financial advisor

Questions we can help answer

In addition to the questions answered for Alice, below are common questions we receive from our clients: • From where should I withdraw funds during retirement?

  • Should I establish a Roth IRA?
  • Should I convert my traditional IRA to a Roth IRA?
  • When should I begin receiving social security?
  • What is a trust and does one make sense for my situation?
  • What is the most tax-effective method of making charitable gifts?
  • Do I have adequate life insurance?
  • Should I consider buying long-term care insurance?
  • Does my estate plan meet my objectives?

This information helped my kids better understand what I do at work. They knew that I worked with investments, but now appreciate that what I really do is work with people. And the people I work with have complex and varied situations and needs. This is what makes my work challenging and rewarding.

If you have any financial questions or concerns please view Merchants Trust Company as your resource, dedicated to helping you regardless of the need.

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