Jan 1, 2009 12:00 PM

By Elizabeth Bloomer Nesvold

On Feb. 20, 2008, my husband, Peter Nesvold — a newly minted partner at Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. — came home and said, “I think my firm is going bankrupt.”

I told him he was crazy, that Bear Stearns had one of the strongest balance sheets on Wall Street. And I teased him about being the poster child for doom and gloom. Peter had been predicting the sky would fall since early 2005. That was when he examined our five-year adjustable rate mortgage and concluded that our monthly payments would double in 18 months with only a 300 basis point move in mortgage rates. At the time, Peter called our banker to confirm his math. She told him he was right but said, “Don't worry — you'll be able to refinance.” He hung up the phone and told me we should eliminate our debt and sell our oversized, jumbo-mortgaged house. We did. After all, a three-person family doesn't really need a 17-room house; it was just too cavernous to call “home.”

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Topics of Interest

Estate Tax	Donor Advised Funds
GSTs	Family Offices
Private Foundations	Life Insurance
2010 Tax Act News	Industry Trends Surveys

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2011 Trust Glossary

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50 Years Ago This Month

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50 years ago, in May 1962, we featured articles such as: "Future of Canadian Trusteeship" by Arthur H. Mingay", "Training Trust Employees" by Ian M. Marr, "What is a Trust Officer?" by Eric J. Brown, and "Selling Services" by Donald I. Webb.

Conrad Teitell's Guide to Tax Benefits For Charitable Gifts

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