Welcome to the Fall 2025 edition of Towerpoint Wealth’s Fiduciary Group Newsletter, Fiduciary Focus!
We understand the weight of responsibility that comes with protecting and managing client assets, as fiduciaries ourselves. Through every regulatory change, market shift, and planning challenge, your clients rely on you for clarity, discipline, and sound judgment.
Our Fiduciary Group supports professional private fiduciaries, third-party trustees, conservators, administrators, and family stewards with the same fiduciary standard we apply to our own work. With 27 years of combined experience and a deep commitment to the Uniform Prudent Investor Act and California Probate Code, we’re here to help you navigate the complexities of your role.
We hope you find this newsletter both informative and empowering as you continue to uphold the highest standards of fiduciary care.
The One Big Beautiful Bill: What Fiduciaries Need to Know
On July 4, 2025, significant new tax legislation — formally named the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) — was signed into law. The OBBB permanently extends a number of favorable provisions originally set to expire after 2025, while introducing several new rules that will shape both personal and business tax planning for years to come.
For professional fiduciaries, the OBBB presents both opportunities and planning considerations as you work to protect and grow client assets. Key provisions that may have the most direct impact include:
- Permanent Lower Individual Tax Rates – Prevents the scheduled increase in top individual tax rates, keeping the highest rate at 37%. This stability could influence distribution timing, Roth conversion strategies, and trust tax planning.
- Higher Standard Deduction – Permanently increases the standard deduction, reducing the number of clients who will benefit from itemizing. Charitable giving and deductible expense timing may need to be adjusted.
- Estate & Gift Tax Exemption Increase – The basic exclusion amount jumps to $15 million in 2026 (indexed for inflation). Fiduciaries should review estate plans now to determine if lifetime gifting or trust restructures could maximize this opportunity.
- Permanent QBI Deduction & Bonus Depreciation – For clients with business interests, these changes may create tax savings that can be reinvested into portfolios or succession planning strategies.
- Expanded Education & Child-Related Benefits – From higher Child Tax Credits to broader 529 plan uses, fiduciaries should consider the role of these provisions in multi-generational wealth planning.
While the OBBB’s scope is broad, its implications will be specific to each client’s circumstances. Proactive reviews — particularly for clients facing major liquidity events, planning large charitable gifts, or managing concentrated business holdings — can help fiduciaries capture available benefits and avoid unintended consequences.
Have questions about how the One Big Beautiful Bill could impact the portfolios you manage?
Our Fiduciary Group is here to support you with customized guidance and portfolio insights tailored to your clients’ needs.
TIP: Protect Vulnerable Investors from Cybersecurity Threats
Senior and vulnerable investors are increasingly targeted by scams, financial exploitation, and account takeovers. As fiduciaries, you can play a critical role in prevention, both by spotting red flags early and by putting protections in place before an incident occurs.
Recognizing Warning Signs
- Financial: Unusual disbursements, abrupt changes to beneficiaries or estate documents, urgent payment requests, multiple payments to new recipients, or forgotten transactions/bills.
- Social: Withdrawal from trusted relationships, a caregiver who won’t allow the client to speak privately, or sudden new “close friends” or romantic relationships.
- Behavioral: Fearfulness, reluctance to discuss finances, changes in appearance or hygiene, mood swings, or scripted answers to your questions.
Proactive Protections
- Use strong, unique passwords and enable two-factor authentication for all client accounts.
- Consider limiting account functionality (e.g., Limited View) to reduce the risk of unauthorized transactions.
- Set up account alerts and encourage clients to review statements regularly.
- Add a Trusted Contact to each account to provide an extra layer of protection.
- Avoid sending financial details by email; verify all transaction requests by phone using known numbers.
Fiduciary Action Steps
- Ensure clients have a signed, notarized DPOA and updated health care directive.
- Review wills, trusts, and beneficiary designations annually.
- Help clients maintain an organized list of accounts, insurance, obligations, benefits, and key contacts.
- Consider a family meeting to clarify wishes and reduce potential conflicts.
Spotting vulnerabilities early and implementing these protections not only fulfills your fiduciary duty, but it can prevent irreversible financial and emotional harm to your client.
The OBBB brings sweeping legislative changes that will affect both individual and business taxation for years to come.
While no one can predict exactly how these provisions will play out in the markets or in each client’s financial plan, fiduciaries can take steps now to assess potential impacts, adjust strategies where needed, and ensure portfolios remain aligned with long-term objectives.
Towerpoint Wealth’s Fiduciary Group Updates
Annual Client Appreciation Gala
Thank you to those of you who joined us for A Night at the Museum at Sacramento’s Crocker Art Museum on Wednesday, September 17, 2025. We truly enjoyed celebrating with you. For those who missed it, you can catch a brief recap in the video below. We enjoyed live music, curated cuisine, specialty cocktails, and guided gallery strolls as we celebrated our Towerpoint Wealth community!
Upcoming Events
We will be hosting a webinar event in early December on the essentials and must-know tips for applying for Social Security. Stay tuned for more details!
Looking for Past Editions of Fiduciary Focus?
If you’re looking for earlier issues of Fiduciary Focus, you can find them all in one place on our website! Each edition is designed to keep professional fiduciaries informed, equipped, and supported as you carry out your responsibilities with due diligence and care.
