HTC Team News and Honors

• Our team continues to grow. We are excited to announce the following promotions and new hires.
Jana Samek was promoted to Director of Retirement Services.

Jana Samek

We recently welcomed two new employees to our team: Jennifer Schmidt, Administrative Associate-Personal Trusts; and Maureen Jelinek, Chief Operating Officer

Jen Schmidt

Maureen Jelinek

• We enjoyed participating in the 22nd annual Festival of Trees, a community event that supports Fraser, Ltd. Thanks to our team members who decorated our tree: Mary Fridgen, Jen Schmidt, Ethan Linder, Jace Gilleshammer and Jen Johnston

• We embraced the holiday spirit with our team Ugly Sweater Christmas Celebration. The entries were festive and fun. Congratulations to Amy Remmick (left) who won the Most Creative award and Steve Halverson whose sweater was voted the Ugliest.

Amy Remmick

Steve Harlverson

• We are thrilled that we were able to participate in the 2023 Giving Hearts Day. Each team member picked a charity in which HTC made a donation in their honor. Here are the charities we supported:

  1. Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Red River Valley
  2. St. Gianna & Pietro Molla Maternity Home in Minto, ND
  3. Hospice of the Red River Valley
  4. Great Plains Food Bank
  5. Veterans Honor Flight of ND/MN
  6. Red River Zoo
  7. Landon’s Light
  8. Crosses For Cameron
  9. DMF 4-6-3 Foundation
  10. Arthritis Foundation of North Dakota
  11. Grace Lutheran School
  12. Lake Agassiz Habitat for Humanity
  13. Cats Cradle
  14. YWCA
  15. Park Christian School
  16. Henrik’s Heroes Fund
  17. Churches United
  18. Rape and Abuse Crisis Center

• Congratulations to Denise Lies who celebrated 30 years with HTC on January 14. Denise is our Senior Retirement Services Operations and Compliance. Congratulations, Denise!

Denise Lies

Heartland TrustHTC Team News and Honors
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Meet: Tim Rensch

Tim Rensch joined us in July as our Retirement Services Relationship Manager. He likes to spend time outside and read – and he’s already become a valuable part of our team. 

Tell us about yourself.
I am a native of Garrison, North Dakota, and moved to Fargo in 1993 to start college at North Dakota State University. I graduated with a BS in accounting and, after college, started my career in hotel management. In 2008, I started my first job in the financial services industry.  

What do you like to do in your spare time?
I like to go camping and hiking with my wife and dogs. I also like to ride my bicycle, kayak, golf, and read.  

Tell us about your favorite life experience.
I don’t have a single favorite life experience. I look at my past experiences, good and bad, as something to learn from so I am moving forward as the best possible person I can be.  

What is your favorite movie/play/book?
My favorite book is the next one I’m going to read. I love to learn new things and to be able to look at situations through the perspective of others. Books and movies are great opportunities to expand my perspective and awareness, but I don’t get hung up on a favorite. Each one has given me a different, thought-provoking experience. 

What was the first car you owned?
The first car I owned was a 1980 Pontiac 6000.  

How long have you been at Heartland Trust?
I started at HTC on July 13, 2022. 

What is your favorite part about working at Heartland Trust?
Heartland Trust is a place that treats people with respect and dignity. This holds true in the way the company treats employees, employees treat customers, and co-workers treat each other. Companies often spend a lot of time promoting their corporate culture, but I’ve found the companies with the best corporate culture show it and that is certainly true of Heartland Trust. 

Heartland TrustMeet: Tim Rensch
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On a Mission

Brian Halverson, President

Most businesses have a mission statement that guides them in their day-to-day responsibilities and directs their decision-making process. Think of it as how a business speaks to the purpose and understanding of what they do.  

Heartland Trust Company’s mission is “To provide a lifelong commitment to the well-being of those we serve.” It’s intended to be clean, precise, and all-encompassing. We use it to guide our decisions from the types of accounts we administer and the benefits we offer our employees to how we serve our community. 

We want our clients to have a strong sense of financial well-being so they are prepared for the next phases in their life. We want our employees to have a work environment that is motivating and joyful. We want the communities we live in to be vibrant and successful. 

Our IRA and investment account clients at Heartland Trust Company know we are going through a conversion with one of our vendors. This change has been thought through, discussed, and researched for years. We have experienced growth in both those we serve and the size of our team. At the root of this vendor change is our commitment to the well-being of those we serve. 

We want to work smarter, not harder, so we can stay focused on our mission and prioritize the things that matter most to us: our clients, our team, and our communities. 

Jace GilleshammerOn a Mission
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Year-End Tax Planning

Adapted from Broadridge Investor Communication Services

As the end of the year approaches, it’s time to consider strategies that could help you reduce your tax bill. But most tax tips, suggestions, and strategies are of little practical help without a good understanding of your current tax situation. This is particularly true for year-end planning. You can’t know where to go next if you don’t know where you are now.

So take a break from the usual fall chores and pull out last year’s tax return, along with your current pay stubs and account statements. Doing a few quick projections will help you estimate your present tax situation and identify any glaring issues you’ll need to address while there’s still time.

When it comes to withholding, don’t shortchange yourself

If you project that you’ll owe a substantial amount when you file this year’s income tax return, ask your employer to increase your federal income tax withholding amounts. If you have both wage and consulting income and are making estimated tax payments, there’s an added benefit to doing this: Even though the additional withholding may need to come from your last few paychecks, it’s generally treated as having been withheld evenly throughout the year. This may help you avoid paying an estimated tax penalty due to underwithholding.

Of course, if you’ve significantly overpaid your taxes and estimate you’ll be receiving a large refund, you can reduce your withholding accordingly, putting money back in your pocket this year instead of waiting for your refund check to come next year.

Will you suffer the alternative?

Originally intended to prevent the very rich from using “loopholes” to avoid paying taxes, the alternative minimum tax (AMT) now reaches further into the ranks of middle-income taxpayers. The AMT is governed by a separate set of rules that exist in parallel to those for the regular income tax system. These rules disallow certain deductions that you are allowed to include in computing your regular income tax liability, and treat specific items, such as incentive stock options, differently. As a result, AMT liability may be triggered by such items as:

  • The standard deduction
  • Large deductions for state, local, personal property, and real estate taxes
  • Exercising incentive stock options

So when you sit down to project your taxes, calculate your regular income tax on Form 1040, and then consider your potential AMT liability using Form 6251. If it appears you’ll be subject to the AMT, you’ll need to take a very different planning approach during the last few months of the year. Even some of the most basic year-end tax planning strategies can have unintended consequences under AMT rules. For example, accelerating certain deductions into this year may prove counterproductive since AMT rules may require you to add them back into your income. If you think AMT is going to be a factor, consider talking to a tax professional about your specific tax situation.

Timing is everything

The last few months of the year may be the time to consider delaying or accelerating income and deductions, taking into consideration the impact on both this year’s taxes and next. If you expect to be in a different tax bracket next year, doing so may help you minimize your tax liability. For instance, if you expect to be in a lower tax bracket next year, you might want to postpone income from this year to next so that you will pay tax on it next year instead. At the same time, you may want to accelerate your deductions in order to pay less tax this year.

To delay income to the following year, you might be able to:

  • Defer year-end bonuses
  • Defer the sale of capital gain property (or take installment payments rather than a lump-sum payment)
  • Postpone receipt of distributions (other than required minimum distributions) from retirement accounts

To accelerate deductions into this year:

  • Consider paying medical expenses in December rather than January, if doing so will allow you to qualify for the medical expense deduction
  • Prepay deductible interest
  • Make alimony payments early
  • Make next year’s charitable contributions this year

The gifts that give back

If you itemize your deductions, consider donating money or property to charity before the end of the current tax year in order to increase the amount you can deduct on your taxes. As an aside, now is also a good time to consider making noncharitable gifts. You may give up to $16,000 (in 2022; twice that amount for a married couple) to as many individuals as you want without incurring any federal gift tax consequences. If you gift an appreciated asset, you won’t have to pay tax on the gain; any tax is deferred until the recipient of your gift disposes of the property.

Postpone the inevitable

To reduce your taxable income this year, consider maximizing pretax contributions to an employer-sponsored retirement plan such as a 401(k). You won’t be taxed on the contributions you make now, and you may be in a lower tax bracket when you do eventually withdraw the funds and report the income. (Note that if you take withdrawals from the plan before age 59½, you’ll generally be subject to a 10% penalty tax in addition to any income tax due, unless an exception applies.)

If you qualify, you might also consider making either a tax-deductible contribution to a traditional IRA or an after-tax contribution to a Roth IRA. In the first instance, a current income tax deduction effectively defers income — and its taxation — to future years (as with a retirement plan, an additional 10% penalty tax will apply to withdrawals made prior to age 59½ in addition to any income tax due, unless an exception applies); in the second, while there’s no current tax deduction allowed, qualifying distributions you take later will be tax free. You’ll generally have until the due date of your federal income tax return to make these contributions.

Tax planning can be complicated. Consider seeking the assistance of a tax professional to determine what year-end tax planning moves, if any, are right for your individual circumstances.

Heartland TrustYear-End Tax Planning
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HTC Team News and Honors

Our team wrapped up our 2022-23 United Way Campaign with a great event featuring taco in a bag, a dunk tank and lots of laughs. Thanks to our brave dunk tank victims: Brian Halverson, Dustin Sobolik, Jana Samek, Jon Benson, Mary Fridgen, and Naomi Schempp!

This fall, HTC team members enjoyed an old-fashioned picnic complete with food and games. Thanks to our amazing event organizers: Amy Remmick, Brian Halverson, Missy Zarak, Monica Millette and Kayla Kranda. What a fun afternoon of team building and fun!

Our Retirement Services team held their annual Retirement Insight event in October. Dustin Sobolik led a presentation on financial planning and Clay Leveritt from American Funds gave us an informative market update.

Heartland TrustHTC Team News and Honors
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Meet Jace Gilleshammer

Jace Gilleshammer – IT Coordinator

Jace Gilleshammer is our IT Coordinator. He recently returned to the Fargo area and we are excited that he is part of our Heartland Trust team. 

Tell us about yourself. 

I was born in Grafton, North Dakota, and spent my schooling years here in north Fargo. A few years after high school I moved to Minneapolis to further my career, which led me on a path to Arizona where I spent the last 13 years. It was there that I met my wife. We have two daughters and couldn’t be more pleased to have our oldest in kindergarten here in the Fargo school system. We are very excited to raise our family in Fargo and to be a part of this community. 

What do you like to do in your spare time? 

I have two kids under 6 so I don’t understand that question anymore. I have really enjoyed getting back to the lakes, playing with my kids on grass instead of rock, and planting a garden again. There’s something soothing about getting some garden dirt under your fingernails.

Tell us about your favorite life experience. 

Nothing will ever compare to the joy and happiness I experienced while being present for the birth of my two daughters. Before that, my favorite experience was my first time flying an airplane. I grew up a super fan of aviation and my biggest childhood (and current) dream is to land on an aircraft carrier. I grew up directly off the east end of the Fargo Jet Center runway so I used to sit and watch planes take off and land all day long. To this day I always look up anytime I hear an aircraft engine.

What is your favorite movie/play/book? 

I don’t have a specific one to point out; however, the one I’ve spent the most time with was The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft. More than 900 pages of just about any aircraft you can think of.

What was the first car you owned? 

 It was a 1986 Dodge 600 SE in faded brown with a red velvety interior. I got it in the summer after my freshman year at Ben Franklin so you can imagine how excited my friends and I were to get our first taste of freedom heading into high school.

If you could meet one person, dead or alive, who would it be and why?

Nikola Tesla. Our technological world wouldn’t be half of what it is if it weren’t for his ideas that pushed boundaries. It would be fun to discuss how his ideas, typically deemed too far-fetched for his place in time, have molded where we are on a global scale today. Look up some of his inventions and see all he was responsible for.

How long have you been at Heartland Trust? 

I’ve been here four months, and I’m delighted to say that I already feel like I am part of a new family. From day one everyone here has been more than willing to help me feel welcome.

What is your favorite part about working at Heartland Trust? 

While my funny answer would be the popcorn, my favorite part about working at Heartland is the people. You’ll meet some of the kindest and most caring individuals here.

Do you have a favorite recipe you would like to share?

It’s my mom’s homemade spaghetti sauce and, unfortunately, I have no clue what was in it other than a sprinkle of love and a touch of sugar and spice. But if I had to eat only one thing for the rest of my life, that would be it.

Heartland TrustMeet Jace Gilleshammer
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HTC Team News and Honors

  • Our team had a Kentucky Derby party in May. Gary Hanson received a prize for best
    dressed and Lori Theis received one for best fascinator (hat).

  • Several employees attended the FMWF Chamber event featuring Mel Robbins. Jill
    McAndrew and Michelle Hoppe were able to meet her as well.

  • We held a school supply drive and donated to the United Way in support of their annual
    effort to help area students in need.

  • Dustin Sobolik hosted HTC’s semi-annual market update webinar and gave us a review
    of the market, inflation, gas prices, and an outlook on what we should expect in the
    coming months.
  • Three new employees joined Heartland Trust this quarter. We welcomed Jace
    Gilleshammer (Left), IT Coordinator; Tim Rensch (Center), Retirement Services – Relationship Manager;
    and Abby Kruse (Right), our summer intern. Abby is a local high school English teacher who
    decided to give up her summer vacation and help with projects around the office. You
    can learn more about Abby in the employee profile of this issue of our newsletter.

 

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Meet Abby Kruse

Meet Abby Kruse 
Abby Kruse is a local high school English teacher who helps with projects around the office this
summer. She and Ethan Linder, Administrative Associate – Personal Trusts, are planning their wedding
in September 2023.

Heartland TrustMeet Abby Kruse
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HTC Team News and Honors 

  • Jennifer Johnston and Missy Zarak attended the Lady Boss retreat in Nisswa, Minnesota, in early March. Ethan Linder, Jennifer Johnston, Kevin Wangen and Lori Theis participated in the annual Bowling for Kids event sponsored by Big Brother Big Sister.

Heartland TrustHTC Team News and Honors 
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Meet Kevin Wangen

Meet Kevin Wangen

Kevin Wangen is the wealth management associate at HTC. He holds a finance degree from North Dakota State University, from where he graduated on the same day he got married.

Tell us about yourself

I was born in Langdon, North Dakota, and my family moved to Harvey, North Dakota, when I was 4. My parents still live there so I visit when I can. Growing up in a small town had a profound impact on my life. I moved to Fargo for college and now live here with my wife and four kids, who are 2, 5, 7, and 9. It can certainly be challenging, but I try to be the best dad and husband I can.

Heartland TrustMeet Kevin Wangen
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