Published: October 19, 2009 11:27 pm      

Sessions about estate planning, financial management set

Greenup — Three free sessions about estate planning and financial management will be offered by the Greenup County Extension Office.

Attorney Pamela Potter will lead the sessions. The first will be at 6 p.m. today at the extension office, 226 W. Main St. The second will be at 6 p.m. Oct. 27 and the third will be at 6 p.m. Nov. 12.

Changes in estate planning rules, laws and regulations have prompted the sessions.

Here is a brief description of each seminar:

‰Legacy Wealth Planning Seminar

Traditional estate planning has focused primarily on what happens after death and has usually passed on financial wealth outright with no conditions or safeguards.

Today’s families are realizing these estate planning methods are failing them. They want a more holistic approach to deal with today’s real life issues. Those issues included planning for disability, remarriage of the surviving spouse, divorce (especially divorce of children), creditor and financial management problems of beneficiaries and passing on family traditions and values. This seminar explains how these concerns can be addressed through a new concept called Legacy Wealth Planning.

‰Long-Term-Care Planning Seminar

Studies show 43 percent of those older than 65 will require nursing home care at some point in their lives and 55 percent of all nursing home stays are for a year or more.

With the average cost of nursing home care exceeding $71,000 a year nationwide, a nursing home stay can quickly deplete a family’s resources.

It is becoming increasingly important to plan for the payment of long- term-care costs. This seminar presents various long-term-care planning options and the requirements of each, including the requirements for Medicaid qualification.

‰Retirement Planning Workshop

A retirement plan such as an IRA or a 401K is subject to complex rules that can result in significant penalties if one withdraw smoney at the wrong time or fails to withdraw money at the right time.

These plans can also be subject to as many as six taxes that can squeeze 65 percent to 75 percent out of retirement wealth. In these uncertain economic times, it is especially important to do everything to protect retirement resources. This workshop will review rules relating to retirement plan withdrawals and discuss various planning options to maximize the benefits these plans can offer.