Fridley Community Education

In this class we will take an in-depth review of many issues (and problems) that may be faced from our parents estate plan (or lack thereof) such as: creating a difficult Probate, loss of assets to the Nursing Home, fighting amongst the children, senior care issues, guardianship, privacy, the continued life of the surviving parent, estate tax protection, fairness and equality, legacy assets and the flow of critical information between the generations. With our 30 years of experience, we will discuss actual Minnesota examples of all of the above challenges and how they can be avoided in advance with some simple planning and exchange of information. All questions will be answered in an open and friendly forum

There’s a shift in your mindset when you switch from saving and investing all those years to spending that money – and paying taxes on it. There are many options if your goal is to grow, spend and give more of your wealth. But it takes planning. Join Thrivent expert, Greg Schraufnagel, for a workshop on the 5 Phases of an IRA and discover strategies for reducing the taxes you and your heirs could pay. No products will be sold.

The Concern: Our family has cabin, homestead, hunting land, farm or second home: How do we protect this family legacy and move its use and enjoyment into the future? The Problem: Various sources and forces threaten its very existence: The nursing home and Medicaid (MA), estate taxes, family divorces, creditor and bankruptcy issues, taxes and operating expenses, unequal resources of owners, the in-laws, and use and enjoyment equality. The Answer: We will provide real-life solutions and explore four paths to resolution that will solve our problems without driving the family apart or sacrificing the family legacy asset.

The biggest fear for most baby boomers is how to pay for the nursing home and still leave an inheritance for the next generation. We will walk through the following questions and more including: How will I meet my nursing home goals? Is Long Term Care Insurance for me? What about home healthcare? Should I gift my money away? Would I qualify for Medicaid? What about my current Trust, does it protect my assets and avoid the nursing home? What is the 60-month claw back? What if my spouse goes into the nursing home and exhausts our money? Get the answers to these and other questions and learn how to create an effective plan to deal with these uncertainties.

Learn how advance funeral planning will provide you with peace of mind and protect your family from the stress of making funeral decisions after a death occurs.

Careful planning can help you get the most out of your Social Security benefits. Savvy Social Security is a workshop that will help you determine the ideal time to apply and ways to help maximize your Social Security benefits while minimizing taxes on those benefits. No products will be sold.

Learn how to avoid common mistakes when it comes to your investment portfolio, health care and estate strategies. The Savvy Tax Strategies workshop provides answers to the critical tax questions you must answer before retirement. Explore how to help dodge the Social Security “tax trap” and more. Fact #1: Taxes can be complicated. Fact #2: No one wants to pay more than their fair share. Cut through the jargon to help create an efficient retirement tax strategy and avoid common—and costly—mistakes regarding your investments, health care and estate. No Products will be sold.

The trust is a very popular component and tool to be used in our Estate Planning. However, there is a variety of vastly different Trust options to be used and the question arises: “Am I using the right Trust for my needs and goals?” Often used Trusts include: Living Trusts, Testamentary Trusts and Irrevocable Trusts, each serves a different purpose, each has a different result. One common problem that often needs addressing is the over-utilization of the Living Trust for goals or problems that it does not resolve. For example, “Does my Living Trust protect my assets against Medicaid and the nursing home?” The answer is probably not. The Irrevocable Trust and the Testamentary Trust each have their strengths and weaknesses as well. We will clearly define the strengths and weaknesses of these different types of Trusts and when to use them. Explore your goals and wishes to see where they fall in the realm of Trusts. Class encourages questions and we hope to provide answers that will set your mind at ease or assist you in the decision making in this area.