Seminars

It was my pleasure to host the event where we heard from a number of speakers covering spiritual, medical, legal, financial and tax questions about what to do before and after a loved one passes away and steps each of us should take for our own planning in these areas. Because so many of you asked about getting copies of the various presentations I’ve attached them to this email.

To recap the presentations, I started by speaking about seeing our lives from the spiritual perspective and then the religious rites and customs of Hindus. Also I touched on what to think about, who to contact for planning and other considerations. Next we had Debbie Allen, from Eternal Hills Morturary, who spoke about cremation, memorials, and celebrations of life, with an emphasis on changes in effect due to the current pandemic. She gave information on the availability of and strongly encouraged the use of pre-paid services and planning considerations. They have a great website with more information and ideas for consideration in your planning. The website is http://www.dignitymemorial.com.   Debbie was followed by Dr. Sameer Gupta, a physician whose practice focuses on Allergy and Internal Medicine talking about end of life medical conditions and decisions, particularly now, in light of new hospital procedures due to the pandemic. I’ve attached the form that he spoke about.

Next we had Dr. Ben Janzen, Theol., PHD, speak. Ben is the Bereavement Services Manager for the San Diego office of VITAS Healthcare. Ben spoke about the type of hospice services that they offer to not only keep people comfortable, but to help relieve some of the burdens, both physical and emotional, of the loved ones of someone who is dying.

Attorney Ron Webb spoke about estate planning and the type of documents that most people should have in place, how often they should be updated and other considerations. He reminded everyone that estate planning doesn’t just concern what happens to our assets when we die. These documents also instruct what is to be done with the assets while we are still alive but not capable of making decisions or otherwise incapacitated as well as giving our instructions as to the type of medical care and decisions that we want or that we don’t want and guardianship for minors.

Finally, Sandeep Varma, a financial advisor and the founder and president of ATS Advanced Wealth Strategies and ATS Wealth Management shared the story of the king with the four wives. It turns out, we all of these “wives” that represent 1. our soul,  2. our family and friends, 3. our material wealth, and 4. time.  Sandeep explained that he helps people with that third area. You can find out more about Sandeep, his companies, his team, and what they do on the ATS website at: www.atsfinancial.com. Sandeep is conducting regular seminars on estate planning over Zoom that are open to all. On Wednesdays at 10am his seminar is titled “The Seven Biggest Mistakes Trustees Often Make” and on Thursdays at 10am he presents a series of seminars titled “The Advanced Trustee Workshop”.  There is no fee for the seminars.  To register for the webinars click below: