Local Businessmen Offer Advice for Financial and Life Planning

The hosted one in a series of monthly financial skills seminars Tuesday evening.

Joseph Masiuk, a Southampton Estate Planner, and Ray Greenberg, a Certified Financial Planner, began holding during fall 2010.

Typically, Masiuk and Greenberg present one topic for each 60 to 90 minute meeting. Some of the topics have included estate planning, long-term care, social security benefits maximization and Medicaid planning and qualifications.

“If someone does not do proper financial planning, they will be cut short,” Masiuk said.

The topic of discussion on Tuesday evening covered “What Every College Bound Parent Should Know.”

Masiuk, a partner at Flood & Masiuk, LLC, explained that parents are counted on to provide a great deal of money to send their child to college. The only problem is that their son or daughter is now a legal adult. This means the parents have no access to grades or health information due to privacy laws and HIPPA, which prevents disclosure of health information unless the student signs a release form.

However, there are ways around such obstacles. Masiuk went on to present how to “put parents into the loop” with a Power of Attorney. This is a legal document that gives another person legal powers to do things in your place.

There are three types of Powers of Attorney: Property, Medical Health Care and Mental Health. Masiuk focused on the first two for this seminar. A Power of Attorney document gives someone as much or as little power as the person signing it wants.

The Property POA gives permission to give access to grades or progress reports. The Medical Health Care POA gives the designated person legal power to make health care decisions, such as treatments or a HIPPA release.

“I would like every parent to have full communication with doctors and hospitals while their child is at school,” Masiuk said. “When your child needs your help, it doesn’t matter how old they are. They need your help.”

If the son or daughter consents to signing either or both of these documents, the family can submit it to DocuBank, a digital depository. DocuBank then provides a card for the POA and student, with a phone and PIN number. 

If a parent wants to check in for a grade report or to receive health information of his or her child, the school representative or hospital staff member can look up the Power of Attorney documentation that gives the parent access to the student’s status.

At the end of the hour, Masiuk and Greenberg usually open the meeting to discussion.

They run these seminars to give free, helpful advice without selling their services to the people who attend.  The meetings take place the third Tuesday of every month.

“Come with questions,” Greenberg said.