A two-day class on offer at the University of Missouri Extension in Fulton teaches planning for estate succession and retirement for farmers.
Darla Campbell, agricultural business specialist for the University of Missouri Extension in Lancaster, said the goal of the class is to get people to start thinking about how and to whom they are going to transition their farm business and other assets while maintaining themselves in retirement.
"By next year, 2020, 70 percent of the baby boomers will retire, and MU Extension hopes to smooth that transition so that businesses don't lose productivity or worse," Campbell said.
The University of Missouri Extension has taught an estate planning class for at least 16 years. In 2016, the curriculum was updated to include more of the planning process, such as goal setting and communication around succession, estate and retirement planning.
Campbell said this class has never been offered in Fulton, as the Extension tries to rotate its classes to different areas.
"People work hard to grow or maintain their business, especially in agriculture. They want to see their assets passed on to benefit others. This class looks at ways to pass assets effectively and plan for a comfortable retirement," Campbell said.
The class will be Aug. 23-24, and participants must register by Aug. 19. Registration is $120 per person and $60 for each additional person from each farm or family (to cover materials).
"We want to help people start the process, facilitate communication on difficult topics, save some legal fees by getting some tasks and paperwork done before they seek legal counsel, and then to encourage people to complete the process by seeking a competent attorney, accountant and financial planner," Campbell said.
In order for the classes to be held, there must be an adequate number of participants registered. Campbell said each site will need about 12-15 participants.
Agribusiness field specialist Mary Sobba will serve as the site facilitator during the classes and will be one of the presenters. Campbell said most of the presenters will be presenting through Zoom video conference calls from the Kirksville site.