ZELIENOPLE — When the Rev. Reid Moon approached his half century mark, he pondered the next 50 years.

"Some of my friends at the Zelienople Ministerium gave me a surprise birthday cake at the end of one of our meetings back in March, and I realized at that very moment that I wasn't fully prepared in a lot of ways to deal with the aging process; spiritually, emotionally, or financially," said Moon, who has been the pastor at Zelienople Church of Christ for 18 years.

Moon knew there had to be many other people at the same stage of life, and after meeting with other Zelienople Ministerium colleagues, the idea for the Life Assurance Seminar was born.

The group's goal was to get as many experts together as they could to cover all of the aspects of long-term care, from financial realities to physical changes to the late-life decisions faced by anyone over the age of 45.

The group chose three area financial experts to tackle the financial issues. Jay Bridgens of Thrivent Financial; Vance Neal, an independent financial consultant with 23 years of experience in retirement planning; and Linda Vaira, president of Pittsburgh-based Linda Vaira & Associates, a Pittsburgh-based company specializing in long-term care insurance.

The sessions are planned for Saturday at Harmony-Zelienople United Methodist Church, with various vendors also on site.

Neal will discuss new rules regarding IRAs and pensions and define Medicaid and the differences between Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

Bridgens will be speaking on how individuals can enhance their charitable giving to organizations that are important to them through smart planning.

Vaira will discuss all facets of long-term care insurance.

"In addition to solid information about long-term care insurance policies and how much they cost, I will provide current details and statistics about Medicare and Medicaid," Vaira said.

"This will include information about the Budget Reconciliation Act that was recently signed into law and how it directly affects the spend-down of assets to qualify for Medicaid; annuities; the value of your home; and the five-year 'look back' period extension for gifting assets," she added.

Driven by the stories and feedback that she gets regularly from her clients, Vaira seems as though she is on a mission to educate.

"The story of a woman I will call Mrs. Smith, has affected me long term. She felt it was foolish to spend money each year on a premium for long- term care insurance. Without anyone to leave her money to when she dies, she decided that if she ever required long- term care, she would just spend her life savings on those needs," explained Vaira.

"A few years later, after a brief hospitalization, she was sent to a local nursing home for nine months of continued care because her health insurance policy would no longer pay for her hospitalization," said Vaira.

"What she hadn't counted on in her ''plan' was the fact that the nine months in the nursing home would drain such a large portion of her life savings. During that stay she spent so much of her life savings, that she could no longer afford to pay the rent in her beautiful apartment where she had lived for 11 years,"said Vaira.

"Mrs. Smith was forced to move from her home and find another place to live where the rent was affordable based on her depleted life savings," she added.

There are positive stories too about a client who suffered setbacks and physical challenges that required in-home care and was relieved to find out that it was covered up to $140 per day.

"She now doesn't have to worry about spending her life savings, because the long-term care insurance policy will pay the expense of having caregivers come to her home to assist her in getting in and out of the bathtub, helping her dress, prepare her meals, clean her home, do her laundry," said Vaira of one of the benefits of purchasing the insurance.

The day's events will include:

• 9 to 11:30 a.m. — Presentations by Bridgens, Neal and Vaira

• 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. — Lunch featuring a talk by Moon and the Rev. John Hoogerbrugge on the spiritual realities of aging

• 12:45 to 1:30 p.m. — Concurrent sessions on Alzheimer's and dementia presented by Leigh Dillaman from the Greater Pennsylvania Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association; Wellness for Seniors presented by Haley Fletcher, wellness coordinator at Passavant Retirement Community; and Caregiver Peace of Mind: Caring Decisions presented by Jolene Formaini and the Rev. Connie Dunn of the Visiting Nurses Association

• 1:30 to 1:45 p.m. — Break

• 1:45 to 2:30 p.m. — Concurrent sessions on Alzheimer's and dementia presented by Leigh Dillaman from the Greater Pennsylvania Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association; Wellness for Seniors presented by Haley Fletcher, wellness coordinator at Passavant Retirement Community; and Caregiver Peace of Mind: Caring Decisions presented by Jolene Formaini and the Rev. Connie Dunn of the Visiting Nurses Association

• 2:30 to 3 p.m. — Panel discussion and question-and- answer session.

<b>WHAT: </b>Life Assurance Seminar<b>WHEN: </b>9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sept. 23<b>WHERE: </b>Harmony-Zelienople United Methodist Church, 123 N. Pittsburgh St., Zelienople<b>INFO: </b>724-452-7670