Senior Planning Group Professionals

Since its inception in 1999, Barbara has been the founder and president of Senior Planning Group, Inc. As one of the states leading authorities on senior issues, she uses her 31 years experience in the health care industry to advocate, educate and advise senior clients and their families on a variety of issues such as geriatric care management, late life financial planning, and eligibility for benefits programs.

Barbara is a past member of the Board of Directors of the Southeastern Wisconsin End of Life Coalition and Interfaith Caregivers of Washington County. She sits on the Alzheimer’s Challenging Behaviors Task Force with the Alzheimer’s Association of Southeastern Wisconsin and is an active member of the Milwaukee County Adult Protective Services Interdisciplinary team.
In addition, she and her firm's staff hold memberships in the Coalition of Wisconsin Aging Groups, Older Adult Service Provider Consortiums (Milwaukee, Waukesha, and Washington counties), Continuing Care Coordinators, and the National Association of Social Workers.

Barbara is a new board member for Supportive Community Services, Inc. in Milwaukee. They are non-profit social services agency designed to provide services for the elderly, developmentally disabled, and mentally ill.

Barbara lives near Holy Hill with her husband, three dogs, and two cats. She also has three children and four grandchildren.

bhorstmeyer@seniorplanninginc.com

Sarah  is a Certified Social Worker working as a Geriatric Case Manager for the Senior Planning Group.  She provides a compassionate and comprehensive assessment to determine the specific needs and goals of her clients.
 
Sarah is the former chair of the Waukesha Senior Concerns Consortium and a member of the Milwaukee Area Consortium and Community Care Coordinators. Her past work experience includes acting as the program director the RSVP Retired Senior Volunteer Program, and acting as a Case Manager for the Department of Health and Human Services in Waukesha County.
 
Sarah finds time to serve her community by volunteering for various organizations such as Meals on Wheels and Wildlife in Need.  She currently lives in Dousman with her husband Mark and their two daughters Lauryn and Caroline.

sarahv@seniorplanninginc.com

Chris Miller, CSW - Geriatric Care Manager

Chris is a Certified Social Worker working as a Geriatric Case Manager for Senior Planning Group. She brings almost twenty years of working with seniors and their families, first in a nursing home as a social worker and admissions director, then working in an assisted living as a residence sales manager. These experiences have helped Chris understand the wide range of issues than can arise when planning for the future of a loved one. Chris enjoys working with seniors and their families as a source of guidance and support to help them understand and manage the changes that can occur as one ages. 

Chris has attended various seminars and conferences over the past twenty years to keep updated on the current issues related to aging, health issues, and senior care. She was also a member of Continuing Care Coordinators and an area director of social work group.

Chris lives in Bayview with her husband Tim, two sons, Sean and Alec and two cats. She enjoys cooking a great meal for friends and is further exploring her interest in yoga.   

cmiller@seniorplanninginc.com

Ryan is a strategic partner of the Senior Planning Group. He is able to meet with families to discuss "spousal impoverishment, Medicaid, Asset Protection or any other Estate Planning Issues." There is not a cost for this initial consultation. If legal documents are needed, he will always quote those fees at the time of consultation.

Ryan has practiced law in the area of Estate and Asset Protection Planning, Tax and Elder Law for over 19 years. He received his Bachelor and Juris Doctor degrees from University of Wisconsin-Madison. Ryan is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, Wealth Counsel, the Illinois/Wisconsin Forum of Estate Planning Attorneys, the AARP Legal Service Network and the Real Property, Trust and Probate and the Elder Law Committees of the Wisconsin Bar. His law office is located in Wisconsin, with an affiliated office in Arizona.

In his free time, Ryan enjoys traveling, hiking, scuba diving, running and trout fishing.

Contact: ryan@zenklaw.com or www.zenklaw.com

Since 2002, Erika has been working with the Senior Planning Group to develop communication pieces and develop the Senior Planning Group website. For more information on various veterans benefits, please visit http://www.veteransbenefitsinc.com or call Erika. Erika received her Masters in Business Administration with an emphasis in Non-Profit Management from UW-Milwaukee and her bachelors degree in business marketing and journalism from UW-Oshkosh.

She is also a IRIS Consultant for the Wisconsin IRIS Program. IRIS is a self-directed, long-term care option for elderly people and adults with disabilities. IRIS is a Medicaid waiver program sponsored by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services and is available in counties where Family Care operates. In IRIS, you direct your own services and supports, and decide how your public funding is spent.

Erika spends her weekends outside with her husband, two daughters, and their golden retriever.

Elizabeth has been working with the Senior Planning Group since 2006. She serves as a Private Benefits Specialist. In this capacity, Elizabeth handles all Medicaid/T-19 applications from beginning to end. She assists our clients and families with compilation and organization of necessary documentation, and coordinates and accompanies clients and families with appointments at the Wisconsin Department of Human Services.

Elizabeth works closely with our families as they gather an inventory of their assets, bank accounts, brokerage accounts, insurance policies, income sources and health insurance benefits. This “inventory” allows our Geriatric Care Managers to provide appropriate placement options, costs of in home care, and helps us to provide a long range financial plans that covers all levels of care.

Elizabeth is married with two sons, one working on his Real Estate license and the other attends UW-Milwaukee.

eliz@seniorplanninginc.com

Bill started working with Senior Planning Group in the Summer of 2008 as the Sales Director for Secure At Home. As the Sales Director, Bill connects the community with information on our PERS Unit (Personal Emergency Response) in partnership with CST Technologies. Secure At Home helps seniors and those rehabilitating at home, get the security of constant help at their fingertips, without the intrusion of home care aides or video monitoring. He also installs the units into client's homes.

In his free time, Bill enjoys fishing and spending time outside hunting. He currently lives in Waukesha and has two children.

whorstmeyer@seniorplanninginc.com