Interest Groups

Income Tax Year End Moves for 2024 & 2025 filing

Presented by Andy Whitman, PhD, Licensed Attorney, Tax Preparer & Volunteer Financial Planner at Prepare + Prosper.

Choose the moves that are right for you. Everyone's tax situation is different, consult with a tax professional to come up with a financial plan well before year end.

Life & Estate Plans: Life, Incapacity, and Gifting

Estate Planning Attorney Matt Guttman discusses trusts and other estate planning issues.

Financial Life in Retirement

Topics relevant to managing investments in retirement.  By David Foster, CFP©, CRPC©, CRPS©

Medicare Advantage (MA) and Traditional Medicare (TM): Issues & Choices

We will continue to discuss the pros and cons of Medicare Advantage.  You will also hear about notable non-health plan and non-broker resources.

Sept Photo Club

After a summer break the UMRA Photo Club will next meet September 10, 2024 in the meeting room of the Hennepin County St. Anthony Branch Library. For those interested in lunch, meet at the Great Dragon at 11:30 am. For September the THEME will be Curves

Annual Updates Due date

August 31 is the due date for annual reports and updates.  Annual Reports, Toolkits, web page updates, operating document updates and archives collections are all due each year on this date.

The Bookbinder

Kathy Cramer will lead the discussion of The Bookbinder by Pip Williams, a book set in 1914 Oxford chronicling the life of Peggy who works in the University bindery, but craves a life beyond binding books but to being a scholar herself.

William O'Brien State Park hike

Our August 5 hike will be a reprise of our hike last summer at William O'Brien State Park.  This is a beautiful park with a winding trail and a great view of the countryside.  The hike is about 5.5 to 6 miles and we'll go at a moderate pace with frequent water breaks.  After the hike, we will eat lunch at Rustic Roots Winery, a half mile north of the park. 

How Stella Learned to Talk

Laura Ericksen will lead the discussion of How Stella Learned to Talk by Christina Hunger, a true story by a speech-language pathologist who taught her dog, Stella, to communicate using buttons associated with different words.

Bde Maka Ska kayaking hike

Our July 15 "hike" is going to be a kayaking adventure on Bde Maka Ska (formerly Lake Calhoun) and Lake of the Isles!  If you don't have a kayak (or paddleboard), Wheel Fun Rentals, located next to the new concession stand rents single kayaks at $15 an hour and double kayaks at $25.  The second hour is free if we rent before noon.  Life jackets are provided with the rental.

Edith Wharton – The Age of Innocence

Edith Wharton is best known for her stories about upper-class New York society into which she was born. Age of Innocence is her eighth novel, published in 1920 was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1921.

Book Notes | ‘Scoop’ by Evelyn Waugh

Event Date: June 21, 2024, at 2:00 PM

Named “one of the 1,000 novels everyone should read” by the Guardian newspaper, Evelyn Waugh’s satirical portrayal of foreign correspondents and British journalism in the 19th century drew mixed reviews from members of UMRA’s Book Club I.

Como Lake hike

Please join us at 9:30 on June 17, 2024 for a walk around Lake Como in St. Paul before attending the UMRA Summer Social and Picnic starting at 11 at the Como Pavilion. A perfect opportunity to get in a walk before we gather to celebrate summer.

Monticello hike & picnic

We are in for a treat on June 3! Lynn Anderson, will lead us on trails at two parks near her Monticello home. Bring a bag lunch and we will gather in Lynn's yard along the Mississippi River for eating and socializing after the hike.

Fourth Friday Book Club to meet May 24

UMRA’s Fourth Friday Book Club welcomes back, for the second time, author Julie Schumacher, U of M Regents professor of creative writing and English, for a conversation about her novel The Shakespeare Requirement.