Arts & Entertainment

A child receives a present from Santa Claus at the Christmas Magic event on Dec. 6. Photo by Kevin Redding

By Fr. Francis Pizzarelli

Father Frank Pizzarelli

Once again the holiday and Christmas season is upon us. For Christians, this is a season of hope. If we’ve ever needed hope it is right now.

The political landscape around the world is explosive. Violence, hate and human exploitation seem to be everywhere. At home, although economic prosperity is growing, respect for human rights and the diversity of people is at an all-time low.

Our elected leadership, at every level starting with Washington, is scandalously lacking. Our human discourse is a disgrace. It is a sad day in America when people with differing viewpoints have to deteriorate to name-calling and ad hominem attacks because they have differing opinions. What happened to rigorous debate ending in agreeing to respectfully disagree and remain friends?

This holiday season we have been painfully reminded of the abuse of power and the abuse and misuse of human beings especially the human exploitation, abuse and harassment of women.

What are we teaching our children? What life lessons are they learning? What happened to leading by example? It is shameful that those elected to public office have remained painfully silent when it comes to the disgraceful and abusive behavior especially from those who possess the ultimate power.

Despite all of this, we still celebrate the season of hope — the hope that change and transformation are possible; the hope that in most human beings there is a reservoir of compassion and goodness. I am fortunate in the midst of all this chaos to witness every day the magic of Christmas-simple, ordinary wounded people reaching out and touching others with love and goodness.

For more than three decades I have lived among the most broken among us. I continue to stand in awe as I watch these young men change and transform their lives and others.

Over 30 years ago, a young lawyer named Charlie Russo founded an organization, Christmas Magic, to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas for his children. Never did he think all these years later that a simple organization would ultimately become a powerful not-for-profit outreach that touches thousands of young children in our bi-county shelter system each Christmas.

It has also become a wellspring for thousands of volunteers who share their love at this time of year. It is a concrete reminder for all of us of what the real reason for the season is. Russo’s powerful example is an inspiration to all those who are privileged to know him.

Every year the residents of Hope House with whom I live participate voluntarily in Christmas Magic. To witness firsthand these wounded young men reaching out to the poorest of the poor among our children is a powerful life lesson.

Seeing these struggling young people interacting with little children, holding their hands, watching the children open up their Christmas presents from Santa, seeing the tears in their eyes as these little ones say thank you is probably among the best Christmas presents for which one could hope.

So despite a nation that has lost its way and a government that seems narcissistic, this is still the season of hope. The real miracle of Christmas is things can get better if you believe! I do believe! This holiday season let hope become the anthem of your soul!

Fr. Pizzarelli, SMM, LCSW-R, ACSW, DCSW, is the director of Hope House Ministries in Port Jefferson.

There are many reasons why estate planning is important.

By Nancy Burner, ESQ.

Nancy Burner, Esq.

Regardless of your age, the creation and maintenance of a thorough estate plan is essential. An estate plan ensures that your needs, your family’s needs and financial goals are met during your lifetime and upon your death. A thorough and comprehensive plan should include a last will and testament, health care proxy, living will and power of attorney. For some clients the creation of a trust is also practical. Through the creation of a last will and testament and/or a trust, you can establish how your assets will be distributed upon your death.

Additionally, you can ensure that the financial needs of your children or disabled beneficiaries are met after you pass away by establishing trusts for their benefit. By creating a health care proxy, you can designate a succession of individuals to make health care decisions on your behalf, if and only if you are incapable of making them on your own. An estate plan would also include the creation of a power of attorney, through which you can designate someone to handle your financial matters in the event you become incapable of doing so.

Once you have taken the time to create your estate planning documents, you must properly store and protect these original documents. This is particularly important with regard to your power of attorney since many banks and financial institutions require the original signed document. Additionally, the executor of your last will and testament must file the original document with the Surrogate’s Court. It is important to remember to not remove the staples from your original last will and testament.

When deciding where to keep your documents, you should consider who will be acting as your agent, trustee or executor. It is important that you keep your documents in a place where your named agent can easily find and access them. It is not recommended to keep your documents in your safe deposit box. Banks have strict rules about who they allow to open and access safe deposit boxes. This is especially problematic should you become incapacitated or upon your death, since you may be the only one with access to the box.

While some people believe that having a jointly owned safe deposit box will solve this problem, banks have been known to freeze access to safe deposit boxes even when there is a joint owner. If the bank does not allow access, your agent will need a court order to open the box and locate the documents. The most accessible place to keep your documents is in your home or office. It is important that you tell the individuals you name as your agents where your documents are located. The best way to protect your documents from damage is to keep them in a fireproof and waterproof box. However, if you choose to use a safe, make sure that your trusted agents have the safe lock combination.

Nancy Burner, Esq. practices elder law and estate planning from her East Setauket office.

Photo courtesy of Fathom Events

The Bolshoi Ballet’s performance of “The Nutcracker,” captured live on Dec. 21, 2014, will be screened at select cinemas on Sunday, Dec. 17 at 12:55 p.m., courtesy of Fathom Events. As the clock strikes midnight on Christmas Eve, Marie’s wooden nutcracker doll comes to life and transforms into a prince! Soon joined by her other toys that have also come to life, Marie and her prince embark on a dreamy unforgettable adventure.

A holiday tradition for the whole family, “The Nutcracker” graces the Bolshoi stage for two hours of enchantment and magic. Along with Tchaikovsky’s cherished score and starring Denis Rodkin (the Nutcracker Prince), Anna Nikulina (Marie), Andrei Merkuriev (Drosselmeyer), Vitaly Biktimirov (the Mouse King) and the Bolshoi Corps de Ballet, “The Nutcracker” remains a treasure not to be missed.

Participating movie theaters in our neck of the woods include AMC Loews Stony Brook 17, 2196 Nesconset Highway, Stony Brook; Farmingdale Multiplex Cinemas, 1001 Broadhollow Road, Farmingdale; and Island 16 Cinema de Lux, 185 Morris Ave., Holtsville. Tickets range from $18 to $19. To purchase your ticket in advance, visit www.fathomevents.com.

MEET BLOSSOM! This beautiful girl is Blossom, a 1½-year-old, domestic short hair tabby cat. Blossom was abandoned on the steps of Kent Animal Shelter’s clinic recently, along with her four kittens. All of the babies have been adopted into loving homes. Now it’s Blossom’s turn! This sweetheart would do best in a quiet home and needs to be the only cat. She is spayed, up to date with her vaccines, microchipped and has tested negative for feline AIDS and leukemia. Adoption fees are waived for all cats during the month of December! Kent Animal Shelter is located at 2259 River Road in Calverton. For more information on Blossom and other adoptable pets at Kent, visit www.kentanimalshelter.com or call 631-727-5731.

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William and Rosamund Vanderbilt with Robert and Edie Huntington at the airport in Mendoza, Argentina with the Sikorsky seaplane in background. Photo from Vanderbilt Museum

William Kissam Vanderbilt II was an explorer and adventurer who traveled the world in his yachts. An avid race car driver, he set a world speed record in 1904, and brought auto racing to the United States. Vanderbilt also looked to the skies for diversion and adventure.

Arriving at airport in Arica, Chile, for flight to Lima, Peru. Photo from Vanderbilt Museum

In early 1937, William and Rosamund Vanderbilt and their friends, Edie and Robert Huntington, flew around the Caribbean, Central America and the perimeter of South America in his 12-passenger Sikorsky S-43 amphibious airplane, from Jan. 18 to Feb. 11.

On Feb. 2, they few over the Andes from Mendoza, Argentina, to Santiago, Chile, which, Vanderbilt wrote, “can be very treacherous … as meteorological conditions in this area change rapidly.” He arranged with the Panagra airline to have one of its pilots show his pilot through the high mountain passes. Altitudes were so high that the travelers occasionally had to use supplemental oxygen tanks.

This year, the Vanderbilt Museum observes the 80th anniversary of that adventure.

Hayden Hamilton, managing editor for the American Aviation Historical Society in Huntington Beach, California, said, “This form of tourist travel was extremely rare in this period, generally restricted to the uber-wealthy or well-heeled entrepreneurs.”

Vanderbilt kept a detailed log and journal of the 25-day trip. They traveled 14,217 miles in 101 hours, 40 minutes, and used 8,360 gallons of gasoline and 828 gallons of oil. Later that year, Vanderbilt privately published 1,000 copies of his book, “Flying Lanes — Being the Journal of a Flight Around South America and Over the Andes.” The volume was illustrated with aerial photos from Pan American Airways (PAA) and others taken by Robert Huntington.

Sikorsky built 53 S-43 airplanes. Most were acquired by PAA and only two were sold to private individuals, according to Hamilton of the AAHS: William Vanderbilt and Howard Hughes. Just as Vanderbilt donated his 264-foot yacht Alva to the U.S. Navy for service during World War II, he sold his Sikorsky plane for $175,000 to the U.S. government for similar duty in 1941. The Alva, converted to a patrol gunboat and renamed the USS Plymouth, was torpedoed in 1943 by a German submarine and sank off the coast of North Carolina. According to an unconfirmed report, Vanderbilt’s amphibious plane crashed on a flight to Trinidad.

From “Flying Lanes”: After leaving Fisher Island and Miami on January 18, 1937, the Vanderbilts and Huntingtons flew toward Cuba, where they made their first fuel stop. As they flew, Vanderbilt wrote notes about the flight and thought about the man he had hired to fly them, Earl F. White, whom he described as “one of the most reliable and resourceful aviators in the game.”

The interior of the Sikorsky S-43 amphibious airplane, with luxurious seating and custom-painted wrap-around cloud mural. Photo from Vanderbilt Museum

White, 49, had been a World War I pilot in the U.S. Air Service, the forerunner of the Army Air Corps and later the Air Force, from 1915 to 1919. His extraordinary credentials included making the first nonstop flight from Chicago to New York in 1919, during which he set the official world distance record of 727 miles. White inaugurated the world’s first scheduled night air-mail service, which operated 1914-1925. He flew for Pan American Airways on the Miami-Havana-Puerto Rico route, from 1928 to 1931, and began working for Vanderbilt in 1935.

Robert Huntington, also a licensed pilot (as was his wife), occasionally took the controls of the seaplane to give White a break, so that he could send and receive Morse code messages. Huntington flew the plane for 40 hours of the trip.

“I flew the ship eleven hours during the trip and have altogether 104 hours at the controls to my credit,” Vanderbilt wrote. “But I have no pilot’s license and my guess is — I won’t get one. A little too old to start at this game, but it is nice to feel one knows a little about the ship, and it gives one reassurance that he is not apt to have if he has never actually been at the controls. However, I did do the navigating during the voyage whenever we left the coast and was rather pleased with the results …”

February 10, 1937 — Antiqua, Guatemala. “What a grand day. Motored with the Foreign Minister, Mr. Sanches de Latour, to Antigua, the old capital, and were met there by the Governor and shown about that most interesting and picturesque city, at one time the capital of Guatemala but now abandoned as such because of earthquakes and fear of volcanic eruptions from ever restless volcanoes close by.

“We dined with the American Minister and had a most enjoyable evening and, as 4:00 a.m. was our time for getting up, we were glad to drop into our beds at midnight.”

February 11 — To Havana and Miami: The Vanderbilts and Huntingtons arrived at the airport at 5:30 a.m. “A cup of coffee was all Rose and I could muster, but then we would be home tonight. Think of it! Home! My, how good that sounded.”

After a stop in Havana, the travelers were airborne again, bound for Florida. “American Shoals light appeared at 4:50 p.m.,” he wrote. “There was the good U.S.A. once more. What a thrill went through us!” After landing in Miami, Vanderbilt wrote, “I clasp Mr. White by the hand. ‘Congratulations from all of us, a wonderful flight!’…

“Our total mileage added up to a very considerable total of 14,217 statute miles and the flying time amounted to 101 hours and 40 minutes. We had enjoyed the thrill and adventure of the journey to the utmost, but now that we were home once more we were glad to rest where we were beyond the reach of an alarm clock.”

Visit the Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum, 180 Little Neck Road, Centerport through the holidays to view more photos of William K. Vanderbilt’s adventures including a photo of him as a child with his parents and grandparents on a ship on the Nile, of him at various ages with his cars and large marine specimens in the Ship Model Room of the Memorial Wing in the mansion. For more information, call 631-854-5579 or go to www.vanderbiltmuseum.org.

Studies have shown that having a pet in your life significantly reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease.

By Matthew Kearns, DVM

I had a classmate in veterinary school who simply described his cat as “good for the head.” What he meant by that statement was when the stress of classes and studying became too much he could always count on his cat to ease the burden. Well, science is backing up this claim. Having a pet in your life can be good for the head and the body.

Let’s start with the head. How do we know that interacting with a pet reduces stress? Well, a recent study revealed that just the act of petting something reduces stress. This study put individuals in a stressed state and then offered them a rabbit, a turtle, a toy rabbit or a toy turtle. Those individuals who petted a real rabbit or turtle showed a significant reduction in stress compared to those that petted a toy rabbit or toy turtle.

Other studies have revealed that people with significant mental illness such as bipolar disease and schizophrenia benefit from pet ownership. Many people with significant mental illness live at home and do not reach out to the health care system and see their social circles shrink. Pet ownership decreases the loneliness and feelings of isolation that come with that.

One schizophrenic in an article I read stated that he was able to keep the voices in his head at bay by concentrating on the singing of his birds. Another study observed the act of walking or grooming a horse has been successful in reducing depression, anxiety and the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder in both survivors of childhood abuse and veterans.

A third study focused on comparing human social support and pet attachment support in combatting depression in geriatric patients. What they found was there was no relationship between human social support and depression, but there was a significant positive influence in pet attachment and depressed mood.

Now, we can move on to the body. Studies both in the United States and abroad have concluded that just sharing your life with a pet significantly reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, such as a heart attack or stroke, reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes and lowers cholesterol. In addition, owning a pet motivates us to exercise more.

The national physical activity guidelines recommend 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week, but a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analysis states only about 50 percent of Americans get that total.

In contrast to this data, research shows that dog owners walk an average of 22 minutes more per day. Not only do dog owners exercise more, but also the type of exercise is healthier. The type of exercise is described as at a moderate pace, which refers to getting the heart rate up.

This holiday season consider a pet as a gift for yourself. Consider it a New Year’s resolution, as well as a gift.

Thank you to all the readers who enjoy this column. I would like to also thank Heidi Sutton, editor of the Arts & Lifestyle section, as well as all the staff at the Times Beacon Record News Media for another great year.

Dr. Kearns practices veterinary medicine from his Port Jefferson office and is pictured with his son Matthew and his dog Jasmine.

Added sugar increases risk of many diseases

By David Dunaief, M.D.

Dr. David Dunaief

We should all reduce the amount of added sugar we consume because of its negative effects on our health. It is recommended that we get no more than 10 percent of our diet from added sugars (1). However, approximately 14 percent of our diet is from added sugars alone (2).

Is all sugar bad for us? The answer is not straightforward. It really depends on the source, and when I mention source, my meaning may surprise you.

We know that white, processed sugar is bad. But I am constantly asked: Which sugar source is better — honey, agave, raw sugar, brown sugar or maple syrup? None are really good for us; they all raise the level of glucose (a type of sugar) in our blood. Forty-seven percent of our added sugar intake comes from processed food, while 39 percent comes from sweetened beverages, according to the most recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2). Sweetened beverages are defined as soft drinks, sports and energy drinks and fruit drinks. Even 100 percent fruit juice can raise our glucose levels. Don’t be deceived because it says it’s natural and doesn’t include “added” sugar.

These sugars increase the risk of, and may exacerbate, chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer and obesity. This is such a significant problem that municipal legislatures have considered adding warning labels to sweetened drinks (3).

However, I did say that sugar’s source impacts its effect. Most fruits have beneficial effects in preventing disease, including diabetes, and do not raise sugar levels, even in patients with diabetes. It is a myth that whole fruit raises your sugar levels. However, dried fruits, fruit juice and fruit concentrate do raise your sugar levels. Note that sugar extracted from fruit has an effect similar to that of sugar added to foods and sweetened beverages.

Let’s look at the evidence.

Heart disease

When we think of sugar’s effects, heart disease is not usually the first disease that comes to mind. However, results from a 20-year study of 31,000 U.S. adults showed that, when comparing those who consumed the least amount of added sugar (less than 10 percent of calories daily) with those who consumed 10 to 25 percent and those who consumed more than 25 percent of daily calories from sugar, there were significant increases in risk of death from heart disease (4). The added sugar was from foods and sweetened beverages, not from fruit and fruit juices.

This was not just an increased risk of heart disease but an increased risk of cardiovascular death. This is a wake-up call to rein in our sugar consumption.

Obesity and weight gain

Does soda increase obesity risk? An assessment published in PLoS One, a highly respected, peer-reviewed journal, showed that it depends whether studies were funded by the beverage industry or had no ties to any lobbying groups (5). Study results were mirror images of each other: Studies not affiliated with the industry show that soda may increase obesity risk, while studies funded by the beverage industry show there may not be any association.

In studies without beverage industry funding, greater than 80 percent (10 of 12) showed associations between sugary drinks and increased weight or obesity, whereas with the beverage industry-funded studies, greater than 80 percent of them did not show this result (5 of 6). The moral of the story is that patients must be diligent in understanding studies’ funding and, if the results sound odd, they probably are. If this is the case, make sure to ask your doctor about the studies’ findings. Not all studies are equally well designed.

Diabetes and the benefits of fruit

Diabetes requires the patient to limit or avoid fruit altogether. Correct? This may not be true. Several studies may help change the long-standing, commonly held paradigm that fruit should be restricted in patients with diabetes and to prevent development of diabetes.

One study found that whole fruit may reduce the risk of diabetes by reducing inflammation and reducing insulin resistance (6). Specifically, results demonstrated a reduction in the inflammatory biomarker hsCRP. Ultimately, this may result in better glucose control. A potential reason for these impressive results may be the high levels of flavonoids, specifically anthocyanins and flavones. Flavonoids, as a class, are phytochemicals (plant nutrients) that provide pigment to fruits and vegetables and may have substantial antioxidant activities. Substances that are high in these two flavonoids include red grapes, berries, tea and wine.

Another study, a meta-analysis that looked at three large studies, including the Nurses’ Health Study, NHS II, and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, showed that those who consumed the highest amount of anthocyanins were likely to experience a 15 percent reduction in the development of type 2 diabetes (7). Researchers compared those in the highest quintile of anthocyanin consumption with those in the lowest quintile.

Specifically, at least two servings of blueberries per week were shown to reduce the risk of diabetes by 23 percent, and at least five servings of apples and pears per week were also shown to reduce the risk by 23 percent. These were compared to those who consumed less than one serving per month. This is a small amount of fruit for a significant reduction.

From the same three studies, it was also shown that grapes, bananas and grapefruit reduce the risk of diabetes, while fruit juice and cantaloupe may increase risk (8).

In still another diabetes study, involving those who were newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, the risk of increasing glucose levels was no greater in those who consumed more than two servings of fruit per day compared to those who consumed fewer than two servings per day (9). The properties of flavonoids, for example, those found in whole fruit, may also result in anticancer and anticardiovascular disease properties, the opposite of added sugars (10).

Chronic disease incidence and complications from these diseases have skyrocketed in the last several decades. Therefore, any modifiable risk factor should be utilized to decrease our risk. By keeping added sugar to a minimum in our diets, we could make great strides in the fight to maintain our quality of life as we age.

We don’t have to avoid sugar completely; we still can satiate a sweet tooth by eating ripe fruits. Our access to fruit, even off-season, has expanded considerably. The most amazing thing is that fruit may actually reduce the risk of diabetes, something for years we thought might exacerbate it.

References: (1) 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. (2) cdc.gov. (3) reuters.com. (4) JAMA Intern Med. online Feb 03, 2014. (5) PLoS Med. 2013 Dec;10(12):e1001578. (6) J Nutr. 2014 Feb;144(2):202-208. (7) Am J Clin Nutr. 2012 Apr;95(4):925-933. (8) BMJ. online Aug 29, 2013. (9) Nutr J. published online March 5, 2013. (10) Plant Foods Hum Nutr. 2004 Summer;59(3):113-122.

Dr. Dunaief is a speaker, author and local lifestyle medicine physician focusing on the integration of medicine, nutrition, fitness and stress management. For further information, visit www.medicalcompassmd.com or consult your personal physician.

Above, Stony Brook Medicine’s Puerto Rico medical relief team. Photo from SBU

By Kenneth Kaushansky, M.D.

Dr. Kenneth Kaushansky

As the holidays arrive, our thoughts turn to giving — and giving back to those who need our help. Stony Brook Medicine’s Puerto Rico medical relief team did just that, spending two weeks on the devastated island to treat patients and give a much-needed break to health care workers there.

We got word, after Category 5 Hurricane Maria swept through, of the conditions in Puerto Rico. Pharmacies were in ruins. Patients with chronic illnesses who needed to see their primary care physicians could not get appointments. Health care professionals couldn’t tend to their own families, nor repair their damaged homes, because their services were needed around the clock.

Relief efforts for those in Puerto Rico took on many forms. In my role as chair of the Greater New York Hospital Association board of directors, I served as part of an organization that teamed up with the Healthcare Association of New York State to establish the New York Healthcare’s Puerto Rico Hurricane Relief Fund to assist hospitals, health care workers and their families in Puerto Rico. The fund is a vehicle for New York’s hospital community to show its support for frontline caregivers and their families who have suffered significant losses.

I’m proud how Stony Brook Medicine also responded to this human health crisis. As part of a 78-member relief team of personnel from hospitals around the region, Stony Brook organized a team of health care professionals that was deployed to Puerto Rico. They signed on to spend two weeks living and working 12-hour days in less-than-ideal conditions, with widespread shortages of food, water and electricity.

Our 23 care providers — three physicians, two nurse practitioners, nine nurses, four paramedics, four nursing assistants and one pharmacist — split up after arriving in Puerto Rico. Most were stationed in the city of Manatí, while the rest went to the city of Fajardo and then to the U.S. Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort. They worked closely with military personnel, federal agencies and the people of Puerto Rico. They saw more than 2,000 patients and helped local health care workers get some rest and get back on their feet.

Our team returned home in November to cheers and hugs from their co-workers and loved ones who met them at Stony Brook University Hospital. Despite the hardships and long hours, they spoke of the deeply fulfilling experiences they had in Puerto Rico. Their trip embodied the reasons why people choose a career in health care in the first place — to be of service and to provide excellent care.

Stony Brook Medicine’s mission is to deliver world-class, compassionate care to patients and families. And sometimes that mission extends well beyond our own four walls. We are making a difference, not only here at home but in communities around the world.

All of us at Stony Brook Medicine are so extremely proud of our Puerto Rico relief team. The work they did was heroic, generous in the extreme and so worthwhile. Our thanks also go to their families and to their Stony Brook colleagues who stepped up to cover extra shifts while the team was away.

Having heard many of their experiences, I cannot say enough about the team members and their devotion. I know they have returned much better for the experience and are now safely back to continue their efforts to improve the health of our patients.

Dr. Kenneth Kaushansky serves as dean of the School of Medicine and senior vice president of Health Sciences at State University of New York at Stony Brook.

The best way to defray the cost of a college education is to open a 529 plan.

By Linda M. Toga, Esq.

THE FACTS: I would like to help defray the cost of college for my grandson, Joe. My daughter and son-in-law are not in a position to pay full tuition, room and board. I don’t want them or Joe to borrow for his education.

THE QUESTION: What is the best way to help out without hurting Joe’s chances of receiving needs-based financial aid?

THE ANSWER: Although there are a number of ways to defray the cost of Joe’s education, including giving him money, giving money to your daughter and son-in-law or paying the college directly, for many people the best way to assist with college expenses is to set up a Section 529 College Savings Plan (a “529 plan”) with Joe as the beneficiary. Your various options are discussed below.

If you want to simply gift money to Joe for his education, you can give him up to $14,000 per year without incurring any gift tax. However, when the college reviews his financial aid application and determines how much Joe should contribute toward his education, they will take any gifts you have given him into consideration. Since students are expected to contribute approximately 20 percent of their savings to their education, the more you give to Joe directly, the less aid he will receive.

If you decide to give money for Joe’s college expenses directly to your daughter and son-in-law, you can gift each of them $14,000 for a total of $28,000 per year. Clearly you can make a larger annual contribution to Joe’s education this way; but, like the funds gifted to Joe, the funds you gift to your daughter and son-in-law will be taken into consideration when calculating any financial aid that may be awarded to Joe. The negative impact of gifting funds to his parents rather than to Joe will be less than the impact of gifts made directly to Joe because his parents are only expected to contribute about 6 percent of their assets to his education.

Paying the college Joe attends directly is an option that avoids any potential gift tax issues on gifts exceeding the $14,000 annual limit. Paying the college directly would allow you to make larger contributions annually to his education; but, this method is not recommended since the money paid directly to the college will be considered as income to Joe. Like gifts to Joe, payments to the college will adversely impact the amount of aid Joe may receive.

In my opinion, the best way to defray the cost of Joe’s college education is to open a 529 plan. Many states, including New York, offer such plans that allow for tax exempt growth on investments so long as distributions from the accounts are used to pay qualified college expenses. Contributions to a 529 plan are subject to gift tax; but, the law allows contributions up to $70,000 to be made in one year as long as the person funding the plan files a gift tax return and applies the contribution over a five-year period.

If you open a 529 plan, you could decide how the funds in the account will be invested and to change the beneficiary in the event Joe decides not to attend college. You could also remove funds from the account for noncollege expenses although such a withdrawal will result in a penalty and tax liability.

Although the income on the investments in the plan will be considered Joe’s income, increasing the amount he will be expected to contribute to his education, it is only assessed at 50 percent as opposed to other income that is assessed at 100 percent so the negative impact is greatly reduced.

In some states you can avoid the negative impact of increasing Joe’s income if you transfer the 529 plan to your daughter before Joe applies for aid. Unfortunately, this option is not available in New York where transfers are prohibited unless the account owner dies or there is a court order. For this reason, it may make more sense if you simply contribute funds to a 529 plan opened by your daughter.

Regardless of the method you decide to use to defray the cost of Joe’s education, it is worth noting that gifts made to Joe or his parents after January of Joe’s junior year of college should not have any impact on his ability to get financial aid. That is because by then Joe will have already filed his aid application for his senior year.

Before you make a decision about how to help Joe and his parents pay for his college education, you should not only look at all the options available to you but you should discuss with an estate planning attorney how Joe’s college education should be addressed in your estate plan. You don’t want your estate plan to jeopardize whatever steps you may take during your lifetime to benefit Joe.

Linda M. Toga provides personalized service and peace of mind to her clients in the areas of estate planning and administration, real estate, marital agreements and litigation out of her Setauket office.