Professor Bergstrom holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration/Marketing from Southwest Missouri State University (1966). He also holds a Juris Doctorate Degree from the University of Missouri at Kansas City (1970). Professor Bergstrom has been a member of the State Bar of Missouri since September 1970 and a member of the State Bar of California since June 1973. Professor Bergstrom has also been a licensed California real estate broker since 1982.

Professor Bergstrom earned a Certificate in Financial Planning from the University of Southern California in 1986. Professor Bergstrom also passed the intensive series of examinations that led to his certification by the Denver College of Financial Planning and has been awarded the status of Certified Financial Planner by the International Board of Certified Financial Planners.

As an attorney, Professor Bergstrom has been "practicing what he teaches" since 1970 and is a true believer in continuing to "learn by doing." By 1990, his financial and estate planning practice brought him into contact with many clients who needed to plan (legally and financially) for the high risk of needing long term care as they approached their retirement years. Professor Bergstrom's mother suffered for many years with Alzheimer's disease, and this sparked a special interest in research and writing on topics related to financial and legal planning for long term care.

Professor Bergstromís intense interest in this topic soon led to the concentration of his financial planning, legal and writing skills on strategies for dealing with this critical financial planning issue. Within a few years, Professor Bergstrom published a feature article in the Journal of Accountancy entitled, ìFinancial Planning for the Risk of Long Life.î This article was given ìoutstandingî reviews by the Board of Reviewers for the Journal of Accountancy.

As a business transactions attorney, Professor Bergstrom has reviewed hundreds of complex insurance documents. In examining insurance products that deal with long-term care, Professor Bergstrom became fascinated with the various approaches that insurers have taken in dealing with this issue. Recently, new tax legislation has further complicated the analysis and selection of long term care insurance contracts. Many of Professor Bergstromís law and financial planning clients have requested Professor Bergstromís advice and analysis of commercial long-term care insurance as well as self-funded long-term care programs such as the programs sponsored by Hewlitt Packard and PERS. Therefore, Professor Bergstrom's primary current pursuit of research, writing and professional practice is concentrated on these issues.

Professor Bergstrom has been published in the Journal of Accountancy three times and is now drafting an article for submission to the Journal on ìFinancial Planning -- For Long-Term Care.î Some of the analysis and research contained in this seminar will also lead to an article being submitted to the Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, published by California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.