dsmWealth: March 6, 2025

With summer camps, why should kids have all the fun?
BY STEVE DINNEN

As you ponder which camp to pack the kids off to this summer, you may want to spend some time and a few bucks treating yourself to a grown-up version. Zip lines, archery, swimming, canoeing, horseback rides — they’re all there at adult summer camp.

“It’s everything you did as a kid, plus beer,” say the organizers of Camp Forever Fun near Bloomingdale, Michigan. Camp director Joel Paul Reisig, who by trade is a movie director and producer, said he loved camping during his teens and got the notion for a camp aimed at adults in 2015 when he was directing the movie “Horse Camp.” The cast and crew rented an entire camp for several weeks during filming, and at the nightly bonfire, Reisig often wondered, “How come nobody does this any more?”

So he rented the campgrounds again, to use as an attraction for adults. He didn’t have to create anything new; the cabins, dining hall and swimming pool were already in place.

Grown-ups generally have less free time than 12-year-olds, so their camp programs tend to span long weekends rather than full weeks. But they make the most of those limited hours, with all the previously mentioned activities, plus arts and crafts, yoga, and a climbing wall. A dance party caps each night.

“We pack more into that [weekend] than most camps do in a year,” Reisig said. “I’ve exhausted people.”

Camp No Counselors, which hosts three weekends over the summer in Pennsylvania and California, offers tennis, pickleball and a ropes course in what adviser Sean Yelverton calls a free-flowing format. Campers are free to move from one event to another however they wish, although most participants fill their days with all the optional activities, which are monitored not by counselors, exactly, but instructors, lifeguards and others who are good to have around.

As you might expect, the food at adult camps is better than what you may remember from the camps of your youth. There are more salads and fewer hot dogs. Camp No Counselors features Italian, Greek and barbecue themes. And there are mimosas for breakfast, plus beer and wine with dinner.

Adult camps closer to Des Moines include Camp Wandawega in Elkhart, Wisconsin. It’s sort of a self-serve operation, with no set schedules or directed activities, but there are basketball, tennis and volleyball courts and an archery range. You can rent camping space by the day, weekend or week.

“We’re all DIY. You choose your own adventure,” general manager Riley Feltner said. It’s popular with groups of friends and co-workers, and this summer’s lineup includes a weeklong writers’ retreat.

Prices seem reasonable. Camp No Counselors charges $950 to $1,000, while Forever Fun is a more modest $400, or even lower if you fill an entire cabin with a group.

Specialty camps invite kids to practice, practice, practice
BY STEVE DINNEN

You could block, bump, dig and kill a volleyball for an hour or so at Y camp this summer. Or you could do it all day long at a Drake University summer camp devoted solely to volleyball.

The state and the country are filled with specialty camps where kids and teens can dive a into a sport, a foreign language, a STEM subject or the natural world. Few are as all-encompassing as those old-fashioned scouting and Y camps, but they’re ideal for kids who want to develop their talents in a chosen field.

Michigan’s Interlochen Arts Camp stands out with its one- to six-week programs that focus on dance, film, theater, creative writing and the visual arts. In northern Minnesota, the Concordia Language Villages offer one-, two- and four-week immersion programs in more than a dozen languages, and participants can earn a year of high school language credit. National Computer Camps in Georgia and Connecticut lead campers through courses on game design, CSS, Python, AI, OpenGL and other topics their parents may not quite grasp.

Many of these specialty camps, especially those that focus on sports, are shorter. Like Drake, Grand View University offers several summer volleyball programs for students in elementary, middle and high school. Some are single-day events; others span multiple days.

Volleyball is a big draw, with programs at Iowa State University and Des Moines Area Community College. And there’s soccer, too, with options that include back-to-back weeks of training in Altoona managed by European teams Real Madrid and English standout Arsenal. Day camp fees range from $475 to $500.

And if your kids would rather root for all these budding athletes and achievers, they can sign up for a cheerleading camp June 23-25 at Iowa State. Go team! Go scientists! Go multilingual dancing cellists! Go!

With a consumer agency on pause, here's how to protect yourself
BY ANN CARRNS FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

With the government seemingly stepping back from regulatory duties, consumers may have to act as their own financial watchdogs.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the independent federal agency created after the 2008 financial crisis to shield people from fraud and abuse by lenders and financial firms, has been muzzled, at least temporarily.

“Everything is on pause right now,” said Delicia Hand, senior director of digital marketplace with Consumer Reports. “So it’s back on consumers to be extra diligent.” Hand previously spent nearly a decade in a variety of roles at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, including overseeing complaints and consumer education, before departing in 2022.

In early February, the Trump administration ordered the consumer bureau to mostly cease operations. It closed its Washington headquarters, fired some employees and put most of the rest of the staff on administrative leave, and opted not to seek funding for its activities. Several lawsuits are challenging the administration’s actions.

So where does that leave consumers? Read more for some practical tips.

Dividing an estate? Five ways to create transparency
BY SEVASTI BALAFAS FOR KIPLINGER

I am a wealth adviser, and one of the most emotionally charged conversations I help clients navigate is how to divide an estate. While decisions about fairness often dominate these discussions, one factor in particular can make all the difference: transparent and consistent communication with your children.

Whatever decisions you make, discussing them openly and early can prevent misunderstandings and ensure that your wishes are understood and respected.

Consider a case from my practice: The Smiths (name changed to protect their privacy) were a high-net-worth couple updating their estate plan before selling their business and retiring. They have two adult daughters: Laura, a lawyer, married with two small children, and Emily, a public school teacher, divorced with one child.

The Smiths initially planned to leave a larger share of their estate to Emily because of her greater financial needs. They assumed Laura, with her higher income and savings, would not mind.

However, when Laura learned of the plan, her feelings were hurt. To her, the decision seemed less about fairness and more about favoritism. Meanwhile, Emily, despite her financial worries, was uncomfortable with being perceived as the "needy" child.

This miscommunication caused emotional friction between the siblings before the estate plan was even finalized.

Read the full article to see what the Smiths ultimately decided to do, and how you can learn from their example.