If you have a child with special needs, it’s important to think about their future. As a parent, you have enough to worry about as it is. But I’m here to tell you that there are ways to plan ahead and provide financially for their future—even if you’re not wealthy.
You need to get started as soon as possible. The sooner you begin planning and investing, the better off you will be, and the more options your child will have later on in life.
So where do you start? First, make sure your financial house is in order. If you don’t have enough money put away for your retirement, or if you don’t have an emergency fund, it’s time to focus on those things first. You can’t take care of your kids if you aren’t taken care of yourself.
Once those are squared away, then it’s time to start saving for your child’s future expenses. Make sure that whatever account you choose is one that allows the funds to be used for qualified expenses without disqualifying them from receiving government benefits like SSI or Medicaid. And make sure that if someone else will be accessing the funds later on that they won’t use them inappropriately.
When it comes to financial planning, there are many different considerations at play. For example, if you have a special needs child, you are probably aware that it costs more than $1 million to raise a child with special needs over their entire lifetime. As you think about your long-term financial goals and make plans for your family’s future, we can help guide you through the process of planning for your special needs child.
A Special Needs Trust is designed to provide added funding and support for people who are unable to work due to a disability. The trust pays for any expenses that aren’t covered by government programs or other sources of income. The money placed into this type of trust can be used toward housing costs, medical bills, education expenses—anything that will help improve quality of life for someone living with disabilities or special needs.
When it comes to financial planning, special needs are an important consideration. When you have a child with special needs, you have to plan for the future in a way that takes into account the possible long-term expenses associated with your child’s disability.
There are a variety of ways to start planning for this. For example, if you are receiving benefits from the government for your child’s disability, such as money from Social Security or Medicaid, it is important to be aware of what will happen if you die—and make sure that your spouse or other heir(s) know what they need to do in order to continue receiving payments.
The good news is that many options are available to help ease your financial worries. A financial advisor can help you set up special needs trusts and assistive devices such as government benefits, supplemental insurance plans and more to help you prepare financially for your child’s future.
Special needs planning is a type of financial planning that is focused specifically on preparing for the long-term financial needs of a person who has been diagnosed with a mental or physical disability. The principal purpose of special needs planning is to provide for the individual, even after their parents are no longer alive and able to care for them.
A special needs plan identifies all the resources available to the individual, including family support and government benefits like Medicaid and SSI. Depending on the person’s situation, this may include setting up a special needs trust. The goal of the plan is to see how much money can be made available to supplement government benefits, if any.