Tips For Financial Planning For Families With A Special Needs Child
When a child is born who will have life-long special needs, parents immediately start thinking about how to pay for their medical bills, necessary therapies, and other needs. Since these costs can be very large over the course of the child's life, it is always advisable to meet with a financial planner or estate attorney who has specialized knowledge in this area for help in formulating a financial plan moving forward.
If you are a parent of a child living with special needs and are trying to plan for your financial future, then in addition to enlisting the help of a professional, these tips will assist you:
Tip: Start Planning For Your and Your Child's Financial Futures as Soon as Possible
It's always important for families to plan for their financial futures. However, when you have a child born with special needs, you need to start planning as soon as you can. The earlier you start becoming educated about your child's future needs and plan for them, then the sooner you can relax and know that the financial aspects are taken care of and use your mental energy elsewhere.
Tip: Purchase More Life Insurance Than You Otherwise Would
It is vital that all parents have enough life insurance to cover raising their children to adulthood. However, families with a special needs child must have a lot more life insurance than families without the added costs that come with raising a child with special needs.
Especially early in your child's life, your family must have ample life insurance to take care of all of their needs if something were to happen to both parents. Not only will someone be required to take over their daily care and educational needs, but they will also be responsible for continuing with medical and other necessary therapies. So, it's important they have plenty of money to take care of everything required without placing an unreasonable burden on the caregivers or their own children.
Tip: Proactively Protect the Government Benefit Eligibility of the Child with Special Needs
Finally, it's important to note that access to government benefit programs that are essential for people living with special needs are often based on their income and assets. For this reason, if you pass away and leave your home or retirement account to someone with special needs, then they may find themselves being dropped from their medical or housing program. Therefore, it's vital that you work with an attorney or financial planner to structure the distribution of your assets in such a way this won't happen.
Contact a financial group for help with your financial planning.
Share