It is a simple question, yet one that keeps many parents of special needs children up at night: who will take care of my child when I’m gone?
Any family with such responsibility knows planning for future financial costs can be daunting thousands of dollars for adaptive equipment such as wheelchairs and possibly tens of thousands for hospital and ongoing medical and/or physical care.
Your financial planning — and the crucial insurance to support it — needs to address both your eventual demise as well as the possibility of a premature death. What benefits are available to you and your child now? How much depends upon your own financial resources and income? What will you do to replace that income if you are unable to work, lose your job, or need to leave employment to become a full-time caregiver? You also need to consider financially supporting future caretakers, the child’s continued qualification for benefits as he reaches adulthood, his ability for self-support, developmental needs, and level of support needed for the daily tasks of living.
Life insurance is dearly a fundamental building block of any long-term planning, as its benefits are designed to become available at precisely the moment you are no longer able to fill the caretaker needs of your child. If your ongoing income is crucial to your needed levels of support, disability protection for yourself is also an important consideration. Adequate retirement savings that will allow you to be financially independent and available to your adult child once you leave employment is another key asset you need to develop.
Let our financial protection professionals help you review your current financial planning for the continuing care needs of your disabled child. We can also coordinate our efforts with your other key planners, such as your attorney or accountant if you have — or are considering establishing —special needs trusts, ABLE accounts and future caregivers savings.
