financesforspecialneeds-blog

[financesforspecialneeds-blog]

The Savings Imperative for Special Needs Families

The Savings Imperative for Special Needs Families

You’ve probably seen the figures of raising a child. The often quoted figure of $240,000 is seemingly absurd. Can you imagine if with the birth of each of your children you had to write a $240k check? According to the Department of Agriculture, that $240K figure is the median, meaning there are many families paying even more! You can check out the report and logic here.

To be fair, that number is…

[financesforspecialneeds-blog]

Solving the Letter of Intent

Solving the Letter of Intent

Special needs families often feel alone and isolated, but there is much changing in how we advocate for and support special needs families.  The internet has been a game changer and allowed us to connect in ways that would have been impossible a few years ago.  There’s a lot to like about the continuous investment in technology solutions and we are now starting to even see technology created just…

[financesforspecialneeds-blog]

The Just Noticeable Difference; Implications for how we Spend, Save, and Invest

Perceiving change can be a funny thing.  Why is it we don’t notice change when it is happening right before our eyes?  Every time grandma comes to visit, she gushes over how big the kids have grown, but you hardly notice while seeing them day after day.  You likely don’t notice the slow leak in a cars tire, or a minor change in temperature of just a few degrees.  Change is hard to detect, unless…

[financesforspecialneeds-blog]

The Power of Habit in Financial Decision Making

The Power of Habit in Financial Decision Making

One of the first financial books I read that really stuck with me was the classic The Millionaire Next Doorby Thomas Stanley.  The general premise of The Millionaire Next Door is that the pop culture concept of a millionaire is false and that most actual millionaires live a very simple lifestyle.  The Millionaire Next Door shows you the simple spending and saving habits that lead to more cash in…

[financesforspecialneeds-blog]

Sharing the Pain; PTSD in Special Needs Caregivers

Sharing the Pain; PTSD in Special Needs Caregivers

“understanding PTSD can help you tame it. It won’t make any of us feel better, but perhaps it can keep the ice from breaking beneath our feet.”- Richard Engel

PTSD.  Post-traumatic stress disorder. A stress related disorderthat may develop after exposure to an event or ordeal in which death, severe physical harm or violence occurred or was threatened. It’s a topic I know well.  As I write this…

[financesforspecialneeds-blog]

Old Advice Dies Hard; the Myth of Disinheritance

Old Advice Dies Hard; the Myth of Disinheritance

We often revere old sayings and folksy wisdom.  Take this gem for example:

“Just because something is common sense doesn’t mean it is common practice.”-unknown

Because we inherently respect wisdom from our elders, we often don’t question whether the conditions have changed to warrant reanalyzing whether that wisdom still holds true. It’s for this same reason old advice dies hard.  Perhaps the…

[financesforspecialneeds-blog]

The When, Why, and How of Legal Guardianship

The When, Why, and How of Legal Guardianship

Do you ever lay awake at night wondering what will happen to your special needs child when they reach adulthood?  We spend years pouring ourselves into our children’s lives when they are young trying desperately to provide any advantage we can find.  Yet, when a child with cognitive disabilities nears their 18th birthday, the idea that they are considered an adult by the law is terrifying.  After…

[financesforspecialneeds-blog]

Financial Resources For a Disabled Adult Child

Financial Resources For a Disabled Adult Child

The ability to provide for a loved one after they are gone is perhaps the biggest concern shared by parents of special needs children.  The costs of a lifetime of caregiving can be seemingly cost prohibitive.  We all are trying our best to set the conditions, but some have greater means than others.  Fear not; there is hope.

What Social Security disability benefits exist for children?  While…

[financesforspecialneeds-blog]

The Virtue of Paperlessness, How we Finally Organized our Life

The Virtue of Paperlessness, How we Finally Organized our Life

Ever feel like you can’t remember yesterday? You’re not alone!  The culprit is likely stress.  I’m not talking about the flash of hormones that are released when you see a snake and the corresponding fight or flight response.  Rather, I’m talking about long-term chronic stress that is part of the daily grind of caring for someone with special needs.  What makes chronic stress so problematic is…

[financesforspecialneeds-blog]

A Health Savings Account Might Just Benefit Your Family

A Health Savings Account Might Just Benefit Your Family

The rising cost of healthcare has dominated the news cycle in recent years.  A Health Affairs study projected national health care spending will grow an average of 5.5% every year through 2026. (source) A recent RBC Wealth Management study estimated that a healthy 65-year-old couple today can expect to spend more than $400,000 on health care in retirement!  That is an astronomical number! …

[financesforspecialneeds-blog]

What Investing and Tennis Have in Common

Investing Series, Part 2

Imagine you play tennis.  You are probably an amateur; a weekend warrior. Perhaps you played in High school, or maybe even college.  Or you might have picked up the game to work on your general health and fitness level and joined the 18 percent of the population in the U.S. who regularly play the game. Conceivably you may have joined a tennis club or a city team to better…

[financesforspecialneeds-blog]

Stop Looking Through a Soda Straw

Stop Looking Through a Soda Straw

Investing Series: Part 1

Black Monday….October 19, 1987, the day the market crashed.  The crash began in Hong Kong and spread west to Europe, hitting the United States after other markets had already sustained significant declines. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) fell exactly 508 points; roughly 22.61% of its total value. The Black Monday decline was, and currently remains, the largest…

[financesforspecialneeds-blog]

The Journey of Special Needs Families: From Birth to Three

The Journey of Special Needs Families: From Birth to Three

There are several distinct phases families with a special needs child will transit throughout their lifetime.  The first being the birth of their child until that child qualifies for school age services at 3 years of age.  If you are new to Special Needs parenting, this will serve as a primer on many of the areas you should further explore.  If you are a special needs veteran, let us know your…

[financesforspecialneeds-blog]

Funding a Special Needs Trust with Life Insurance

Funding a Special Needs Trust with Life Insurance

There are probably few topics that are more distasteful than discussing insurance.  Specifically, life insurance.  If you’re like most people, it’s not that you don’t inherently understand the need and value of life insurance, you just don’t want to buy it. Thinking about buying life insurance, discussing the need for life insurance, grappling with the implications of life insurance makes the…

[financesforspecialneeds-blog]

Why Women Investors are Awesome and What We Should Learn from Them

Why Women Investors are Awesome and What We Should Learn from Them

Financial institutions spend billions of dollars annually trying to gain a competitive advantage in the market place.  The hot fund manager is rewarded handsomely as money pours into their investment accounts.  The search for alpha, which measures the excess return fund managers earn above market risk, is a cutthroat endeavor.  A fund manager who could consistently claim above average returns…

[financesforspecialneeds-blog]

Why Your Investment Returns Are Lower Than You Think

Most people have no idea what their investments should be earning.  For those that hazard a guess they usually pick a double-digit figure.  For those that listen to Dave Ramsey you will hear him use 12%.  I love Dave.  He does great stuff getting people out of debt and focused on saving for the future.  Unfortunatly in this case, most people, and Dave, are wrong.

Investment vs Investor Returns

Th…

[financesforspecialneeds-blog]

What a Million Dollars Really Means

An article popped across my feed this week tilted Number of Fidelity 401(k) millionaires hits record high.  It was compelling and exciting and brief.  The premise was that a record number of investors became 401(k) millionaires this spring.  I quickly shared it on my Facebook pageand moved on with my day.  The thing is, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.  What I came to realize is that what the…