The Importance of Future Planning: Two Families, Two Very Different Outcomes

Navigating Disability Planning: Why Building a Flexible, Well-Executed Plan Can Make All the Difference for Your Loved One’s Future

Future planning can be scary in the best of times. When you add in the additional uncertainty of what will be needed, and available, for a child with disabilities it could become a downright fright-fest. Plans are a funny thing. They aren’t static, you can’t make it and put it on a shelf until you need it. You need to build them in jello, not concrete.

Be okay with the fact that things are going to change and you’ll have to adapt. From personal experience, I can tell you I would much rather adapt to a situation than feel like I’m drowning because I don’t have any idea what to do.

This week’s article will be longer than usual because I’m covering two scenarios. The first will be an overview of a family who waited to make a plan for their disabled child. The other is about a family who has built and funded their plan. Every one of us has our own story, and each is going to be unique. There’s no way I could hope to capture what you’re experiencing. The best I can do is paint a picture of very different outcomes - failure and success.

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Scenario 1

Let’s set the scene. The parents, Suzy and Tim, are in their early 60s and getting ready to retire. Their child, Jean, who is 30, is significantly impacted by disabilities and lives with them. They never applied for any benefits, and didn’t know it was an option. Suzy has been the full-time caregiver, having left her career for good shortly after the child was born. The physical care requirements are getting to be too much for both of them, and they’re worried about what will happen after they’re gone. A recent health scare has gotten them asking “What should we do?”.

Then they get an invite to a free dinner hosted by a Financial Advisor, Chet, who will talk to them about retirement planning. It’s Kismet! So they send in their RSVP, find a caretaker to help with their child, and off they go. As they talk to other attendees they find no one else seems to be in a similar situation. Did they make a mistake? What should they do? The information provided was great and answered some of their questions. But what were they going to do about their child?