I know, I know. Planning ahead for your financial future is as much
fun as stapling your thumbs to a table, but ya just gotta grit your
teeth and do it. Like with flossing. Not that I've taken my own advice, mind you, but when
you have children it ups the ante considerably, especially when you
have a child with a disability, in which case things go into overdrive.
But if this is you, you've got plenty of company: in addition to me, a total of 60% of us parents of kids with special needs haven't planned ahead, at least as of two years ago.
My
youngest has Down syndrome, and although he's only three I've noticed
that even though in general I think of parenting him in the same way I
do my other children, at least one thing is different: I wonder more
about his future. When you have a child with special needs you find
yourself in a different world sometimes, and even though I can't
possibly imagine my cherubic three-year-old as an adult yet, I see that
suddenly I have found myself
asking questions that I wouldn't necessarily ask concerning my
other children, questions like, Where will he live? Will he or
can he live independently? Can he work? Is his disability
income going to be enough to provide for him? Do I need to set up a
trust fund? How is it accessed, when and by whom? What happens when I'm
(gasp) old? And what about my retirement? Can I still look forward to
playing shuffleboard in Boca Raton? (oops, that's my grandparents'
retirement; mine would be living in an artist's/writer's garret in
Paris with my laptop and my iPod and seven cats.)
These questions and more can be answered by a financial
planner, who will be glad to take a chunk of your money in return for
some peace of mind about your child and their future. Although the planning service mentioned here is Chicago-specific, it's easy enough to find someone in your area, and a simple Google search will reveal them.
Go ahead, do this. And then please come back and report to me, because it's my turn next.
