Blog

6 Important Steps In Financial Planning For Child With Special Needs

20th July 2021

Education is an investment and the right investment guides your kid not only during academic life but beyond. When it comes to investment, we think about the financial perspective. However, it involves more than that. When planning the right educational journey for your kids, finance is just one portion of it. These become more important when your child is being diagnosed with a special need.

However, a lot of the parents oftentimes do not realize the financial investments that need to have futuristic goals. These factors often get swept under the immense happiness and the ancillary responsibilities to raise the kids. Gradually, when the kids start going to school and they advance in their academic life, parents start to worry or make financial plans to cover the educational investments for the future.

What about the kids with special needs?

Are the investment plans the same for them?

The answer is, yes with additional planning! When planning for your kid’s high school and college fees, it is a very direct plan that you can devise. Nevertheless, when it comes to special needs, a lot of the parents have more in mind- will they be able to afford the regular consultations with the therapists? Who would accept them when they are adults? Who would take care of them when they’re gone? Such fears often occupy the minds of these parents. Setting aside money for your special kids is of course a brilliant thought. Before that, awareness of special education among parents has undeniable benefits.

Children with special needs come under a spectrum and they have their way to look around the world. Their behaviors and academic concern are all unique. As a parent becoming aware and hands-on in fulfilling these needs become the next to daunting task without the technical and psychological know-how.

Special education and CACHE endorsed online programs are majorly designed for shadow teachers or teachers working in inclusive classrooms; it is proven to have helped so many parents to understand their children better. Not everyone can afford to send their children to special schools. Not every country and every structure of school follow and inclusive dynamics. So, a better awareness plan is what is required for the parents to know how to handle their special children. Next up, you have the financial plan to assure yourself that your child would grow up securely. Here are a few ways:

1. Educate Family and Next To Immediate in the Kin

Awareness about special needs is a major step the parents need to take not only for themselves but also for the family. There are extremes as to how the families take such news. At times the families are not able to accept and stay away during the growing up years of the child. Other times, families are very welcoming and they like to contribute to the idea of raising the children just like others. Loving grandparents and uncles and aunts are often seen to invest or contribute financially for the child’s future.

As parents, you should not accept such contributions and rather ask them to spend more time with your children. Their presence would comfort the kids and believe that they have a strong support system. If the family still insists, allow them to contribute an ancillary amount. For example, to buy stationery supplies for school, or specially designed learning tools during the school years, etc.

2. Apply for Power of Attorney

Once children turn eighteen, they are universally accepted as adults in the eyes of law. They are considered to be independent citizens who can make life decisions for themselves. When you have children with special needs it is ideal as a parent to have control or supervision over your adult child’s decision. In the event of any emergency, guardianship over your child’s financial matters makes the investments substantial. When you apply for power of attorney, it helps in assigning a lawyer who can take care of such financial steps in case of your absence.

3. A Letter of Intent

This is not exactly a legal document. So, you can draft and update it as and when you want to. A letter of intent would contain information on all financial holdings and accounts that you have dedicated to secure your child’s future. This also includes information on possible medical assistance at present and later on. It is like a journal that would help you record everything that you need to fall back on whenever the time comes.

4. Appoint a Guardian

A guardian can be anyone whom you can rely on and trust with the commitment to take care of your child in all manners just like a parent. Devise a plan to look around the people your child is comfortable with, is responsible and likes to accept the disability of your child without any inhibition. Include him or her in the financial planning and discuss how you would like to look at the commitment being stretched after your child turns eighteen.

5. Write a Will

A will would help you to enclose all these financial plans and the inclusion of third parties into a legal document. Prepare a will with the letter of intent and the details of the guardian included. That makes the entire process streamlined as per the laws in your country for the protection of special children.

6. Manage Personal Savings

One of the realities that should be kept as a constant reminder is that no school or institution is going to cover therapies and treatments for your child. No insurance is legally available that can cover such expenses. As a parent of a special child, it is significant to have a solid budget set aside for your child’s future. Beginning from the selection of a school with special needs facilities to appointing a lawyer who would take care of the documentation to safeguard the child’s future; everything comes with a price. So, setting up a savings account or a fund is highly beneficial.

Financial planning can depend on the various laws in different countries. While such laws make the rules very specific to one’s homeland, these above-mentioned guidelines are a few generic ways you can attain a futuristic financial goal plan for your special child. Developing your knowledge with an online diploma course in special education would feed your mind with constant reminders about the uniqueness of your child.