Special Needs Financial Planning

Families come to me at every stage of the financial planning journey. Some are just beginning to think about what happens when their child turns 18. Others arrive after something has already gone wrong — an inheritance accepted without planning, a savings account that triggered an SSI suspension, a retirement account left directly to a loved one with a disability that no one realized would cause a problem.

What I have learned over more than a decade of disability life planning is that the financial decisions families make for their loved ones with disabilities are unlike any other financial decisions they will ever face. The rules are different. The stakes are different. And the margin for error is smaller than most families realize — until it isn’t.

At Leahy Life Plan, we do not replace your financial advisor or your estate attorney. What we do is make sure that everyone on your team understands how disability benefits interact with every financial decision being made — before those decisions are implemented. We are the piece of the puzzle that makes the rest of the plan actually work.

Whether you are just beginning to think about Special Needs Trusts and ABLE accounts, or you are navigating a complex situation involving multiple benefit programs, housing, employment, and long-term care — this is the work we do every day. And we are here to help your family do it right.

— Michele A. Leahy, MS, CPWIC