Written June 2, 2025
Joanna Craney, ChFC®,ChSNC®, WMCP® |Founder/ Partner/ Special Needs Planner |Empowered Financial Strategies
As a financial advisor with a passion for empowering families, I understand that retirement planning takes on a unique dimension when you have a child with special needs. At Empowered Financial Strategies, we specialize in blending retirement income planning with special needs planning, creating a comprehensive approach that addresses the complexities of your family’s future.
Understanding the Unique Challenges
For families with a child who has special needs, the stakes in retirement planning are particularly high. Many parents worry about what will happen to their child when they can no longer provide care. This concern drives the need for a robust financial strategy that ensures your child’s future and your own retirement needs are met.
Why Retirement Planning is Crucial
1. Long-Term Care Considerations: Children with special needs may require lifelong care, and planning for that care can be daunting. You need to account for potential medical expenses, therapies, and living arrangements that cater to their specific needs. A well-structured retirement plan will not only address care of your needs but also include planning for the financial future of your child.
2. Government Benefits: Understanding how government benefits like Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) work are crucial. These programs can significantly impact your financial strategy. A comprehensive plan can help you maximize these benefits while also ensuring that your savings do not inadvertently disqualify your child from receiving necessary support.
3. Trusts and Estate Planning: Setting up special needs trusts can provide financial support for your child without jeopardizing their eligibility for government benefits. These trusts can be complex, and proper planning with qualified professionals is an essential part of this planning. Proper estate and trust planning focuses on making sure that your assets are utilized efficiently and planned accordingly to your long-term retirement and legacy goals for your child’s needs.
4. Income Diversification and Growth: As high-income earners in their 40s, 50s and 60s have often accumulated wealth, it’s important that this wealth continues to grow while minimizing risk. This involves strategic investment choices and asset location that align with your retirement goals and your child’s future. Our knowledge in retirement income planning allows us to create a diversified portfolio that balances growth with safety.
5. Preparing for Unexpected Events: Life is unpredictable, and having a thorough retirement plan can help you navigate unexpected challenges. Whether it's a sudden medical expense or a shift in your child's needs, a flexible financial strategy can provide the peace of mind you deserve.
Strategies for Building Wealth and Reducing Risk
At Empowered Financial Strategies, we focus on strategies that align with your financial goals while considering the unique needs of your family. Here are a few approaches we often recommend:
1. Maximize Retirement Income: Contributing to retirement accounts such as 401(k)s and IRAs can help in building wealth and offers tax advantages that can enhance your savings. That being said, asset location in retirement income planning is an essential part of the retirement discussion and include more than your traditional 401k or IRA. At EFS, we look at building out diversified retirement income strategies that address risk factors such as high inflation, higher taxes, sequence of return risk and longevity risk to name a few.
2. Diversify Investments: A diversified investment portfolio can help mitigate risks associated with market fluctuations, aiming to ensure your funds remain stable as you approach retirement. Understanding what type of retirement income strategy you have in place to weather the storms throughout retirement is important so that you don’t react poorly to negative markets.
3. Regular Reviews and Adjustments: Financial planning is not a one-time event. Regularly reviewing your plan allows for adjustments in response to changes in your family’s situation, economic conditions, or tax laws.
4. Education and Resources: We believe that knowledge is power. We provide educational resources and workshops to help families understand the intricacies of special needs planning and retirement strategies. In addition, here at EFS we also provide resources for special needs families that can support the overall special needs plan.
Conclusion
Retirement planning for a family who has a child with special needs is a vital and complex task that requires a tailored approach. At Empowered Financial Strategies, we are committed to helping you navigate this journey with confidence. By blending our expertise in retirement income planning with special needs considerations, we create a comprehensive financial plan that not only addresses your retirement needs and risks, but also provides peace of mind for your family's future.
About the author:
Joanna Craney is a Financial Advisor & Special Needs planner, with the licenses in areas of Life, Disability, Health and Long-Term Care Insurances as well as a number of FINRA licenses (series 6, 63, 65, 7); allowing her to work in various areas of Wealth Management.
Joanna has also earned the following designations from The American College of Financial Services:
- ChFC® (Certified Financial Consultant): This designation takes advisors beyond foundational financial planning knowledge, helping advisors learn to build comprehensive financial plans and apply planning strategies to serve a wide array of client’s needs.
- ChSNC® (Certified Special Needs Consultant): This designation signifies an expertise in the area of special needs planning, helping advisors develop specialized knowledge in areas related to special needs financial planning such as federal benefits and SSI, tax planning, special needs trusts, and contemporary issues important to those requiring special needs planning.
- WMPC® (Wealth Management Certified Professional): This designation teaches advisors how to strategically build broadly-diversified, tax-efficient portfolios based on client’s goals.
Joanna has a passion for serving the special needs community. She lives outside of Philadelphia, PA with her family. She enjoys walks in the Wissahickon, yoga, reading, country concerts, beach days and cooking up an Italian dish. Her and her family love the Philadelphia Eagles and will often be heard chanting E-A-G-L-E-S Eagles! GO BIRDS!
At Empowered Financial Strategies, we serve Executive Women, Successful Pre-retirees looking to build a retirement income and estate plan as well as Pre-retirees with adult children with a disability or special needs. Our team specializes in these areas. We have referrals for tax professionals and attorneys who are also experienced in these fields. We spend the time to get to know you and your family. We lead with education with the goal to help you craft your ideal retirement. Reach out to Info@Empowered-fs.com. We are happy to answer questions or point you in the right direction.
The opinions expressed and material provided are for general information and should not be considered a solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security or insurance product. Empowered Financial Strategies does not offer Tax or Legal Advice. Registered representative of, and Securities and investment advisory services offered through Hornor, Townsend & Kent, LLC (HTK), Registered Investment Adviser, Member FINRA/SIPC. 800-873-7637, www.htk.com. Any other business entity or name that your financial professional markets their securities and advisory services under is not affiliated with HTK. The material is not intended to be a recommendation, offer or solicitation. HTK does not provide legal and tax advice. Always consult a qualified tax advisor regarding your personal tax situation and a qualified legal professional for your personal estate planning situation.
Diversification and Asset allocation are strategies designed to help manage investment risk. It does not guarantee a profit or protect against investment loss in declining markets.
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