On this episode the blondes had the pleasure of speaking with Douglas Vogel about special needs estate and financial planning. Lost? Only a minor amount of geometry is involved! Have no fear fellow math dummies because as usual, our Show Notes are here to save the day (but are NO substitute for listening)! Douglas, who is a Financial Services Executive with MassMutual Special Care out of Boca Raton, Florida can be contacted directly at DVogel@financialguide.com.
Editor’s note: sound “engineer” Kristi is about to be fired. Please email her boss disorderlyblodnes@gmail.com to complain about failure to engage Brenda’s mic, again. We know she’s naturally loud but…
- durable power of attorney designation that is given to someone else to be able to handle financial transactions on his or her behalf; “durable” means that if the principal (i.e., spouse) would become incapacitated or no longer be able to think for himself (ha!); succession planning applies here (listen to the episode to learn how often this term applies)
- estate planning the process of anticipating and arranging, during a person’s life, for the disposal of their estate; has both a legal component and a financial one; a financial strategy drives the legal documents one prepares, yesterday i.e., a will (see will, see yesterday)
- guardian the SUPER bad guys featured in The Handmaid’s Tale; the SUPER good guys (and gals) who protect our galaxy; one of the two major roles a parent needs to assign his or her disabled, dependent child (see trustee for the second); the person who will provide care and make decisions for your dependent child; listen in about tiered succession planning and the different types of guardianship
- gold digger a song Kristi jams to in her car, forgetting she doesn’t own the clean version (but is there one?); gold digging only becomes an issue if one leaves his or her assets to someone married to one (usually a her); get your special needs trust in place today (aka yesterday; see yesterday)
- letter of intent a potentially THICK and ever-changing document a parent creates (in GORY DETAIL) as a letter of instruction for future caregivers; is broken into facts (i.e., who my child is, diagnosis, doctor names, types of therapies, medical needs, school attending, ESE contact, etc. WHEW!) and intents (parent(s) vision for child i.e., level of independence desired for child, family values, views on religion, marriage…); the list goes ON AND ON AND ON!
- living will details a person’s desires regarding his or her medical treatment in circumstances in which they are no longer able to express informed consent
- Medicaid not just for the OGs; the “ticket to the Magic Kingdom of benefits” (Doug’s words) for a disabled, dependent child; can pay for health care, prescription drugs, living options, supportive care, therapies, respite and more
- probate court the entity within your county that decides your wishes for you in the event you die without a will
- special needs trust aka supplemental benefits trust; legal doc with the aim to protect a special needs dependent’s government benefits i.e. SSI (see SSI) and gold diggers (see gold diggers); a funded special needs trust is just what it says
- SSI or supplemental security income; what Social Security pays to a minor child’s parent(s) to offset the costs of the child’s basic needs; benefit transfers directly to the child at age 18; a benefit that a well prepared will protects (see will)
- trustee the person chosen to manage your dependent, disabled child’s money after a parent’s death; consider succession planning (listen in to learn why)
- will the foundation for any legal plan; passes on all of your worldly possessions upon death; NOT the end all, be all document when planning when a special needs dependent is in play; USE an attorney, says Doug (listen in!); Kristi has willed her dog to Brenda; Brenda has willed her shoes to Kristi’s chew-happy dog
- triangle a three to four-angled diagram (kidding about the fourth) Douglas uses to explain the foundation of care (legal and financial) and what drives those documents (tune in for explanation, completely devoid of math)
- yesterday the time to begin special needs planning; !Asi que, dale!
all giph credits: giphy.com