Parents with special needs children have a set of added concerns when planning for their retirement. In addition to planning where they will live and how much income they will have, they also need to plan where there special needs child will live when the parent retires or after the parent passes away. Parents need to consider what resources will be available to their special needs child to pay for the necessities of life, such as Medicaid or Supplemental Security Income. They will also want to consider which resources they can make available to their child to supplement any government program that may provide benefits.
Parents may want to set up supplemental needs trusts that can provide extras, consider pooled income trusts that provide a higher income stream, life insurance or the new ABLE Accounts approved by the federal government in December 2014, but not yet enabled within New York State.
The New York Times has published an article discussing considerations of some of the issues and solutions that are relevant to planning for the future of the special needs child after their parent no longer is around to care for them.