Financial planning is difficult for most Americans even when times are good. But when you have a chronic and debilitating disease like Multiple Sclerosis (MS), it's exponentially more complex. Even with the challenges, planning for your and your family's future is vital after such a diagnosis. To help you get started, here are four key items you need to plan for the future.
End-of-Life Care. While it's not pleasant to think about, individuals with MS need to decide what end-of-life care they want—and what they don't want. End-of-life care is often complex and consumes both money and energy, so your decisions need to be part of your overall financial plan. If you want as much care as possible, for instance, you'll need to figure out how it will be paid for.
Children's Care. Do you have young children? Then you should have a plan in place to care for them and their needs if you cannot do so. Providing care for children may be as simple as ensuring that your spouse or their parent has access to all your funds to use for family care, or it could involve setting up a trust with a responsible executor. Talk to your financial planner and attorney for the best course of action.
Future Income. Your future income potential depends on your particular situation. If you or your spouse is covered by a company policy, you may have access to private disability payments, and you will likely be able to qualify for future Social Security payments as well. But as your health gets worse, you may need to prepare for a loss of income—sporadic or permanent—before those payments kick in. Work with a financial service to set up an account to help alleviate problems if this occurs.
Insurance. Health insurance and life insurance play a big part in your and your family's future. You may or may not be able to get new life insurance after an MS diagnosis, so you may need to work with what you already have in place. It's important to maintain access to some kind of health insurance, though, so this should be a priority—no matter whether it's through an employer, a health insurance exchange, or even low-income insurance.
The period after learning you have MS or when it worsens is a hard time for any person and their loved ones. But planning a more solid financial road map will help you face this challenge with less stress and more confidence so that you can enjoy life with your loved ones more fully.
Share14 November 2018
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