The end of a year tends to have people thinking about what they should do to plan for the new year and what changes they may need or want to make. While fitness and health goals are generally always on that list, so is financial planning for the future. Financial planning in general can seem to be a daunting task but it becomes a bit more challenging for special needs families and planning for your disabled child’s future.
On this week’s podcast episode, Annette speaks with James “Jim” Grace, the Director of Wealth Management with Silver Pine Capital. Jim, who has been a financial advisor for over 12 years, has taken on a more “person centered” approach to financial planning and working with special needs families with complex issues. Jim also has a podcast called The Financially Mindful Podcast, which offers insight into various aspects of financial planning.
The financial planning approach Jim takes with his clients is not the traditional sit with an advisor, pay an upfront fee, send over your financial information, and then wait a short time for your financial plan to be created and the report sent to you. Jim feels this approach does not allow for changes and updates that may need to happen over the next few months/years as your financial situation and goals change.
A More Personalized Family Approach
At Silver Pine Capital, their approach is to sit with a client to determine what they are looking to accomplish, determine how much time they will need to spend with the client over the next few months, generate the fee and then divide that by 12 and bill monthly. This allows them to start with the client’s current financial position, meet on a regular basis at least once a month and build their financial plan over time. Sometimes this is referred to as “financial coaching,” where someone spends more time with you to assist you in your financial plan.
With this more personalized approach, they are able to develop a relationship with a special needs family, find out what is important to them, assist them in getting organized and then offering recommendations as they move along according to where the family is currently and what they hope to get to. They become part of your family’s “team” for financial planning.
3 Steps to Begin Your Financial Planning
Jim says there are roughly 3 steps you can work on to get your financial planning started. First, take a breath then get yourself organized. Pull the information to all your accounts and put them into one place either in some version of Fintech software, a spreadsheet or even just a paper note pad. This allows you to take inventory of all your accounts and you can then work on tracking your spending and working out a budget, as well as cleaning up any accounts that are no longer needed or wanted.
The next step is to sit down and decide what is important to you, what are you looking to accomplish with your financial plan. Be specific with your goals. This step can be challenging for some as talking about money and the future can be very stressful, especially so if you have a special needs child you are planning for.
Once you have all your goals and what you would like to accomplish figured out, you then need to prioritize these goals. Unfortunately, not many families will have enough money to be able to plan for all their goals. You will need to prioritize what is the most important down to the least important. Once you have this accomplished, you are then ready to begin to develop your financial plan.
Reach Out to James “Jim” Grace
If you like to reach out to James “Jim” Grace, or would like more information, you can reach him through Silver Pine Capital as well as on Linked In.
For information on other topics, please also check out Special Needs Companies. For legal advice, inspiration, and other resources, visit our blog here. Similarly, you can always listen to previous podcast episodes (and be sure to leave us a review), or download our free eBook here. We are always looking for podcast guests as well so please let us know if you or someone you know, has a special needs or disability topic you would like to speak about – Contact Us!
Listen to the full episode here!
Please Leave a Podcast Review
As Annette mentioned, please consider leaving a podcast review for Parenting Impossible – The Special Needs Survival Podcast on iTunes. More positive ratings and reviews mean more new listeners are introduced to this informational and inspirational podcast. Look at the bottom of this page for the purple oval that says “Enjoying the podcast? Leave an iTunes review here.” This will take you over to the iTunes site/app where you will be able to login and leave a review. We really appreciate it!
You can also join our free Facebook group for the disability community, the “Circle of Care,” or watch the webinars and other speaking events on YouTube. The purpose of this community is to create a space for people to be themselves, ask questions and get support and answers, so please share these resources with your friends!
For information on other topics, please also check out Special Needs Companies. For legal advice, inspiration, and other resources, visit our blog here. Similarly, you can always listen to previous podcast episodes (and be sure to leave us a review), or download our free eBook here. We are always looking for podcast guests as well so please let us know if you or someone you know, has a special needs or disability topic you would like to speak about – Contact Us!
Annette Hines has been practicing in the areas of Special Needs, Elder Law, and Estate Planning for more than 20 years. Ms. Hines brings personal experience with special needs to her practice and podcasts as the mother of two daughters, one of whom passed away from Mitochondrial disease in November 2013. This deep, personal understanding of special needs fuels her passion for quality special needs planning and drives her dedication to help others within the special needs community.