Monetary support is probably the best support you can provide to your child
A trust is a great way to gift your child with special needs security and comfort
Your children are precious to you and we believe that every child is important. But what about a child with special needs? A specially-abled child will naturally require a lot more attention than the others.
Now, life is unpredictable – disaster can strike at any moment. So you as a responsible parent, need to plan and prepare for a financially secure future of your precious little one. Let us find out what options you have here.
- Life insurance – You can invest in life insurance schemes so that your little one can be safe in future, even if they are unable to earn as much by themselves. Monetary support is probably the best support you can provide to your child not only today but also for the better tomorrow of your child with special needs. Invest in funds that will yield a positive and huge amount of returns in the future make your child financially independent as much as possible. You should have an ample amount of money to tackle any sort of medical or any other emergency. Medical insurance for your special child is absolutely mandatory so do not skip this important part. Be a smart investor and invest as much as you can so that the return that you’ll receive in future will be enough for your child with special needs. Invest more in funds, trusts, bonds, insurances, etc.
- Allocate financial assets – You have to judiciously allocate your assets, and inclination towards financial assets is better and safe for a family having a child with special needs. You can invest in mutual funds, fixed deposits and other bonds because in case of emergency you will be able to easily withdraw the required amount of money. Physical assets are okay but in this case, it is always better to be financially strong because suppose you have bought land somewhere, in case of emergency you just can’t sell it overnight, right? A lot of patience and perseverance is required to liquidate a physical asset.
- Create a trust – Create a trust for your child so that you can use it in the future exclusively for the child. You and your spouse can be the trustees initially and as the years will pass by you can add trustees if need be, that’s completely your choice. A trust is a great way to gift your child with special needs security and comfort how? Your child will receive money from a lot of people in his or her entire lifetime…. As a responsible parent, you can deposit all the money in the trust which is exclusively meant for your child. If you make this trust a beneficiary of your insurances or estates, etc. then after your death all the proceeds will directly go to the trust which is for your child. A special needs trust will make sure that your child is having a comfortable life even when you are not around. The money from the trust can be used for therapy sessions, food and other overhead expenses such as mobile phone, laptop, clothes, etc.
- Tax benefits – Families having children or members with special needs can avail benefits from tax deductions. These deductions help the family to continue with the medical treatment of the person with special needs. Just keep your eyes open, to utilize all the opportunities that you get to ensure financial security for your child.
- Appoint a trustee – You can make your child’s guardian, his or her trustee as well. Now there’s a subtle difference between a trustee and a guardian. A guardian looks after your child’s all the basic needs and a trustee takes care of all the monetary or financial aspects. It is always good to make a group of trustees and the guardian must be a different person. Why? Because you want absolute transparency as far as the needs of your child are concerned, this system of having separate trustees and guardian will ensure no siphoning of funds, you will be doubly sure owing to this double filter system.
- Create a will – Do not forget to make a will because specifically, you must mention how and when your assets will be used, and for what purpose. Leave your assets to the trust not to your child because your child with special needs will not be able to take care of all the financial nitty-gritty and the day to day needs. Specify the guardian of your child after your death in the will so that there are no loose ends that can be manipulated or tampered.
- Letter of intent – You must provide a letter of intent (which isn’t an official document) to the guardian of your child because he or she must have a clear idea about how to go about the entire things. Specific food habits, food timings, sleeping habits, the actions, how your child might react to different things and all other minute details must be clearly mentioned. Provide a clear picture about the medical history of the child; the therapy sessions, all the medicines, mention if the child is allergic to something or some food, etc. mention the contact details of the child’s doctors, therapists, legal advisors, NGO agencies (if any), etc.
- Government schemes – You can find the suitable government scheme meant for people and children with special needs and utilize those such as the Scheme of National Scholarship for Persons with Disabilities; this lovely scheme is meant to ensure a good education for specially-abled people. This scholarship in some professional and technical courses for differently-abled people have proved to be quite fruitful so far. Students who are autistic or have cerebral palsy or any sort of mental retardation can avail this scholarship which available from 9th standard onwards. Next one that is very useful is the Rajiv Gandhi Fellowship Scheme; under this scheme for people with special needs, one can opt for higher education such as M Phil/PhD. etc. (basic requirements have to be fulfilled only then this scheme can be availed).
That’s why Comparte Investment team asks do you have “Nivesh Ki Aadat”.
With this one can say “Mutual Fund Sahi hai”, so let me do Nivesh / Enquire