No one knows when their time will come, but it is essential to have a plan in place for your family when it does. Everyone wants to believe their family will be financially secure when something dastardly happens. Unfortunately, this is not always the case especially if you haven’t done anything to prepare.
If you want to ensure that your family is taken care of financially upon your demise, there are a couple of things you need to do. This is the basic version of what every family should do. Of course autism families have bigger worries than most. I have found that if I start with the basics and get that done then the autism things seem less overwhelming.
Table of contents
A Basic End Of Life Plan To Make Your Family Financially Secure
Life Insurance
This is probably the most important thing you can do for your family financially if something happens to you. A life insurance policy provides your loved ones with money that can be used to help cover expenses like funeral costs, outstanding debts, and everyday living expenses.
You can read up on what the different types are like whole life, term, etc. It’s important to get the right kind as well as enough to cover the above expenses. Don’t overthink it. Some life insurance is better than no life insurance. There are even policies that don’t require medical exams. Start with the basics then increase as you have the bandwidth to understand more.
Make A Will
A non negotiable end of life item, especially if you have young children or an autistic child who will need lifelong care, is to make a will. This document outlines your wishes for how you would like your assets to be distributed, who gets custody of said children above, and how they will be provided for.
Without a will, the state determines how your assets are distributed, who your children will live with, and how the money is spent which may not be in accordance with your wishes.
It is essential to have a will so that your loved ones know your wishes and can carry them out accordingly. If you do nothing else, make sure this gets done.
Have An Emergency Fund
An emergency fund is a savings account that is used to cover unexpected expenses. This includes things like a job loss, medical bills, therapy needs, or car repairs. Having an emergency fund will help you avoid debt by not putting on your credit cards. Don’t get me wrong. Sometimes you have to pay copays with credit cards. Until the US healthcare system is fixed, that is the sad reality.
Ideally, you should aim to have at least 3-6 months of living expenses saved in your emergency fund. This may seem like a lot, but it will give you peace of mind knowing that you have a cushion to fall back on if something happens. Don’t get stuck on numbers though. Something is better than nothing.
Also, this is stored in a financial account that you can access quickly like a savings account or money market account.
Make a long term plan for your autistic child’s care
Investing in your retirement is an important thing to do so you’re not left eating dog food or worse,, having to depend on your children to support you. When you have a retirement account, the money is available to help you live in the manner you are accustomed as you grow old.
But let’s be realistic here for a moment. Making sure your autistic child is cared for when you’re gone is far more important than retirement. Start a special needs trust, have your will set up for guardianship to transfer over to the selected person/persons, and have their Autism Action Plan filled out so the guardians can hit the ground running.
These are the most important things you need to do to ensure your family is taken care of financially if something happens to you. While it is impossible to predict the future, taking these steps will give you peace of mind knowing that your loved ones will be taken care of if something happens to you.
