How to Serve Special Needs Families in Your Community

Financial advisors can demonstrate value helping families with real-world challenges

Right now, there’s a family in your community in need of personalized financial guidance. That’s because it’s likely there’s a family who is facing the challenges that come with a special needs diagnosis. And, amid everything those parents and that child will face, how to pay for care and plan long-term financial goals is critical.

How likely is it that a special needs family is in your community?

• Nearly 54 million Americans cope with a special needs family member and the associated cost of care.¹
• More than 41 million Americans, age five and older, have some type of special care designation.¹
• About 20% of Americans between the ages of 16 and 64 have some form of physical, mental, or emotional impairment. Many of them are outliving their parents thanks to improved medical care.¹
• One in every 44 children are diagnosed with autism.² And caring for a child with autism or an intellectual disability costs $1.4 to $2.4 million.³

It’s probable that several families in your community are impacted by the financial side of caring for a special needs child or adult. Their need for personalized financial advice for their unique circumstances is incredibly important. So, how can you help?

Today’s financial professionals do more than provide investment advice. In many cases, you’re impacting milestones throughout a client’s life, adapting financial strategies at each step. By focusing on helping clients in your community with real-world challenges, you gain the opportunity to evolve your business and capabilities as a professional. With more experience serving diverse populations with various needs, you can evolve your approach for creating holistic financial strategies.

An LPL advisor’s perspective on serving those with special needs

For LPL financial advisor, Jack Morrone, the drive to help families with special needs children is personal. “I have three children,” he said. “My oldest is 32, my middle child is 30, and my youngest is 28. So, in the middle is my daughter, an accomplished, gifted young lady. But her brothers have a genetic abnormality and have special needs. They are like forever children.

My oldest at 32 has the abilities of a nine-month-old baby, changing diapers and giving baths and holding to keep safe. My youngest is very different. He is probably best understood to be forever five years old. He is so social and so charismatic that there's not a trip to a grocery store that isn't met with talking to someone that either does recognize him or he's not going to be denied his chance to meet someone new. He is a goodwill ambassador for mankind.”

Because he knows what similar families are faced with, Morrone wants families and the advisors and other financial professionals they partner with to help guide them to remember that “you’re doing this for the people you love.”

“These families need strategies and resources for getting through the day, the week, the month, and then beyond that. I first try to be a resource for that.”

“There’s a likelihood there’s some benefit to help for the present, but to access those benefits takes some advocacy, you have to be a squeaky wheel. There’s a process for accessing those benefits that’s bureaucratic. It involves the Department of Welfare, the Department of Human Services in your community, so helping families appreciate and understand the bureaucratic track is one part of the approach.”

For financial professionals wanting to add creating strategies for families with special needs children, Morrone stresses that in addition to cultivating their own understanding of the bureaucracy and attorneys that specialize in helping impacted families, advisors should lean into asking questions and listening.

The “bank teller moment” for financial advisors

“Think of a bank teller moment,” he explains. “A mom walks in and wants to open an account for her son. They could ask a question right there. ‘Does your son have any special needs?’ The mom might say yes, but wonder why it matters. Well, because these resources that you're going to open in this account with his social security number are going to count against him at some point when it accumulates to more than $2,000. 

An advisor would have that same moment. Who do you want to name as your beneficiaries? The client might say their spouse and then their kids. That’s when the advisor can ask ‘Is there anything about your kids I should know about? Do they have any special needs?’ That would be the beneficiary identification moment.”

Using empathy as your foundation

For the financial strategy portion of the equation, Morrone says empathy should be the foundation of the approach. “I would say that advisors should appreciate the magnitude of the financial dilemma,” he says. “If someone said, as a retiree, I want to be retired, I have no pensions, but I live at $400,000 a year of cash flow need, I would want that retiree to have somewhere in the neighborhood of $10 to $12 million. For parents whose children have special needs, remember those kids may have a life expectancy of 50 years beyond the parent’s retirement ages – so the $10 million number needs to be more like $14 million. I say you can’t have enough life insurance because few people have $14 million of net worth.”

Morrone believes that one of the best things a financial advisor can do for families is helping them admit that they don’t always have it all together. “They need help, and they have to advocate for that help,” he says. “With all that bureaucratic work, parents are going to age-out from being able to do it or are going to be mortal and pass on. So, when your child needs significant levels of support, you don’t want to be dependent on those programs, you need help.”

Morrone said that if other advisors have questions to please reach out to him at One Financial Services. You may also learn more about Morrone, his advocacy, and his family on his website and on YouTube.

Your LPL resources

Because you create financial strategies for each family’s unique situation, LPL resources, including financial planning programs, trust services, and insurance, and subject matter professionals can help you craft a plan with the flexibility your client needs for their care journey.

LPL Advisor Profile