The one certainty of life is that it’s full of uncertainty. We never know what the next day, week, and year will bring, and that’s what makes financial planning both challenging and necessary.

On this episode of the podcast, we tackle two questions that recently came into Johnson Brunetti and they both ask about scenarios that were unexpected.

The first question we address today is a difficult one emotionally because planning for the loss of a loved one is incredibly hard. But what do you need to do from a financial standpoint with disability and Social Security after a medical diagnosis doesn’t give you much longer to live?

Short-term disability is meant to bridge the gap until long-term disability kicks in, which could carry you to retirement. You also want to look into the ability to get Social Security disability, which would be the full retirement benefit and could be triggered before full retirement age. A couple of the other factors you’ll want to discuss with an advisor are your plans for working after the loss of your spouse and insurance to cover large medical costs. Ultimately, there are a lot of things to discuss to make sure you get as much support and money out of these programs as you can.

The second question we’ll cover deals with college expenses. Like many other parents, this person is facing the reality of paying for their child’s education beyond the standard four years. The answer is really going to be specific to your situation because when we look at retirement, there are three big variables that impact what your cost of living need in retirement is:

• Housing situation – what do you own?
• Travel – how much do you spend?
• Gifts – how much money do you give your family?

That third one could really throw off your retirement if that expense ends up hurting you financially. No matter how you slice it, college is expensive. Can you afford to cover six years of school without risking your own retirement? That’s the question you ultimately need to answer because you want to make sure your future is secure.

No matter what life throws your way, a strong financial plan can help you navigate the good and the bad. Take advantage of our complimentary Money Map review process and let’s start taking a look at your financial future.

0:19 – Mailbag question on disability options  

2:02 – Why it’s important to be proactive

3:58 – Mailbag question on paying for extended college expenses

5:46 – Get your situation reviewed