Who Needs a Disability Plan?
A disability or incapacity plan allows you to make arrangements for your medical care and financial assets if you should become disabled to the point of not being able to act for yourself. In case you become mentally or physically disabled and need someone to speak for you, you can use your plan to name a financial or medical agent.
Retirees
For those over age 65, Alzheimer’s or other ailments that cause an inability to make one’s own choice are common. In your retirement years, there is a chance that you may need long term medical care due to a mental or physical disability. If that disability should leave you without a way to speak for yourself, it is important to have someone always on your side for the duration of your care.
With a disability plan, you can name the loved one of your choice to make decisions for you. Those decisions will likely be medical, but you can also name a financial agent to care for your retirement assets and property, and to invest them with the intention of providing income for your care needs.
Parents
If you have minor children and you become incapacitated, your family will be left without your earnings. With a disability plan in place, you can easily allow your spouse to use assets only in your name to provide for your children. Your disability plan can also allow you to name your spouse, or even another loved one if you prefer, to watch over your medical care. Without a disability plan, your family will have to wait for a court to make a decision about your state of mind and then name a guardian. Your spouse and children may endure a time of uncertainty.
Young Single People
Anyone can become disabled. Even if you are young and single, you should still consider planning for a possible incapacitation. Your disability plan can allow you to state your decisions on life support and terminal illness, and it can allow the family member or friend of your choice to act without the involvement of a court of law. If you don’t have a disability plan, you will have to endure a conservatorship, which is a court-supervised guardian program, to care for your needs and you may have no say on life support or terminal care.
