Brat
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Modhatter, welcome back. We were afraid we scared you off!!
My sister's son has the same condition as your son. You are rightfully concerned about compliance with physician's advise and his welfare. I hope you are helping him qualify for Medicaid and SSI. You will need to walk a fine line on financial support which is why a special needs trust is necessary. While it is legally possible (I think) for a medicaid/SSI recipient to own the home s/he lives in, your son will need supervision so it isn't wise. Touch base with your state(s) association for disabled persons for established programs that may be available to you. Some of these programs have a 'refund' provision should he pre-decease you, or permit you to direct the residue in the account to the charitable org of your choice when both of you have passed. Dig down into the details.
IMHO a revocable living trust will be the best vehicle to manage your assetts long term. You really need a lawyer who understands what you need to do, ideally one with a disabled child who has experiance in estate planning.
As Art and Brewer12345 put forth their opinions remember you don't have to put all your resources in one pot. I like to have 2 or 3 years income in a liquid, safe, spot and the rest spread around. I like some in an international fund. Then I choose 2 top balanced funds. There are tools out there to make sure that they don't overlap much. A good place to start winnowing the field is at http://www.fundalarm.com/home.htm, ask questions in their discussion board. At some point a life-cycle fund at Vanguard may make the most sense.
One financial planner website with an 'attitude' can be found at http://www.efmoody.com/
For analyst type discussion you might like http://www.financialsense.com/index.html
And even more extreme http://www.financial-planning.com/pubs/fp/20040601011.html
You might even consider http://www.financialengines.com which might be available at a discount to Vanguard customers.
You thought you retired, right??
My sister's son has the same condition as your son. You are rightfully concerned about compliance with physician's advise and his welfare. I hope you are helping him qualify for Medicaid and SSI. You will need to walk a fine line on financial support which is why a special needs trust is necessary. While it is legally possible (I think) for a medicaid/SSI recipient to own the home s/he lives in, your son will need supervision so it isn't wise. Touch base with your state(s) association for disabled persons for established programs that may be available to you. Some of these programs have a 'refund' provision should he pre-decease you, or permit you to direct the residue in the account to the charitable org of your choice when both of you have passed. Dig down into the details.
IMHO a revocable living trust will be the best vehicle to manage your assetts long term. You really need a lawyer who understands what you need to do, ideally one with a disabled child who has experiance in estate planning.
As Art and Brewer12345 put forth their opinions remember you don't have to put all your resources in one pot. I like to have 2 or 3 years income in a liquid, safe, spot and the rest spread around. I like some in an international fund. Then I choose 2 top balanced funds. There are tools out there to make sure that they don't overlap much. A good place to start winnowing the field is at http://www.fundalarm.com/home.htm, ask questions in their discussion board. At some point a life-cycle fund at Vanguard may make the most sense.
One financial planner website with an 'attitude' can be found at http://www.efmoody.com/
For analyst type discussion you might like http://www.financialsense.com/index.html
And even more extreme http://www.financial-planning.com/pubs/fp/20040601011.html
You might even consider http://www.financialengines.com which might be available at a discount to Vanguard customers.
You thought you retired, right??