Success brings challenges for people with disabilities
In initial episode of Netflix’s new series, AJ and the Queen, Rupaul’s character, Robert (stage name “Ruby Red”) becomes a victim of his...
Search
How Social Security and the IRS define "dependent" differently
When I was a child, my grandfather taught me to play checkers. He liked the game and was quite good at it. For variety, he also taught me...
Early SSI eligibility can prevent Medicaid loss later
Does anyone play the game Jenga™ at home? Once the internet time has run out, it’s a favorite with my son, who enjoys a dexterity...
Here's How to get the most out of Social Security
In this classic Sesame Street skit, Bert’s favorite program, The Wonderful World of Pigeons, has been replaced by a large capital “H”...
It Does Matter What Kind of Medicaid You Have.
In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the heroine asks “What is in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as...
“Say What?!” Decoding the Jargon of the Disability Support Field
The Wall Street Journal ran a charming article on the rise of the use of Scottish dialect on Twitter. For those of you with a...
Cuz we need a little...lead time.
It snowed the day before Halloween, where I live. The day after, CVS and Walgreens had their Santa displays already up. Last week, I...
Leaving your IRA to a Special Needs Trust requires some finesse
Now that he has navigated Halloween successfully—his costume received lots of complements and he picked up enough candy to hold him until...
You can't trick the IRS, but you can choose how to treat your IRAs.
The animated show Captain Underpants (created by cartoonist Dav Pilkey) aired a Halloween episode earlier this week. For those of you...
Don't be scared by sequence-of-return risk
My husband was out walking a couple of evenings ago when he passed a cyclist on a tandem bike in our neighborhood. The cyclist, full of...
When "Worst Comes First."
My son’s Little League team won their game last Sunday. (If you do Little League, you will know about “Fall Ball”). Despite a...
Train, talk it through then try the run.
The father of one of my son’s schoolmates approached me on a field trip. He mentioned that he was thinking, maybe, of attending one of...
Because We're "All About That Basis!"
By her own account, Meghan Trainor’s song “All About That Base”, makes a statement that a woman with a large, well, “base” can still be...
All your basis are belong to IRS!
In an attempt to catch me up in the ongoing video game revolution that I have mostly missed, my husband has educated me about certain...
Acing the Tax Preseason
My niece requested for her birthday a gift certificate from a certain clothing store she “frequents”. The quote marks are because she...
BPQ-whY? It's crucial to obtain and review your Benefits Planning Query.
My family and I are currently enjoying The Inbestigators (indicating the best investigators) as our evening escapism. The Australian TV...
Are We There Yet?
Last week, my family and I took a trip to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. We drove. (This, by the way, accounts for the missed blog last...
Navigate Special Needs Planning Obstacles with a Good Coach
This past Sunday, my eleven-year-old son competed in his first ever parkour competition. For those of you who don’t know—like me a year...
Giving should not be taxing!
For seven years, I ran a small, faith-based social-service agency in the near-west suburbs of Chicago. It is first and foremost a...
Opportunity cost = the price of the choice you did not make
We give our eleven-year-old son an allowance so that he can learn the value of money, mainly by coming up against the cold, hard, adult...