Care Planning: Financial Strategies for Disability, Special Needs, & Elder Care

Care planning often feels like something that applies to someone else. In reality, it touches nearly every family. In this episode of Financial Perspectives, Director of Communications Gretchen Muller along with Senior Lead Advisor Matt Stagner, a nationally recognized advocate for the disability community, unpack what care planning really means across disability, special needs, and elder care. As Matt explains, it affects far more of us than most people realize. Matt and Gretchen talk through the financial realities families face, from the "disability tax" of higher everyday costs to the benefit rules that can make saving and investing complicated. They also walk through practical solutions: building the right care team, ABLE accounts, special needs trusts, and the value of writing your plan down and talking about it openly as a family. At Foster Group, we believe care planning isn't about replacing the support systems families build. It's about strengthening them and helping people create the independence and quality of life they deserve. 3:54 - Who Needs Care: The Numbers 5:28 - Barriers & the "Disability Tax" 7:49 - Building the Right Care Team 12:18 - ABLE Accounts & Special Needs Trusts 15:08 - Closing Thoughts