About Us

Cynthia R. Haddad, CFP® and John W. Nadworny, CFP®, ChFC

Co-authors of The Special Needs Planning Guide: How To Prepare for Every Stage of Your Child's Life (Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., April 2007), John Nadworny, CFP® and Cynthia R. Haddad, CFP® have worked together as a parent and sibling team in special needs financial planning since the early 1990s.

They continue to share their passion and understanding in providing comprehensive financial planning services and education to families with special needs. They are nationally recognized and sought after financial planners, speakers, authors and advisors on special needs planning for families. They have been on radio, webinars, and quoted in publications throughout the country including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, Business Week, Kiplinger's Retirement Report, Bloomberg Wealth Management, Investment News, The Journal of Financial Planning, USA Today, and other well-known periodicals.

They have combined their years of personal experience of having family members with special needs and their professional expertise in the field of financial planning to create the first fill-in the blanks Special Letter of Intent for families (see appendix in their book for a sample and the CD-ROM for a blank version).

John and Cynthia are contributing authors to A Special Needs Planning Guide for Families (Jewish Family & Children's Service, n.d.), and the Passport to Independence: Home, Work and Community-a Manual for Families (Specialized Housing, Inc., 2002).

They are contributing faculty members for the Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) Elder and Disability Law Conference 2008, the 2nd Annual Conference of the Academy of Special Needs Planners, and the Massachusetts Bar Association Continuing Legal Education Trainings.

John and Cynthia are registered representatives with and securities are offered through LPL Financial, Member FINRA/SIPC. They are affiliated with Bay Financial Associates LLC and offer financial planning through Special Needs Financial Planning, LLC, a registered investment advisor, in Waltham, Massachusetts. Bay Financial Associates LLC and Special Needs Financial Planning LLC are not affiliated with nor endorsed by LPL Financial.

JOHN W. NADWORNY, CFP® ChFC

As a parent and professional, John serves on the Governor's Commission for Developmental Disabilities Services. He helped draft the Qualified Disabilities Savings Program proposal that has recently been submitted to President George W. Bush by the President's Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities. In his second term on the Governor's Commission, John was the co-chair of the subcommittee on developing an overall plan for private-public housing partnerships between families and the Department of Developmental Disabilities Services. John is a member of the Board of Directors of The Massachusetts Down Syndrome Association.

John and his wife, Susan, received Distinguished Citizens Awards from The Arc of Massachusetts in 1995 and 1999. They are an active family in Massachusetts Families Organizing for Change. John completed the Ironman USA Triathlon in 1999 to raise funds to help endow the Family-to-Family project, which was established to address Massachusetts's waiting list for residential services.

John has earned a Master of Business Administration from Babson College, a Master of Science from Bentley College, and a Bachelor of Science from Bridgewater State College. He holds the professional designations of CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ Practitioner, Chartered Financial Consultant, and Chartered Life Underwriter. He lives in Melrose, MA with his wife and three children.

CYNTHIA R. HADDAD, CFP®

As a result of her own experience with an adult brother with special needs, Cynthia has dedicated her financial planning practice to helping other families address their unique financial planning needs. She is currently a member of the Board of Directors for The Arc of Massachusetts, and serves on the subcommittee for the upcoming capital campaign.

Cynthia has served on the Central Middlesex Area Advisory Board for the Massachusetts Department of Mental Retardation and was a member of the committee for residential quality control. She is past chair of the Family-to-Family steering committee and has served as an advisor to the MARC Trust, Inc. (currently Planned Lifetime Assistance Network of Massachusetts, Inc.).

She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Finance and Economics from Simmons College in Boston. She holds the professional designation of CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ Practitioner and is a member of the FPA (Financial Planning Association). Cynthia lives in Belmont, MA with her husband and two children.