The Special Needs
Planning Guide
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Special Needs Planning:
Help Secure Your Child's Financial Future
New book demystifies financial planning
for families
Baltimore, MD February 1, 2008 According to
a recent survey from The U.S. Census Bureau, approximately
51.2 million people said they have a disability; for 32.5
million of them the disability is severe. These striking
statistics highlight the need for functional resources that
over one fifth of the parents in this country can use to
plan and help secure their child's future-and the future
of their family as a whole.
The Special Needs Planning Guide: How
to Prepare for Every Stage of Your Child's Life
(Nadworny & Haddad, Brookes Publishing, April 2007) is the
first of its kind, and provides a clear roadmap and set
of guidelines to demystify the challenges of planning for
individuals with disabilities, and their families. For over
a decade, authors John Nadworny and Cynthia Haddad, have
been providing special needs financial planning services
to families throughout the country. Having family members
of their own with special needs, (John, a son with Down
Syndrome, and Cindy, a brother with intellectual and developmental
disabilities) they are able to combine their personal experience
with their professional expertise in this area. Their personal
connections also allow them to encompass the many important
aspects of planning that other financial planners not directly
connected to the personal aspects of having a loved one
with special needs do not include, or even think about.
Both informative and practical, The
Special Needs Planning Guide provides a clear
framework within which planning should occur, covering family
issues, emotional needs, financial issues, legal considerations
and government benefits. The book includes helpful checklists,
forms, a glossary of terms parents can use throughout the
financial planning process, and a CD-ROM containing a financial
planning timeline and a printable Letter of Intent that
lets parents communicate key information, concerns, and
desires to a future caretaker. It is an essential resource
for any parent of a child with special needs. Marty Wyngaarden
Krauss, the book's foreword author and Provost and Senior
Vice President of Academic Affairs at Brandeis University,
says "this book educates, encourages, and empowers families".
This book acknowledges the complexity of the process, but
gives a useful structure so that a comprehensive and sustainable
plan can be achieved. It carefully explains why planning
really does matter, and then provides the tools necessary
to plan in a highly accessible way.
John and Cynthia are Registered
Representatives with and offer securities through LPL Financial,
Member FINRA/SIPC.
Financial planning services are offered through Bay Financial
Advisors, LLC, in Waltham, MA, a Registered Investment Advisor.
Web site: http://www.specialneedsplanning.com.
Contact: Cynthia R. Haddad
Phone: 781-893-0909 x253
Email: chaddad@specialneedsplanning.com
Web: http://www.specialneedsplanning.com
Contact: Melanie L. Allred, Marketing Manager
Phone: 410.337.9580 Fax: 443.279.0016
Email: mallred@brookespublishing.com
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About the authors:
John W. Nadworny, CFP®, ChFC, Special Needs Financial
Planning, LLC, Massachusetts. As a parent and professional,
John has served on the Governor's Commission on Mental
Retardation for three terms. He is currently the chair
of the subcommittee on transitioning from school to adult
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 Massachusetts
Department of Mental Retardation. He also served on the
Family-to-Family Advisory Board. John is a past member
of the Board of Directors of The Arc of East Middlesex.
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.
Cynthia R. Haddad, CFP®, Special
Needs Financial Planning, LLC, Massachusetts. 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.
She was honored to co-chair, along with her husband Mark,
the 50th anniversary gala celebration for The Arc of Massachusetts
in September 2005.
She is a contributing author to A Special
Needs Planning Guide for Families (Jewish Family &
Children's Service, n.d.), a collaborative publication
between colleagues to aid families with special needs
in the planning process.
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 has her Bachelor of Arts degree in Finance
and Economics from Simmons College in Boston.
About Brookes Publishing Co.:
Brookes Publishing has been a leading provider of resources
on disabilities, education, child development, early intervention,
communication and language, behavior, and mental health
since 1978. An independent company, Brookes Publishing
is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland. Visit the Brookes
Publishing website at www.brookespublishing.com.
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