From Our Founder
Dear Reader,
Sometimes you realize that everything you have ever done has been preparing you for something different. This is how I feel about AblePlanning.com. For the last 27 years my career has been focused on investing and financial planning. I have had the honor of helping my clients to manage wealth while pursuing personal financial goals. I have helped my clients prepare for major financial events like college tuition bills, retirement, and passing wealth on to their heirs. I continue to actively serve people in this capacity every day.
We all have worries that can impact us deeply and for me what keeps me up at night are the very unique and difficult challenges facing individuals with special needs. I have created this website to specifically help those facing these issues. Our goal is to provide easily accessible special needs financial planning to the parents and guardians of this underserved population. If someone you care about faces an uncertain future due to a disability then AblePlanning.com is built for you.
My “Why” is my son Harry. He has autism and intellectual disabilities. For a long time, my wife and I hoped that the therapies and focused special education efforts would enable him to live an independent life. As he has gotten older it has become clear to us that we need to face certain realities. Harry will need support for the rest of his life. Through our planning efforts we are building a safety net for him. This includes utilizing financial vehicles like ABLE accounts and legal strategies including a special needs trust.
These issues have forced me to face my own mortality. Harry’s sisters will become his advocates when my wife and I can no longer fulfill that role. We have opened up the conversation on what this will require of them in the future. As a way of supporting this, we are providing them with the option to engage with a corporate trustee on their brother’s behalf should they need to.
We are determined to prevent Harry from being a financial burden to his sisters in the future. We know looking out for him may be challenging but the pre-planning we are doing will help minimize the stress from a financial perspective.
My goal in creating AblePlanning.com is to provide you and your special needs loved one(s) with a holistic resource that will have a positive impact on the outcome of their success and yours. Planning for special needs is complicated. It should not be done in isolation. As a parent of a special needs child, I know that I need to make sure that I am planning for my entire family’s well-being. If I don’t, I am not only jeopardizing my own goals but Harry’s safety net as well.
Our mission is to bring you the convenience of online planning with the added benefit of having a personal trusted advisor delivering customized strategies designed to meet to your unique circumstances. We are ready to engage in direct planning with you through our online planning programs guided by our personal advisory process.
Our efforts to build this site are ongoing, and we hope with your feedback to continue to improve your user experience.
With Gratitude,
Stephen E. Norton
ChSNC®, AIF®, RICP®