“Carpe diem”. Seize the day.
Any of you out there who know me, this is one of my mantras. But once in a while I need to be a little bit realistic and think about the future.
I have been thinking a lot lately about Disability Allowance and David’s €188 per week. I always assumed that this is enough for David to have a good quality of life. But deep down I know it is not.
From that €188 per week David should be able to live independently and pay his way. But there is no way he can do this on €188 per week. If he wasn’t living at home then David would have to pay for rent, food, transport, electricity, clothes, mobile phones, laptop and eating out. Did I mention haircuts, hobbies, clothing, toiletries, holidays, he loves going for a cups of tea, the list is endless.
After doing a budget sheet for David (email me if you like to do your own), it is now obvious to me that David can live a comfortable enough life while I pay all his bills. What I need to figure out who is going to pay all these bills when I can’t because they are not going away.
The latest thing I have heard is that some people in residential care are now been asked to give a voluntary contribution towards there stay. All the government seem to be doing is cutting entitlements.
My final thought on this matter is I don’t want my other children to pay for David’s bills when I am not alive to take care of him. All I can do is my best to try and save as much of his €188 per week now, in the hope that this will be enough to maintain his standard of living. I would also be afraid that if I open a bank account for him and he did have a lot of savings in the future it may impact his entitlements, which he can’t afford to lose.
This article was written by Dolores Crowley of Financial Wellbeing. To find out more about Special Needs Trust contact Dolores on 021 482 3635 or email dolores@financialwellbeing.ie