While the daily headlines are filled with down housing and stock markets, there are still other pitfalls that can have an even worse effect on your savings. Events happen everyday that wreak havoc on personal savings.
“I’m glad I called Allsup because they held my hand all the way through the process,” Mrs. Klistoff said. Yet, even with Allsup’s expert help, her initial application and disability appeal to the Social Security Administration were turned down. This is typical, and Allsup representatives told her to expect the initial refusals, but she still felt the sting.
If there is a social worker or case manager at the hospital or clinic where you get medical care, they might be able to help you. You can also ask your doctor is there is a social worker or case manager they can refer you to. There may or may not be a charge for this service.
You can also go with a Certificate of Deposit (CD). This will give you the highest return for your money, though most CDs require a large amount to open and you have access to the money only when it matures; cashing out before that date will result in stiff fines. That’s not going to help when you’re already hard up for money.
There are two different types of Social Security Disability. For either program, you must be considered disabled. Which of the two you might qualify for depends primarily on your work history and your earnings. While both of these programs provide assistance to the disabled, they are two very different programs. The qualifications are different and the amount of money you can get is different.
Second, as you reflect on the past year, write down everything you did right. Nothing succeeds like success and this is the time to capture what’s working well for you. Then do the same for what went wrong. Do you find yourself overspending? Do you have a hard time tracking what you spend? Perhaps you just need to get your income up? Are there any loose ends that need attention such as making a will or buying long adaptive devices for persons with disabilities? Are you making good progress towards building wealth and/or paying cash for the nicer things you’d like to earn? Have you started saving a down payment for a home? Write out specific goals that can be measured. “Save more.” is too vague. “Save $200 every month towards a down payment.” is better.
This principle goes right along with the previous one. You should never rely exclusively on a mortgage lender to tell you how much you can afford to spend on a home. A lender can tell you how much you qualify for, but this is not necessarily the amount you should spend on a home. Only you can determine what that amount should be. This is because the lender is only concerned with whether you make the monthly payments and not how this affects you and your family. You might continue to make the monthly payments each month on the mortgage while the rest of the budget is so tight that you find it difficult to make ends meet. In many cases, the family has to give up other items like vacation plans or other fun things simply to pay off the home.
Today, she is handling daily activities a little better. She is able to bathe herself again, and she can walk a bit more than she used to. She still battles the effects of multiple sclerosis, however, and sometimes she loses her train of thought during conversations–a common characteristic of MS.
