WHAT'S HAPPENING
EXPLORING THE BENEFITS OF THE CHARTERED SPECIAL NEEDS CONSULTANT DESIGNATION
Families caring for a person with special needs face complex and unique financial challenges. They need all the help they can get to prepare for the future.
PERSONAL CONNECTION: Thomas M. Brinker, Jr. is Adjunct Professor of Taxation and Special Needs Planning at The American College of Financial Services. He is responsible for teaching and course development in The College's Irwin Graduate School and Huebner School programs, and is director of the MassMutual Center for Special Needs.
This is why it is important to work with a financial advisor who has the specialized training necessary to help parents and caregivers plan for immediate and long-term considerations. A Chartered Special Needs Consultant® (ChSNC®) designation indicates that a service provider is equipped to provide you with the strategies and knowledge necessary to help these families thrive. ChSNC® planners are trained to provide assistance in disability law, government benefits, estate planning, income tax issues, special needs trusts, and other financial strategies families and loved ones need. As the father of a 26-year-old child with a disability, Thomas M. Brinker, Jr., LL.M., CPA is uniquely qualified to lead ChSNC®'s program at the MassMutual Center for Special Needs at The American College of Financial Services. Tom is aware of the complexity of preparing a financial plan to adequately protect a child. Tom explains that ChSNC® training addresses issues unique to families caring for individuals with special needs. His personal connection to this greatly underserved part of the community helps make the ChSNC® curriculum special.
As the father of a 26-year-old child with a disability, Thomas M. Brinker, Jr., LL.M., CPA is uniquely qualified to lead ChSNC®'s program at the MassMutual Center for Special Needs at The American College of Financial Services. Tom is aware of the complexity of preparing a financial plan to adequately protect a child. Tom explains that ChSNC® training addresses issues unique to families caring for individuals with special needs. His personal connection to this greatly underserved part of the community helps make the ChSNC® curriculum special. Through the ChSNC® program, professionals will augment their current financial and interpersonal skills with specialized skills focused on helping parents and caregivers plan for immediate and long-term considerations. They will learn to wisely and compassionately guide families through complex financial decisions and public benefit systems so they can gain the peace-of-mind they deserve. With the ChSNC®, professionals can give their careers a higher purpose and make a real difference in people's lives. The ChSNC® program offered by the American College of Financial Services consist of three training modules.
The course material covers important issues like advocacy, housing, guardianship, income tax planning, Medicaid, Supplemental Social Security Income and Social Security Disability Income qualification issues, aging out and various lifetime planning issues. Creating a plan for a family having a child with special needs requires a more comprehensive lifetime and estate plan than traditional financial planning engagements. The American College program provide this training and awards the participant with the nationally respected ChSNC® certification.
One in five individuals are reported to have a disability. These include: autism, Asperger's, Downs syndrome, and a multitude of physical and/or intellectual disabilities This is a greatly underserved community. It is a constant challenge to find answers to difficult questions. Major companies have limited internal educational programs; typically, one to two days of training as contrasted to the College's comprehensive special needs planning curriculum. The American College's program is the only program that focuses on this very special community and provides the educational resources needed to assist families caring for those with special needs.
This training is beneficial to parents, accountants, financial planners (CFP, CLU and CHFC), social security experts, social workers, educators, attorneys and anyone in the field of human services. Practices can expand as a result of obtaining the ChSNC® designation. Earning the trust of one family in this community may create the opportunity to serve many other families in the special needs community. This program prepares you for intricacies that most practitioners are not aware of and provides an expertise that traditional financial planners simply do not have.
ABOUT THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF FINANCIAL SERVICES
Since 1927, The American College of Financial Services has helped professionals realize their career goals through rigorous and practical education in financial services. Our mission is clear — we are committed to benefitting society by delivering the highest quality education to the professionals entrusted with the public's financial well-being. That commitment drives us to a focus on student success, relevant course material, and discovering new solutions for financial security. Learn more at theamericancollege.edu
NO FITNESS EQUIPMENT? NO PROBLEM
If you are ready to jumpstart your 2021, check out the brand-new Special Olympics workouts featuring WWE superstar Drew McIntyre.
Special Olympics and WWE® athletes collaborated to create a workout designed to help get you strong and fit. You will be able to complete a full-body workout using a variety of equipment found in a Unified Fitness Kit that Special Olympics is distributing to students at select Unified Champion Schools® across the United States.
OLYMPIC RINGS: Drew McIntyre leads a brand new workout.
It is not a problem if you don't get the kit. Special Olympics made sure that everyone can do these workouts by substituting equipment with things from around the house. For example, you can replace an exercise ball with a small pillow, or use stuffed animals instead of cones.
"I love getting creative with my workout routines. I watch YouTube videos for inspiration, and when they call for fitness equipment that I don't own, I substitute it with objects from around the house," shares Elizabeth Price, Special Olympics US Youth Ambassador.
WWE Superstar Drew McIntyre leads this online workout and encourages you to, "Get moving. Stay active. Keep pushing forward. Aim to work out five times each week and balance your training with plenty of rest and hydration." This online resource joins a host of other downloadable fitness resources and workout ideas. Put on your workout clothes and get ready to sweat! specialolympics.org/class-is-in-session. •
TJ NELLIGAN: LIVE LIKE SEAN
An entrepreneur, advocate, and former Chairman & CEO of the 2014 Special Olympics USA Games, TJ Nelligan is a man of action who has made it his life's mission to benefit others.
LIVES IMPACTED: TJ Nelligan and son Sean; Sean taught those around him simple but important lessons: to be happy, accepting, and have a pure love of life.
I nspired after his son's sudden passing, Live Like Sean provides a first-person perspective of seeing the world through the eyes of his son with special needs who taught TJ the world more than it could ever teach him. It took TJ years of climbing the corporate ladder of success to learn that happiness is not a future destination. A life built on the expectation of future rewards makes it difficult to enjoy the journey because the end is never reached.
When TJ began this journey as the parent of a child with special needs, he was filled with anger and disappointment, wondering how he would raise a child with so many issues. TJ never realized how many lessons Sean would ultimately teach him. Sean Nelligan was born with intellectual disabilities that never prevented him from living a full, rich life, or from pro foundly touching the lives of everyone around him.
Live Like Sean shares the story of TJ's son that is very relatable to other parents with special needs children and how their lives may not be what had been originally planned, though these do not make them any less spectacular. As soon as we begin to view the world through their eyes, we can see more clearly. Live Like Sean provides a first-person perspective of seeing the world through a special needs person and that life lessons can come from the most unlikely places. With each chapter of the book, readers can learn major lessons Sean teaches us about life, through a series of engaging, funny, and uplifting stories. Live Like Sean describes how the experience of being Sean's father changed TJ's life for the better, and offers readers the chance to let Sean's love, kindness, and gratitude touch their lives, too.
To learn more about the book Live Like Sean please visit: tjnelligan.com
Title: Live Like Sean: Important Life Lessons from My Special-Needs Son
Author: TJ Nelligan with Theresa Foy DiGeronimo
Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group Press
Publication Date: January 19, 2021
Paperback: 191 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1626347571
Available at: amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com