MEC Live Event - The Essential Elements of a Successful Special Needs Plan
The Essential Elements of a Successful Special Needs Plan
Financial planning for a family with a loved one with special needs is one of the most satisfying services a planner can provide. A comprehensive financial plan should address the biggest concerns that people have when protecting a loved one with special needs. The special needs financial planner needs to know how public benefits can be used to stretch the financial resources of the person with a disability. Our session will provide financial planners, attorneys, trust officers, and settlement planners with an overview of the information needed to prepare a successful financial plan for a person with disabilities. The session will cover both financial and non-financial planning elements that are essential. Best practices in creating letters of intent, properly implementing and managing insurance, and addressing the questions of attendees will be among the areas highlighted in our session.
Mike Walther, Founder and President, Oak Wealth Advisors
Mike Walther received his BS degree in Economics and MBA with a concentration in Accounting from Vanderbilt University. He holds the CPA/PFS designation, is a Certified Financial Planner and is a Chartered Financial Analyst. Mike founded Oak Wealth Advisors in 2008. His passion for helping people led him to open the firm so that families with loved ones with special needs could access fiduciary financial advice and build plans for their futures with advisors required to put their clients’ interests ahead of their own.
Mike has taught classes, lectured, and built educational content related to special needs planning for multiple universities. He has contributed to several books and broadcasts with the intent of sharing his knowledge and experience in the special needs community.
Mike’s brother, who is on the Autism spectrum, motivates him every day.
Ryan McGuire, Senior Consultant and Director of Innovation, Oak Wealth Advisors
Ryan first met Oak Wealth Advisors founder, Mike Walther, when Mike guest lectured about special needs financial planning in one of his classes at the University of Wisconsin. In the decade that has followed, Ryan has taught courses at the University of Wisconsin while deepening his knowledge and experience in financial planning and wealth management. He is a CFP® practitioner. He also obtained the Certified Private Wealth Advisor® designation issued by the Investments & Wealth Institute after completing the course work at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
In addition to his personal experiences living with a sister with special needs, he has increased his technical knowledge of special needs financial planning. He earned the Chartered Special Needs Consultant®(ChSNC®) designation from the American College in 2018, and, in 2020, was admitted as a member of the Academy of Special Needs Planners. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Wispact, Inc., an organization that manages pooled Special Needs Trusts for over 3,000 individuals in Wisconsin.
