Life & Social Skills

Life & Social Skills

Ages: 22+

Money Management: What to Know for a Secure Future

Money Management: What to Know for a Secure Future

Learning how to handle your finances helps you to live more independently. Understanding how to pay your bills and budget what you can spend on essential things ensures you have enough money. Whether you have income from work or government benefits, keeping track of your money and saving in ways that don't interfere with your benefits gives you security.

Many people need help learning about financial issues and managing their own money. It’s important to make sure you get advice from people you can trust such as family members, a financial professional or counselor or a support staff.

If you work with a financial professional, consider seeking a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and/or a fee-based planner. They usually charge an hourly fee, which may seem higher than other methods of payment, but typically means they are independent and avoid conflicts of interest. Ideally seek a CFP with experience helping autistic people or those who have other disabilities. You can research the advisor's background on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)/FINRA public database at https://brokercheck.finra.org. Make sure you understand how they earn money from advising you. Most of all, be careful not to use someone who might take advantage of you.

Using Visuals as a Learning Tool

It can be helpful to see ideas and processes visually. If something is confusing you can discuss it with someone close to you or your support staff or case worker with the local board of disability services. Ask if they could make you a visual that explains a process or what to do step by step. The Milestones Visual Supports Tool Kit provides information, strategies and tips.

Everyone uses visuals to help them do things like follow directions, so use visuals that make sense for you. For example, a banking app could help you SEE what you are spending your money on.

Learning Basic Money Management Skills Step by Step

If you don't have solid money management knowledge, begin talking about the finances of daily life, a little at a time, with family members or others you trust. If any of these are a struggle, you can ask for more help. Move to the next topic as you learn each one. A useful resource for learning basic financial information is bankrate.com.

A budget is a way to track how much you have to spend every month for your basic needs, what you will save for the future and how much you can use for fun. You want to make sure you pay your bills on time and take care of your essential needs.

Set a budget for how much you can spend on what. A great way to make sure you pay things on time is to set up automatic payments for routine bills like a car loan or utilities (ie gas, electritiy, water, cell phone) so you don’t see the money as available in your account.

A monthly budget template can be very helpful such as the one available online or in Microsoft Excel or Word. In Excel or Word it is one of the template options if you click on New Document. The template does the math for you once you enter your budget information.

Plan for the Unexpected Expenses of Life

Everyone experiences unexpected costs. It's frustrating but a reality that it's important to save money to help you deal with. Your car may break down. An applicance stops working. You or a loved one might get sick and need care that costs more money than you expected. Saving some emergency money for these kinds of unexpected expenses can help you avoid needing to borrow money or delaying paying for important needs.

If you rent an apartment, basic upkeep such as something breaking is the responsibility of the landlord. Submit your repair requests in writing to keep a record.

Before spending money on a repair think about what place might be good to take care of it. Get advice from a trusted family member or friend. See if someone you know has a great plumber, handyman, car repair place, or other professional you might need. Did they charge your friend a fair price? If you are struggling with health insurance issues, see if someone you know and trust has experience with it who could help you.

Money Management Basics to Learn Checklist

  • Income (money you receive from working, government benefits or trusts) is how people pay for things they need to live including where they live, how they get around the community and what they can do for leisure.
  • Keep track of your benefits reporting. Check on the requirements. For example, you have to report to Social Security if your income or job changes. You need to send in pay stubs and how many hours you worked each month.
  • How to use money to pay for things. Different ways you can pay such as cash and check (much less popular now), Venmo, CashApp, debit card, credit card, Apple Pay, etc.
  • How to save money for different purposes, for short and long term goals. For example, saving for a game versus a bike or a vacation trip versus a house or car. Please note: It’s important to keep in mind that if you are receiving government benefits, you will need to be careful not to save more than $2,000. (Note this amount may change so you should always check the current limit.) You can instead save money in an ABLE account. (See the next section of this article and the Law & Finance article in the Milestones Autism Planning (MAP) Tool for more information about ABLE accounts.)

Understanding Expenses, Budgeting and What Things Cost

  • Keeping a sensible budget in mind when shopping online or in person, avoiding the temptation of buying unnecessary items.
  • There are monthly expenses for where you live, whether that is an apartment, home or group living place (often called congregate settings). There will be bills for rent/mortgage and utilities (electric, gas, water). Utilities may be included in the cost of rent or mortgage. Learn about other typical household expenses such as groceries, internet access, streaming services, cell phones and how to control and project costs.
  • Grocery shopping with cost savings in mind
    • Having a shopping list to buy what you need to make healthy meals.
    • Comparing costs.
    • Using coupons.
    • How to look for deals.
    • How to use food stamps effectively.
  • How to determine what something should cost and its value. For example, spending $50 on a good pair of shoes that will be used daily for a year or more vs spending $50 on makeup or virtual outfits or other things for your video game characters.
  • Using credit cards and debit cards. Understand that with a debit card the money will be deducted from your bank account. With a credit card you will owe the money and that it will be due in the next month. Keep your cards and card numbers safe. Know how much interest you will be charged if you only pay the minimum amount due. Understand how a late payment will impact your credit score.
  • Consequences of not managing your money or accounts well include
    • If you don’t pay your bills on time, It can hurt your credit score and make it hard to get a loan.
    • If you don't make your payments on your car or house they can be taken from you.
    • If you overdraw your checking account they can charge you expensive fees.

Keeping Track of Your Essential Financial Information

  • Keeping track of your bank account and understanding your banking statements so your account is not overdrawn which means making sure you don’t spend more than the money you have in your account. There are fees for overdrawing your account.
  • Understanding taxes on your income and keeping track of related information during the year that you will need to file your taxes.
  • Understanding what is on a paycheck/paystub. Aask someone in HR to walk you through reading your paystub.
  • How to organize your financial materials, and access your bank accounts, debit or credit card statements, and other bills online. Understand how long your bank statements are available online and how many years of documents you need to have for tax purposes.
The Milestones free autism Helpdesk is here to support you. We can connect you with resources and provide you with information.

Setting Up an ABLE Account and a Word about Benefits

If you receive government benefits based on income limits such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Medicaid, be mindful of how much money you have in your name. It is counted as your income for these need-based programs. Set up an ABLE account, which is a special saving account for people with disabilities that does not affect needs-based benefits such as Medicaid or Supplemental Security Income (SSI). It may have different names in different states, for example in Ohio it's called a STABLE account.

You can also work with your family to set up a special needs trust, which is a legal arrangement that lets a physically or mentally ill person, or someone chronically disabled, have access to funding without potentially losing the benefits provided by public assistance programs. You can have both an ABLE account and a Special Needs Trust if you would like.

This OCALI workshop video gives information about STABLE accounts and special needs trusts.

A Need or a Want

Is an item something you need or want? A need is something that is necessary such as rent or mortgage, heat in the winter and things for you to be healthy such as a prescription medicine or healthy food. A video game is something you want for fun.

Will the item last a long time or is it for something you want to do today for fun? Everyone likes to enjoy a treat once in a while, but it is important to understand how much you can afford to spend and keep to a budget.

Handling Impulsive Buying

It can be very tempting to buy things you want. The challenge is stopping to think whether you can afford it. Many people have a hard time controlling their impulse to do things including buying something expensive.

Strategies to help you keep to your budget and resist impulsive buying

  • Ask your counselor, therapist or your support services person or case worker with the local board of disability services to help you.

  • Have an accountability partner when you shop in-person or online. Don’t hide purchases from them. Ask them for support in making good choices.

  • Set up how much money you can afford to spend each month on things that are for fun. Use a white board on your wall or an app or note in your phone to keep track of how much you’ve spent. If you are tempted to buy something, think about how much you have already spent this month and whether you have enough left in your fun budget to buy anything else this month.

  • If you are tempted to spend more money than you have budgeted for fun this month, try taking a deep breath and making a note on your calendar that you will wait for two weeks or the first day of the next month before thinking about buying it. Sometimes just waiting a little while can help you think about whether it’s important enough to spend money on it.

  • Make a visual like a dollar sign with a red X over it that you put near where you have your laptop or that you think about when you are tempted to buy something that is too expensive for your budget. Or you could put a calendar on your wall that you look at or mark off how many days are left in the month to see if you have money left to spend on something extra.

What to Do If You Are in Debt

Sometimes people make mistakes with money and end up owing money they can’t afford to pay. If this happens to you, it is very important to ask someone you trust who you think is good with money to help you. Your therapist, counselor or your support services person or case worker with the local board of disability services may also be helpful. There are Free Loan Associations (like the Hebrew Free Loan Association in Cleveland) in various locations that provide debt counseling as well as interest free loans. Be careful not to be taken advantage of by debt consolidation or credit counseling services that try to make money on people who are in debt. This Debt Consolidation Guide from Bankrate.com may be useful.

Avoiding Scams or Being Taken Advantage Of

Sadly there are some people and companies that try to make money by taking advantage of people. Be careful to protect your private information. No one should ask you for your social security number, bank account number, credit card numbers by email, text or phone call. If they do, it is likely a scam and do not continue with further communication.

There are different scams that are illegal ways people may try to make money off people, whether through phone, text, email or in person. For example, a phone call or email that says they are from the utility company and your payment for your electric bill didn’t go through so your electricity will be turned off if you don’t pay the bill right away. Then they may tell you to go buy a gift card for the amount they say and they have you read the codes off the card. This is a scam.

Banks, utilities, your credit card company and stores won’t call, email or text you for this type of financial information or ask you to buy gift cards. Do not share your personal information this way.

New scams happen regularly but your best defense is to never give money or buy a gift card or other item that someone tells you to. If you get a call supposedly from your bank, credit card or utility, you can tell them you can’t talk to them right now. Then hang up and call your bank, credit card or utility with the phone number you have on your bill or on their website and ask if there is an issue.

It can be helpful to take a picture of your credit, debit or other important cards (both front and back sides) so that if your wallet is stolen you have the information on each card including the number to call and the card number.

If you are tight on money it may be tempting to get a payday loan but those stores charge you an outrageous interest rate that will make your situation more difficult. Try to plan your money to last until your next paycheck which we know can be hard to do. Do you have family you could borrow from instead who might also be able to help you with your budgeting? Do you need to explore getting a loan from a Free Loan Association?

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