Disability and Finances with Mike and Rebekkah
On this episode of Financially Naked: Stories from The Financial Gym, our host is Mike Poulin, Level 2 Trainer and Certified Military Trainer, based out of the DC Gym, and he is joined by Rebekkah, Client Experience Associate.
Podcast Notes
March is Developmental Disabilities awareness month, which was started by President Ronald Regan in 1987.
Rebekkah has been a client at The Gym for about three years, and she worked in the field of disabilities, prior to working at The Gym. She has a brother who lives with her that has an autism diagnosis and he was the reason she joined The Gym as a client originally.
Philip is Rebekkah’s younger brother by 13 months and they have always been very close. He is is affected by social situations, managing money, change, and he gets overwhelmed when there is a lot going on around him. He likes cats and reading books.
Rebekkah and her brother moved to Washington State just before the pandemic, so everything that happened with COVID was wrapped up along with adjusting to the move. The weather in Washington is nicer and there is more space to spend outside, and they didn’t have that before.
Rebekkah and Philip lost their mom when Rebekkah was 18 years old. She moved two hours away from him, from Phoenix to Flagstaff, and was going to college. When her father remarried, it was not a positive roommate situation. One day, she got a call from Philip and he said he wasn’t going to live there anymore. She picked him up and he has been living with her ever since.
When he moved in, they weren’t getting his SSI payments, and Rebekkah was working a very entry-level position. Flagstaff is expensive and she lived in a one-bedroom apartment with her cousin too. At the time, she didn’t have an emergency fund and she needed to find a bigger place to live.
Due to the passing of their mother, Philip receives SSDI, and one of the first challenges of getting it switched over was realizing that the income could disappear. Rebekkah had moved and she missed a notice that a form was needed. They were impacted by a reduced check for two months. Another time, there was a question about him being disabled and another form was required. If she missed it, his disability pay would have stopped.
Working with The Gym was helpful, because Joy helped her navigate the challenges she was facing. Philip cannot wait to join The Gym, because he wants to understand his finances and make good decisions.
Rebekkah has an anxiety disorder that affects her purchasing decisions. She has conversations with Philip about money and she is trying to empower him to make good decisions. He is very visual and breaking things down is helpful to him.
When saving for an emergency fund, it is important to remember there is a dollar amount a person with disabilities can have, and anything over that amount impacts SSI payments.
Rebekkah will talk about emergency funds forever, because they are so important. She recommends keeping copies of everything you fill out and send to Social Security and following up on what you’ve sent in.
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