How will your child with special needs be provided for after you are gone? Donna Lankford had this very real concern for her son. She shares her journey in finding the right solution for her family. She is open to hearing from any parents of children with special needs who want more information or just a listening ear. You can email her at DonnaLankford@wealthwave.com or visit her website.
Emmalou Penrod
This is our continuing series on How Money Works. And today I’m talking to Donna Lankford. And she’s a financial educator. Donna, welcome.
Donna Lankford
Thank you so much. I’m really, really excited to be here and talk about what we do.
Emmalou Penrod
Well, and we’re excited to hear your story. So how long have you been a financial educator?
Donna Lankford
Well, it’s been coming up on two years, when I started, I had originally the guidance from someone else. And I realized, although he was honest, he did not understand my personal situation. And through some friends, I found an organization that was very, very helpful to me with what I needed. And so then I decided that I wanted to help others and became a part of that team.
Emmalou Penrod
You know, you brought up an interesting point, you said, you, you kept looking till you found someone who understood your specific situation. So what led you to want to become a financial educator?
Donna Lankford
Well, because I am a part of a very unique community, I am a special needs parent. And our needs are different than the general population. And when I finally got the answers that I needed for myself and my son, I wanted to help other people with this and kind of cut through all the noise that’s out there, and really specifically focus on families who have special needs children, and be able to help them.
Emmalou Penrod
Well, that makes sense. So you mentioned how your needs are different. Can you give us an example?
Donna Lankford
Well, yeah, a very good example is my son. His name’s Chris, he’s 26. And he has autism. And he will never live independently, he lives with me. And the plan is, he will always live with me, which is great. I love that. But most people raise children, and they eventually leave the home and lead independent lives and have families and pay their bills, our children don’t. And so our financial needs are very, very different. They’re different for me, and my retirement future. And then I also have to plan for my son’s financial needs until the day he is no longer here. Not till the day I’m no longer here. But for the day, he’s no longer here. So again, our needs are very different. And a lot of financial educators are planners. Although they’re sincere, they just really don’t understand that. And so again, I really wanted to provide that for other special needs, families, so they’re not confused and wondering, what do I do? Because it’s a huge need, and everybody needs to plan for their child’s future.
Emmalou Penrod
That’s true. And you mentioned finding that right educator, or financial advisor, who understood, so what made you know you had found the right place? You mentioned a team?
Donna Lankford
Yes, because the educator I found actually has a special needs son. And so immediately we spoke the same language. I did not have to explain to her. So many things I had to explain to this other person. And again, I’m not faulting anyone else. But I found someone who absolutely understood, spoke my language, understood the needs, understood my concerns and worries, and was able to help me set up my son’s future and my future. So now I have peace of mind. I know he’ll be taken care of when I’m gone. And I want to do that for other people.
Emmalou Penrod
So had you decided to be a financial educator before you met this person?
Donna Lankford
No, and, actually, I don’t claim to have a background in this, but I have learned so much. And basically, I have found that if I can learn it, anybody can learn it. But it’s mostly a hard thing. It’s mostly like, I know what it’s like to worry about our children. And I don’t want other people worrying about it. Because our children’s needs. Truthfully, when you have a special needs child, their needs are immediate. You’re constantly meeting those needs. And there’s very, very little time to address these other important things because there’s not a lot of time. And so after I learned what to do and realized it’s not that complicated, I want to learn how to do it and again, help other people. So that’s why I am doing what I’m doing now.
Emmalou Penrod
Do you feel that most parents really understand how money works?
Donna Lankford
No, I don’t and I think even within my special needs, community and outside of it. Again, just being a parent is busy. It’s super busy. And again, it’s so easy to backburner this kind of thing. And especially if you’re working for a company and you’ve got some financial things set up with them, you kind of think you’re okay. And in reality, you’re probably not. And so there could be that false sense of security, like, everything’s fine. You know, I’ve got this with my company. They’ve provided this, I contribute this much, and we’ll be good. But in reality, maybe not. And so most families don’t know what they don’t know. And that’s kind of what we do, my team and I, that we’re educators. We want to help explain. If it’s good, great. if it’s not, let me kind of help you maybe make some other decisions. But we’re really here just to help and make sure families are set up to be financially secure as they retire.
Emmalou Penrod
You mentioned other members of the team. So while you don’t have this strong background in finances, and all of the ins and outs of the, actually the myriad of options that are available to parents, right, you have access to other people who do. Is that right?
Donna Lankford
So true. The woman, her name is Jane, and she’s the one who helped me, but she is really well versed, really well versed in all that stuff. And so again, that’s why we work as a team. Because if there’s something I don’t know, I’ve got my resource right there that she can help with. So we’re set up strongly to be able to address any issue that comes our way with a family. If it’s something I can’t do, I know I’ve got someone who can help. So again, we are there just to help educate, and direct.
Emmalou Penrod
And raising a child with special needs is, I understand, three to four times as expensive. I think they came up with the national estimate that it cost $250,000 to raise a child to age 18. But if you have a child with special needs, you have to add into that medical care, therapy, educational support, and it really racks up. And I think most parents are thinking of just the immediate. I’ve just got to cover these immediate costs right now. I can’t think about putting money aside.
Donna Lankford
You just hit the nail on the head. And it’s not irresponsibility on their part. It’s just overwhelmed. And again, it is as you know, special needs run the gamut. I mean, some are extremely needy, some are not so much, but they’re definitely more needy than the average child. And a lot of times, we’ve got single moms, because for some, sometimes the marriages don’t last in this. And if they’re working and they’re the mom, and they’re trying to, you know, they don’t have the time. Or it may be a one income family, because there’s got to be someone home to help care for that kid. So they’re just busy beyond what a lot of people can imagine. And so again, that’s why we want to come in and help them. We want to streamline this process. We want to explain, these are the things that we recommend you get done. And it’s not just, it could be anywhere from, Do you have guardianship of your child? And if not, can we help you with that. We kind of have an umbrella of things we want to help with and make it easy, kind of give them a checklist. And in their time they can get that checklist done. And then they’re good. Then they know they’ve got their kid covered. And they have that peace of mind. And then they can just keep focused on their child and their child’s needs.
Emmalou Penrod
You mentioned several points I want to pursue. First, the comment that, my observation has been, that having this child with special needs, put so much stress on a marriage, it quite often breaks it and you end up with the single parent which is just twice as hard. And that’s really hard to see. It also reminds me, as you talked, reminds me of the difference between going through a drive thru where the food is pretty much prepared and they just give you what’s already been done and going to a restaurant where you can customize your meal and get what best serves you. It sounds to me like you’re taking the time and effort to really understand these parents and their specific needs. And as you said, each case is different.
Donna Lankford
Right. And I love that analogy you just gave because that is really it. And because each case is different, it has to be specialized for that unique family. So although my partners and I were all special needs parents, we always, like I said, we speak the language, but we have to dive in to that specific family and get details in what those needs are. Because as we look at the special needs child’s future, and what their needs are for when the parent’s gone, that the value. What it’s going to cost to take care of that child will differ between families depending on their level of need. So it really does need to be specialized for each family.
Emmalou Penrod
I agree. And I love your team, I’ve had the opportunity to interview each one of them, Jane and Karen. And even though you have that commonality, you all have a child with special needs, and that’s kind of what brought you together, you still have slightly different stories, slightly different approaches, and backgrounds. What areas do you cover? Where are you based? What states can you help out?
Donna Lankford
So I live in McKinney, Texas. So I’m in Texas. And then so, I know we can do Texas and Oklahoma. But that’s not a deterrent for anyone just calling and asking a question or getting in touch and asking a question, any state. We’re so open to that, because we have resources. If we can’t help in that state, we’ll find somebody to help. Because, again, if someone just has a phone call, a number to call to get a ball rolling. That’s huge in our community. So yes, we’re specifically Texas and Oklahoma. But we’d love to help anybody, anybody who needs some help, because bottom line, our kids. If we don’t get them set up correctly, it’s left to others who don’t love our kids. So it’s really our heart here, more than anything, that we understand. We want to help people.
Emmalou Penrod
Donna, I love your compassion. I love your genuine concern. You’ve been there, you’ve done that, you know what it’s like, and you’re all about helping parents. So how do people contact you?
Donna Lankford
So again, I’m in McKinney, they’re welcome to give me a call or text me. I can give my phone number if that’s okay.
Emmalou Penrod
Yeah, you can do that. And I can put it on the website as well. And email and website. Yeah, yeah.
Donna Lankford
Yes. I mean, I’m so open to it. Because again, you know, I feel like this, these are my friends. I could say, you know, I welcome a phone call. Because if I can help you, I want to do that. So or if you just need someone to talk to you, because it can be just so overwhelming. Sometimes you just need someone to listen to you. And that’s part of this too. So please call me, email me, anything.
Emmalou Penrod
There is really, truly a kinship with parents of children with special needs. I’ll have this information on my website, but for those who are just listening, you want to go ahead and say it.
Donna Lankford
Yeah, so my phone number is 214-937-0008. And then you can email me at DonnaLankford@wealthwave.com.
Emmalou Penrod
All right. Donna, thank you. You’re gonna help a lot of parents.
Donna Lankford
Yay. I’m so thankful for you doing this. And please, anyone listening, if you just need anything, give me a call. I’d love to talk to you.
Emmalou Penrod
You have a great day Donna.
Donna Lankford
Thanks so much.