In addition to the more obvious items such as medical and dental expenses, a medical expense plan also allows for expenses due to a disability. These can include the care and feeding of a guide dog, and any special aids or equipment to help someone specifically with a disability. Some examples would include scanning and OCR equipment, bookplayers, notetakers, etc. These items can be very expensive, so having them exempted from payroll taxes of approximately 25% (or more) could result in significant savings.
When submitting a claim, you'll need to submit documentation describing how the item is used specifically by someone with a disability such as blindness. Before you can begin to submit a claim, you'll need to estimate the amount of all your expenses (including any special big-ticket purchases) that you expect to incur, and setup your FSA ahead of time with your employer, setting aside this amount. This is usually done several months before the calendar year being covered.
"Social Security disability, in general, only considers earned income, that derived directly from work. Pensions, with some exceptions are not considered, nor is interest or other forms of non-work income."
Note here the emphasis on income, and not on any retirement savings. This means that you likely can add a significant amount of SSDI to your retirement income by simply applying for it.
When you leave the house, it's sold, and you or your estate get any amount received over the amount of the reverse mortgage. If it doesn't sell for the full amount of the reverse mortgage, then the bank takes the loss.
A common question for a blind person to ask would be does it effect my social security, SSDI, or SSI? Well, it definitely is not taxable (all this money is tax free), and it definitely doesn't effect normal social security or Medicare or SSDI.
Since the money from a reverse mortgage is a loan, it's not considered income, and so It doesn't effect SSI directly, however, SSI (and I believe Medicaid) also has a restriction on the total amount of money you can have in the bank; therefore, you would need to setup your reverse mortgage so that you could spend all the money from any payment by the end of the month, or you might run into this limit.
More information on this topic can be found at: http://reversemortgage.org/Default.aspx?tabid=230 and http://www.reverse.org/More%20Q&A.HTM
"Supplemental security income (SSI) payments are tax-free. Don't include them in your income."
Another useful source is the IRS publication 907 on tax highlights (2007) for persons with disabilities at http://www.irs.gov/publications/p907/ar01.html .
The above tips are specific to the blind. There are certainly many more designed to help those of low income; you can call 2-1-1 to ask for assistance in finding such programs in your area.
First, start with don't borrow money. This means, if you owe money, try to work on paying it off. You could be paying 30% on credit card interest (which can be changed on you at any time), plus an entire collection of fees and penalties, for the privilege of borrowing this money. Find ways in your life to cut your expenses, and pay these debts off before doing anything else (don't invest, don't save for retirement, don't go out to dinner, just pay them off).
Here is where many people start to say they've got no money left to pay them off with. And here's where I say the work begins. You've got to look at every dollar that leaves your hand, and see if you have to have that item to live. One good place to question is entertainment expenses: cable TV, internet, satellite radio, shopping trips, trips to the movies.
Most people could change their entertainment lives by using the library and other free alternatives more, and paid services a lot less. They could use the internet at the library, or at a friends house, or even with a laptop and stopping somewhere that offers free wifi.
For more advanced help with debt management, contact the non-profit Consumer Credit Counseling Service at 1-800-720-9537.
The question is, will people start to look for ways to change their financial lives? One article I read recently proposed the idea that everyone has something that will motivate them to do so. For the author, it was his baby sleeping in a crib, while he faced mounting debt and possible eviction. Find your reason for doing better financially, then start looking; don't be afraid to ask others what they do to save money.
Also, recognize that being sad or upset can cause you to spend money that you shouldn't. This is detailed in an article at http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/02/12/misery-is-not-miserly-breaking-the-connection-between-spending-and-sadness
Next, after your high interest debt is paid off, look at your mortgage. Paying it off early is an investment guaranteed to return to you something around 7 percent. Adding a relatively small amount, around $100 a month, is likely to allow you to pay it off in half the scheduled time. That's right, you could turn a 30 year mortgage into a 15 year one by adding about $100 a month (your mortgage holder should be able to help you figure out the exact amount, or, just add what you can afford).
After your mortgage debt, look at your savings and investing. Probably your best bet is to consider maximizing your contributions to a retirement plan at work, especially so if it's one where the employer matches your contributions. In my opinion, when you're asked what to invest these retirement plan dollars in, choose only very conservative, very safe, options. A 4% return from fixed-rate savings is a whole lot better than a 10% loss from the market. Playing with the stock market is not a place where I think you should try to better your financial picture.
That being said, if you feel that you really want to be part of the market, you should only consider what are called "index" funds, which invest in the market as a whole, and not a subset of individual stocks. Even using index funds though, it's possible to lose money. For a slightly more positive view on saving via the market see http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/02/26/the-vanguard-catch-22/
Don't have a retirement plan to invest in? Go out and create your own. You can just buy CDs, or put your money in a money-market account. You can get a bit more creative and buy I bonds from the U.S. treasury, which are guaranteed to return a rate higher than that of inflation.
You can open a traditional IRA (if you can take the chance of "locking up" your money for many years) or a "Roth IRA" using any of these investments. In addition to the many other advantages a Roth IRA holds (such as being able to withdraw your contributions at any time without a penalty), a disabled person may withdraw the earnings as well, at any time, without having to pay a penalty or taxes.
I skipped over the question: "when you have low-interest debt, is it better to pay it off or to invest?" While I simply came out for the "pay it off" viewpoint, here's an article which discusses the pro's and con's a little more: http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/26/the-constant-tug-should-i-invest-or-should-i-pay-off-debt
Don't invest in real estate or anything else where you could possibly lose your savings. don't save with life insurance options that can confuse the issue terribly when you try and mix saving with insurance. This is usually called "universal life" or "whole life" and you should avoid it, choose "term life" insurance instead, and do your saving separately. Term life is easy to buy, easy to price, and relatively cheap when compared to these other types of insurance. Don't buy insurance that you don't need. If someone isn't financially dependant upon you and your income to keep them safe and well cared-for, don't turn the occasion of your death into a financial windfall for them just to try and show them that you love them. Tell them instead and save your money.
The last sentence of the previous paragraph is ultimately it: "Save your money." Always concentrate on where each dollar is going, and what you could do to keep it in your pocket instead. Turn it into a game or a hobby if you need to, but find some way of constantly trying to do better than you did the previous month.
That leads me into the last idea for this article: calculating your "net worth". Your net worth is how you can tell if you're making progress or not. It's the number you arrive at when you total up all the money you have, plus the value of all the items you own, minus the amount of any debt you have. There are good arguments why this number is a much better reflection of your financial health than your yearly income.
What should your net worth be? Well, simply, better than it was last month. The better it is, the better you will live, and the better you'll be able to cope with any crisis that arises.