The Scene

Guest blogger – Nick Economidis

Hello, my name is Nick Economidis. I’m the father of two wonderful boys, Luca aged 8 and Noah aged 5, and an amazing wife Donna. My oldest son Luca has cerebral palsy and needs a high degree of care.

In my spare time I also operate a financial planning practice, a career which I’ve been involved in for more than 15 years. Both my ‘careers’ as a parent and a financial planner have taught me the importance of having long term plans in place for my family. Too often we concentrate on the here and now without taking the time to look ahead. This is something that I feel is important for all families, and is something that we look at for all our clients. Having a child with disability only impacts on the length of time for the planning, not on its need.

My experience tells me that one of the barriers to people making these plans for the future is that they don’t know where to start. To help other families, my colleagues and I have put together an Estate Planning factsheet which attempts to answer some of the most common questions that are raised by parents. Unfortunately, thinking about the long term is not something that many of us are comfortable with. Many of the ‘what will happen when’ or ‘what happens if’ questions are often quite confronting and are outside our comfort zones. As a result, we have a tendency to procrastinate and put off answering and planning for those questions. I believe that this is a mistake. Whilst asking those questions can be confronting, persevering with the process can give you a lot of peace of mind. Speaking as a parent who has gone through the process I can honestly tell you that it is worth it, and has provided both myself and my wife with a great deal of comfort. We have more certainty of what will happen to our family into the future. I urge you all to look at this document which attempts to answer some of the most common questions that are raised by parents. We have formatted the document in a simple Q&A type format for ease of reading. Make a start in planning for your family. It can bring you peace of mind.