Hi, I’m Mike Walther, the founder and president of Oak Wealth Advisors, here to share Tip #3 of our Top 10 Special Needs Financial Planning Tips series. Tip #3: We want all families to avoid the most common mistakes that are made when their loved one applies for means-tested benefits such as Supplemental Security Income, and Medicaid. Approximately two-thirds of all initial applications for these benefits are denied! To avoid the denial of benefits, you need to ensure that the individual has less than $2,000.00 of assets in their name, you should NOT embellish the individual’s abilities when asked about their skills, and you need to remember that it is the individual, and not your family, who is applying for benefits. As such, when asked how many people are in the individual’s household, the answer is ONE even if they’re living with parents and siblings. These are three of the most common mistakes we have seen people make when applying for means-tested benefits. We want your family to be successful when applying for these benefits and encourage you to visit our website for more information about means-tested benefits. Thank you for listening, and we look forward to sharing Tip #4 next month. SMILE