Trufarewell — Future-Care Financial Planning for Special Needs Families

Future-Care Financial Planning

Planning for Their Future Starts Before the Day You Can't Do Everything Yourself

Trufarewell helps parents and guardians explore financial strategies for the future care, support, and quality of life of a child or adult loved one with special needs.

Learn how properly structured life insurance may provide protection for the future while building cash value that could become a financial resource during your lifetime.

Led by Martina Sholiton—bringing together 25 years in special education and 10 years in life insurance.

Start the Future-Care Checklist Talk With Martina

The 60-second checklist can help you identify what concerns you most, what you currently have in place, and whether an IUL may be worth exploring for your family.

Martina Sholiton, Founder

25 + 10 YearsSpecial Ed & Life Insurance

The Family's Central Concern

How Will Their Ongoing Needs Be Financially Supported?

When you think about your loved one's future, you may already be asking:

Where will they live?

Who will provide daily care or supervision?

Who will coordinate transportation, appointments, and services?

Who will help them maintain their routines, relationships, recreation, and connection to the community?

How will these ongoing needs be paid for when I can no longer manage everything myself?

A future-care plan requires more than identifying who may step in. The people who take on those responsibilities will also need adequate financial resources to carry out the plan you intended.

Housing without support may not be enough.

A care plan without adequate funding may not be sustainable.

Planning earlier gives your family more time to explore your options and begin building financial support before a health change, family emergency, or crisis limits your choices.

What Trufarewell Does

Future-Care Planning Begins With Understanding the Financial Need

Trufarewell helps families connect what they want for their loved one's future with the financial resources that may be needed to support that life.

We then help you explore whether life-insurance strategies, including Indexed Universal Life, may have a place within your broader future-care plan.

Important scope statement: Trufarewell does not provide legal, tax, Medicaid, Social Security, or government-benefit advice. Our role is to help families understand and evaluate the life-insurance and financial-protection portion of the plan.

We Begin By Learning About Your Family

Who are you planning for?
What does their life and support look like today?
What housing, care, staffing, or daily assistance may be needed in the future?
What financial resources do you already have in place?
Where could a future funding gap exist?
Who may be responsible for managing their care and financial support?

How an IUL May Help

How an IUL May Help Build Financial Support Over Time

An Indexed Universal Life insurance policy, commonly called an IUL, provides permanent life-insurance protection while offering the potential to accumulate cash value over time.

When the policy is properly structured and consistently funded, cash value may gradually build inside the policy. Available cash value can generally be accessed tax-free through properly structured policy loans during the policy owner's lifetime, provided the policy remains in force and is not classified as a Modified Endowment Contract.

The policy also provides a generally income-tax-free death benefit that may create additional financial protection when the insured dies.

Start the Checklist

This can create a living financial resource that may help pay for your loved one's future needs, including:

In-home care, staffing, or supervision

Housing and everyday living expenses

Transportation

Therapies and certain medical needs

Education, job training, or employment support

Recreation and community activities

Other expenses that contribute to their safety, stability, independence, and quality of life.

Policy loans and withdrawals reduce the policy's available cash value and death benefit and may cause the policy to lapse if it is not properly funded and managed. Tax treatment depends on the policy remaining in force and meeting applicable tax requirements. Families should consult a qualified tax professional regarding their individual circumstances.

How the Strategy Works

Protection for the Future—and a Resource You May Use Along the Way

Life-Insurance Protection Begins

A properly structured policy provides life-insurance protection designed to support the people or planning arrangements that will care for your loved one in the future.

Cash Value May Accumulate

As premiums are paid, the policy has the potential to build cash value based on its structure, credited interest, policy charges, funding, and overall performance. The policy is not invested directly in the stock market. Interest is connected to the performance of a selected market index and is subject to the policy's caps, participation rates, floors, charges, and other provisions.

Cash Value May Become a Living Resource

Available cash value may generally be accessed tax-free through properly structured policy loans while the policy remains in force and meets applicable tax requirements. That money could help pay for staffing, caregiving, housing, transportation, therapies, recreation, or other support your loved one may need.

The Death Benefit Provides Long-Term Protection

When the insured dies, the generally income-tax-free death benefit can provide additional money for the people, trust, or other properly established arrangement intended to support the loved one.

Important note: An IUL is a long-term life-insurance product—not a savings account or a short-term solution. Cash-value accumulation is not guaranteed. Policy loans accrue interest and reduce available cash value and death benefits. An underfunded or poorly managed policy may lapse and create possible tax consequences.

Why Starting Earlier Matters

The Earlier You Begin, the More Time the Policy May Have to Build

Cash value does not appear overnight. It is designed to accumulate gradually as the policy is funded over time.

Waiting does not necessarily mean it is too late. However, age, health, insurability, available funding, and the number of years the policy has to develop can all affect the options available.

The purpose of reviewing an IUL now is not to pressure your family into purchasing a policy. It is to determine whether the strategy could realistically help you begin building financial support while you still have time and choices.

Starting Earlier May Provide

More time for cash value to develop
More time to adjust the strategy as your loved one's needs change
More flexibility in how the policy is structured and funded
More opportunity to prepare before caregiving responsibilities must shift to someone else

The Purpose of Reviewing Now

Not to pressure your family into purchasing a policy
To determine whether the strategy could realistically help
To begin building financial support while you still have time
To keep choices open rather than foreclosed later

Part of a Larger Future-Care Plan

An IUL Is One Possible Tool—Not the Entire Plan

A complete future-care plan may involve several professionals, legal documents, services, and financial resources. Depending on your family's circumstances, the larger plan could include:

IULOne Tool

Special Needs Trust

ABLE Account

Will or Living Trust

Beneficiary Planning

Guardianship or Supported Decision-Making

Government Benefits

Housing Arrangements

Caregiver and Support-Person Planning

Life Insurance

Annuities

Retirement Funds

Other Personal and Family Resources

These pieces should be coordinated carefully. Money that is owned, distributed, or transferred incorrectly could affect eligibility for certain needs-based government benefits.

Trufarewell focuses on helping families evaluate life insurance and related financial-protection strategies. Families should work with qualified attorneys, tax professionals, and benefits specialists when legal, tax, trust, or government-benefit guidance is needed.

Experience Across Childhood, Adulthood, and Long-Term Planning

I'm Martina Sholiton, founder of Trufarewell.

Before entering the insurance profession, I spent 25 years in special education, working with children, families, educators, and support teams in both direct-service and leadership roles. Over the course of my career, I served as a Program Specialist, Program Coordinator, SELPA Director, Director of Special Education, and Assistant Superintendent of Special Education. I also earned a Master's degree in Special Education. My experience also included working directly with individuals with disabilities in areas such as employment support, independent-living training, and residential services.

25Years in Special Education

10Years in Life Insurance

M.Ed.Special Education

Throughout those years, I saw how a family's concerns change as a child grows into adulthood. Questions about education gradually become questions about housing, supervision, transportation, employment, relationships, daily support—and how all of those ongoing needs will be funded.

For the past 10 years, I have worked in life insurance, helping individuals and families understand protection strategies and prepare for needs that may extend far into the future.

Trufarewell brings those two areas of expertise together. My role is to learn about your loved one, understand what you are preparing for, explain how an IUL works, and help determine whether it may be one useful financial tool within your family's larger future-care plan.

Schedule a Conversation With Martina

Martina Sholiton, founder of Trufarewell, portrait

Founder, Trufarewell

How to Begin

You Do Not Need to Have Everything Figured Out

Many parents and guardians know they need to prepare but do not know where to begin. That is exactly why we created a simple starting process.

Step 1: Complete the Checklist

Answer a few questions about your loved one, your primary concerns, and what you currently have in place.

Start the 60-Second Checklist

Step 2: Have a Conversation

Speak directly with Martina about your family, your priorities, and the questions you are trying to answer.

Talk With Martina

Step 3: Review Your Options

If an IUL or another life-insurance strategy appears appropriate, Martina can explain the available options, policy structure, costs, potential benefits, and limitations before you make a decision.

There is no expectation that your family already understands insurance, trusts, government benefits, or future-care planning before the conversation begins.

Frequently Asked Questions

An Indexed Universal Life policy is a form of permanent life insurance that provides a death benefit and the potential to build cash value. Interest credited to the policy is connected to the performance of a selected market index, subject to the policy's terms, caps, participation rates, floors, charges, and other limitations. The policy is not invested directly in the market.

Available cash value may generally be accessed tax-free through properly structured policy loans during the policy owner's lifetime, provided the policy remains in force and meets applicable tax requirements. Depending on the family's needs, those funds could help pay for housing, staffing, caregiving, transportation, therapies, recreation, or other support expenses. Policy loans accrue interest and reduce the policy's available cash value and death benefit.

No. Actual performance depends on the policy's design, premium funding, credited interest, insurance costs, fees, loans, withdrawals, and other factors. Any policy being considered should be reviewed using a carrier illustration showing both guaranteed and non-guaranteed values.

Life-insurance death benefits are generally paid income-tax-free to the beneficiary. However, individual circumstances can affect taxation, ownership, and beneficiary planning. Families should consult qualified legal and tax professionals about their particular situation.

No. An IUL is not appropriate for every person or every financial situation. Age, health, insurability, available budget, existing coverage, financial goals, and the length of time available for the policy to develop all matter.

No. An IUL, special needs trust, and ABLE account serve different purposes. An IUL may help provide a source of financial support. Trusts and ABLE accounts may help determine how money is owned, managed, and used. Families should consult qualified legal and benefits professionals about how these tools may work together.

That depends on the family's circumstances and the rest of the future-care plan. Naming a loved one with special needs directly as the beneficiary could affect eligibility for needs-based government benefits. Ownership and beneficiary decisions should be coordinated with an attorney or another qualified professional familiar with special needs planning.

The cost depends on several factors, including the insured person's age, health, coverage amount, policy structure, and long-term funding goals. A review allows Martina to determine what options may be available and whether the proposed funding level is realistic for the family.

Your answers provide a starting point for a conversation. Martina can review your concerns, explain how the strategy works, and help determine whether a more detailed policy review would be worthwhile.

Final Call to Action

Begin Preparing Before Your Family Is Facing a Crisis

You do not need to know exactly where your loved one will live, who will provide their care, or how much their future support will cost before you begin. You only need to take the first step toward understanding:

What their future support may involve
What financial resources you currently have
What funding gap may still exist
Whether an IUL could help you begin building an additional financial resource over time

Complete the checklist or have a brief conversation with Martina to determine whether this strategy may be worth exploring for your family.

Start the Future-Care Checklist Talk With Martina

A short conversation can help you understand your options and determine whether an IUL strategy is appropriate for your family.

About Trufarewell

Trufarewell is an independent life-insurance agency helping families address long-term protection needs, with a specialized focus on financial preparation for the future care of children and adults with special needs. We help families explore life insurance and related protection strategies. We do not provide legal, tax, investment, Medicaid, Social Security, or government-benefit advice.