ABSTRACT
The current article presents the findings of a quantitative study of 3,886 adults with disabilities and family members of people with disabilities to examine their financial health during the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020–March 2021). This study provides hard data to highlight how the first year of the pandemic has exacerbated long-standing obstacles in servicing potential planning clients with disabilities. Participants assessed their overall financial well-being by completing a web-based survey to provide information about the state of their individual or family incomes and financial planning behaviors. Two key findings are germane to financial service planners and the special needs planning (SNP) industry: (1) three quarters of individuals reported that their incomes were negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic;and (2) nearly a third of people with disabilities and their family members have no financial literacy education or training in SNP matters. Collectively, these findings identify both a knowledge gap and a means gap that must be addressed to provide financial planning services to a larger portion of the disabilities market. The vast majority of individuals with disabilities desire, intend to obtain, or are already obtaining some form of financial literacy education or financial planning resources.