Hi everyone, please let me know if this is in the wrong spot, I'll move it as needed.
The basics are that my dad is almost 58 and he has not been working his normal job since November of 2016. He has two children, me and my sibling are 20 and 21. Our mom passed away several years ago, so he is the sole source of support for us and his mother. He had a horrific injury in the 1980s which he made a miraculous recovery from, but it is coming back to haunt him now. He has severe back and knee pain from years of using them incorrectly.
He has been with his company for over 25 years, but he has left and come back twice due to demands of raising children. His job is extremely manual, but it pays pretty well. He is required to be on his feet for 10-12 hours at a time, regularly has to lift 50-75 pounds, move very quickly, and basically a lot of bending, lifting, crouching that he can no longer do. He is still technically employed, but has been taking short term disability benefits while trying to figure out how to solve his pain. He has gone to as much physical therapy as our insurance will pay, and has seen several doctors. There does not seem to be hope that he will be able to return to his position. He is a mid-level manager of the store he worked for, has benefits like 401k, lots of paid vacation, bonuses, health insurance, and life insurance. He is now applying for long term disability as he still has too much pain to return to work and has run out of short term disability. The problem is that his company only gives 60% of his pay for long term disability and he will lose his health and dental insurance after a year. He also has several years before he can retire and draw social security. He will be applying for SSDI if he is accepted for long term disability. I am concerned that it will not be enough money. I am graduating college and getting married soon, but my sibling is still totally reliant on him for paying for rent, living expenses, and anything else that comes up. My grandma is reliant on him because she has been widowed for 20 some years and has very little social security money coming in.
He recently gave up his mortgage on our old house, I think it was technically foreclosed on, but the process is not completely done. He lives with my grandma now. I do not know much about his finances, probably less than y'all would like to hear to give us real help. But, I know he has $52k in a 401k, no money in stocks or bonds or other investments. I also know he has significant credit card and other debt, I would estimate around $20-30k in debt.
I have tried to get him to speak with a lawyer, but he distrusts lawyers and wants to be independent. He has a lot of various work experience, a Bachelor's degree, and a lot of previous licenses, but none of it seems viable. He needs insurance and he needs to be able to afford to live. His only expenses now are helping my sibling, medical costs after insurance, food, gas, and debt since he does not have a car or house payment to make. He is clearly very worried about his future but has a difficult time asking for help, that's why I'm here asking you all.
Thanks for making it through all of this information. Hopefully you can offer some ideas or advice!
TLDR: My dad is unable to work, is applying for long term disability with his company, has two young 20s kids and his mom relying on him. He does not have enough saved to retire now and cannot go back to his current job. All advice is welcomed.
Submitted April 13, 2017 at 10:57PM by brickwall5463 http://ift.tt/2oFytbl
