Summary: When your adult son or daughter is diagnosed with a serious mental illness, everything changes. Suddenly, all of your financial planning is thrown into turmoil as you’re focus turns from your needs to the immediate and long term care of your child. The cost of diagnosis and treatments can derail your retirement unless you develop a financial strategy that provides for your child’s future while safeguarding your own.<br> That’s what Allen Giese, author of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/When-Mental-Illness-Strikes-Intervention-ebook/dp/B07H9GS6FK/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">When Mental Illness Strikes</a>, is going to talk with us about. Allen is the founder of Northstar Financial Planners and he’s also the father of an adult son who was diagnosed with schizophrenia in his late teens.<br> Allen and his wife are both deeply involved in mental health advocacy. He has been where you are. And in this episode, he’s going to give you his advice and solutions on how to invest efficiently, how to apply for and keep government benefits even if you’re resistant to that idea. How to build a real systemic financial plan for your family, how to avoid crucial mistakes, and a whole lot more. When mental illness strikes, you don’t have to sacrifice your financial security. This episode could be your lifeline to the best possible future for yourself and your children.<br> <br> <br> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/When-Mental-Illness-Strikes-Intervention-ebook/dp/B07H9GS6FK/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"></a>Get Allen’s new book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/When-Mental-Illness-Strikes-Intervention-ebook/dp/B07H9GS6FK/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">When Mental Illness Strikes</a> on Amazon.<br> Find out more at <a href="www.northstarplanners.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Northstar.</a><br> <br> <br> Allen Giese: In my son’s case, there was one night that was pivotal that we knew we were in serious trouble. We had been invited to my business partner’s mother’s home to help them celebrate Yom Kippur, to break the fast. It was a big event ,and we understood that this was an important event. My wife and my two kids and piled in the car and drove half hour north to their house and my son was—he was agitated. He hadn’t been right for a little while.<br> He had been very agitated and stressed about things.<br> On that car ride up there, he became more and more agitated, and by the time we got there, he was really having a hard time, he couldn’t sit still, he kept having to leave the house, go outside, walk around, he’d come in. We were keeping an eye on him and realized he’s really uncomfortable and something’s wrong here. We left early and drove back down to our house. By the time we had gotten home, reality had basically left him.<br> <br> It was such an emotionally charged event that I only remember scenes from the night but not the whole thing pieced together.<br> <br> It was so strange, where he was frantically pacing around our backyard pool area, I thought he was going to explode. He had so much tension in his body and at the time I thought he was like yelling at the pool.<br> This went on for hour, and we realized there’s something seriously wrong here. That was kind of the pivotal night. We didn’t know at the time it was a disease, but whatever it was, it was coming to a head and boiling over.<br> That’s when we sort of put in the super charge to focus on finding out what this problem was. Eventually, we learned our son had a serious mental illness.<br> <br> When Mental Illness Strikes<br> Charlie Hoehn: Wow. Thank you for sharing that Allen. I’m excited to talk about your book, When Mental Illness Strikes because you talk about the unique position that families are put in and I just want to dive right in. Tell me first off, why did you decide to write this book? Why did you feel this book was necessary?<br>
