It is known that stress can have a negative impact on MS symptoms. While individuals may try to manage stress in their lives through exercise, meditation, or positive thinking; financial stress is something that is often swept under the rug and ignored. While ignoring the issue may alleviate the initial stress of thinking about financial matters, in the long run it is not a successful practice and often allows the financial matter to come back more stressful than the last.

Talking about money is tough, especially for those with limited incomes; but not talking about money can do more damage than good. Understanding and truly evaluating your financial situation is a great way to develop a financial plan. Awareness of the in’s (income) and out’s (expenses) can be eye opening!

The Multiple Sclerosis Association of America (MSAA) and National Disability Institute (NDI) collaborated on a series of informational webinars to assist the MS community in learning about strategies to protect and improve their financial well-being.

Through the webinar series, topics such as ‘Being Money Smart’ and ‘Working Towards Financial Wellness’ are discussed. For each topic, you can view the archived webinar and download a PDF version for future use and reference. Information can be found right on MSAA’s website at https://www.mymsaa.org/manage-your-ms/videos/financial.

What strategies have worked for you in evaluating or creating a financial plan?