Will ABLE Accounts help?!

Hey everyone! In today's blog post I will be talking about and getting more in-depth with ABLE Accounts. I'll tell you what they are, how you can benefit from using one, what states already have them, as well as, how and where you can apply for one. As disabled people, we are given a monthly resource income limit of $2,000. This use to mean that any income or assets we have can not be above that $2,000 or we would have to deal with benefit cuts. This was a problem for many disabled people including myself. Because many of us can not live off of our monthly benefits alone we have to find ways to help us compensate. Whether it be a part-time job, selling things, painting/drawing, customer service, or freelancing we have to do what we have to do.

There are a few ways we can save money and avoid benefit cuts, but the newest way is through ABLE (Achieving a Better Life Experience) accounts.

The account holder is the beneficiary, and all money accumulated in the account will not be taxed. According to the National Resource Center, "the ABLE Act limits eligibility to individuals with significant disabilities with an age of onset of disability before turning 26 years of age. If you meet this age criterion and are also receiving benefits already under SSI and/or SSDI, you are automatically eligible to establish an ABLE account. If you are not a recipient of SSI and/or SSDI, but still meet the age of onset disability requirement, you could still be eligible to open an ABLE account." The total limit over time that could be made to an ABLE account will be subject to the individual state and their limit for education-related 529 savings accounts. Many states have set this limit at more than $300,000 per plan. However, for individuals with disabilities who are recipients of SSI, the ABLE Act sets some further limitations. The first $100,000 in ABLE accounts would be exempted from the SSI $2,000 individual resource limit.

ABLE PROGRAMS THAT ARE NOW OPEN:

*Most programs are national, some are residents only and others have partnered with other states. While a few states will either implement a plan later or have decided against it altogether.*

Alabama - Enable Alabama https://al.enablesavings.com/al/home.html

Alaska - Alaska Save with ABLE https://ak.savewithable.com/

Colorado - Colorado ABLE http://www.coloradoable.org/ District of Columbia - DC ABLE https://savewithable.com/dc/home.html Florida - ABLE United http://www.ableunited.com/ *Florida Residents ONLY* Georgia - Georgia STABLE http://www.georgiastable.com/ *Georgia Residents ONLY*

Illinois - Illinois ABLE https://savewithable.com/il/home.html

Indiana - INvest ABLE Indiana https://savewithable.com/in/home.html Iowa - IAble https://www.iable.gov/

Kansas - Kansas Save with ABLE https://KS.SaveWithABLE.Com Kentucky - STABLE Kentucky http://stablekentucky.com *Kentucky Residents ONLY* Louisiana - LA ABLE https://www.able.osfa.la.gov/ *Louisiana Residents ONLY* Massachusetts - MA ABLE https://www.fidelity.com/able/attainable/overview Michigan - MiABLE https://www.miable.org/ Minnesota - MinnesotABLE PLAN https://savewithable.com/mn/home.html Missouri - MO ABLE https://www.moable.com/ Montana - Montana ABLE https://mt.savewithable.com Nebraska - ENABLE Savings PLAN https://www.enablesavings.com/ Nevada - Nevada Save with ABLE http://nv.savewithable.com New York - NY ABLE https://www.mynyable.org North Carolina - NC ABLE https://savewithable.com/nc/home.html Ohio - Ohio Stable Accounts http://www.stableaccount.com/ Oregon - Oregon ABLE Savings(residents only) and ABLE for ALL (National) http://oregonablesavings.com/ or http://ableforall.com

Pennsylvania - PA ABLE http://www.paable.gov/ Rhode Island - RI Save with ABLE https://ri.savewithable.com Tennessee - ABLE TN http://abletn.gov/ Vermont - VT - ABLE http://www.vermontable.com/ Virginia - ABLE NOW https://www.able-now.com/

If your state isn't on the list it has either partnered with another state to make an adjoined program, it is still developing the program, or it does not have a program at all. For more information on each state and their program or what ABLE accounts are check out http://www.thearc.org/what-we-do/public-policy/issues/able-program-implementation as well as http://www.ablenrc.org/about/what-are-able-accounts