ABLE for ALL: Tax-Advantaged Savings for Disabled Americans

New ABLE for ALL Savings Plan helps individuals with disabilities secure greater financial and personal freedom and is available nationwide to aid families and people with disability in saving for a better life.

Approximately 56.7 million or almost 19 percent of the U.S. population live with a disability*, and there is a growing need for additional financial support and security for these individuals to find a better quality of life. Today, the ABLE for ALL Savings Plan rolls out nationwide, providing a solution that will allow people with disabilities and their families to have greater financial freedom and the ability to save for the future.

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For too long, individuals with disabilities could not save enough out of fear of losing much-needed government benefits. With an ABLE for ALL account, U.S. citizens living with eligible disabilities can now save for qualified expenses and invest for the future in a tax-advantaged account without affecting state and federal benefits (like SSI, SSDI, Medicaid, SNAP, TANIF, HUD Assistance, etc.).

"Families and individuals with disabilities face many challenges on a daily basis from emotional and physical pain and stress to significant financial strain - everyone feels the pressure," said David Bell, outreach director for ABLE for ALL. "The new ABLE for ALL plan aims to help alleviate some of the financial stress and provide participants with the tools they need to deal with daily expenses, save for their future and invest for a better life."

The ABLE for ALL Savings Plan is a unique plan available nationwide to U.S. citizens living with eligible disabilities diagnosed before the age of 26. Created under the Stephen Beck Jr., Achieving a Better Life Experience Act of 2014, the ABLE for ALL program is different from other savings programs as it was created in collaboration with disability focused nonprofit organizations, government agencies, people with disabilities and those working with the disability community. In addition, the program provides ways for participants to get in-person assistance with highly trained in-state partners in case they need additional support.

Opening the tax-advantaged account takes only 10 minutes to set up online with a minimum opening deposit of $25.

Participants can withdraw money from the account as often as desired and use it for eligible expenses associated with living with a disability, including living expenses, education, housing, transportation, employment, job training, career support, assistive technology, personal support services, health, prevention, wellness, financial management, administrative services, legal fees, funeral costs, burial expenses and more.

For each account, there is a $14,000 yearly savings limit and a lifetime maximum value for the account of $310,000. When participants reach the maximum, they can still accrue earnings but cannot add more funds until the balance goes below the maximum. There is also a limit of $100,000 before funds start to count against a $2,000 asset limit for Supplemental Security Income (SSI).

* Disabled-World.com

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Attribution/Source(s): This quality-reviewed publication was selected for publishing by the editors of Disabled World (DW) due to its relevance to the disability community. Originally authored by ABLE for ALL and published on 2016/12/08, this content may have been edited for style, clarity, or brevity.