Millions of disabled Americans face financial restrictions due to strict asset limits tied to government benefits, making it difficult to save for the future without losing essential support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ABLE accounts, created under the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act<\/em> of 2014, provide a way for individuals to save and invest without compromising access to programmes like Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicaid. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
These accounts allow people with disabilities to accumulate substantial savings while benefiting from tax advantages and flexible spending rules. Despite their potential, they remain underutilised and relatively unknown, with less than 1% of eligible individuals using them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Traditionally, those receiving SSI or Medicaid<\/a> could not accumulate more than $2,000 in savings without risking their benefits. This restriction made it difficult to plan for future expenses or financial security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One example of how ABLE accounts help is Paul Safarik, a 32-year-old from Lincoln, Nebraska, who has Down syndrome. He has worked in the food industry for over a decade, delivering food and stocking grocery store shelves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
His ABLE account allowed him to purchase a treadmill to stay active in bad weather and help pay for braces\u2014something that would have been difficult under traditional asset limits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His mother, Deb Safarik<\/strong>, explains the impact :<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nWith this ABLE account, we don\u2019t have to worry as much. It\u2019s nice that he can work and save, and not have that be held against him.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Expanding Eligibility in 2026<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Currently, only individuals whose disability began before the age of 26 can open an ABLE account. However, starting in 2026, the age limit will increase to 46, making an estimated 6 million more people eligible, including 1 million veterans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This change means that people whose disabilities resulted from accidents, chronic illnesses, or long-term conditions like post-COVID complications will finally have access to these financial tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite the financial benefits, ABLE accounts remain underutilised. As of late 2024, only 186,641 accounts<\/strong> existed, a fraction of the estimated 8 million eligible individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A major challenge is the lack of awareness among disabled people, their families, and even caseworkers. Andrew Warren<\/a>, a senior associate at the Financial Health Network, highlights the issue :<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\u201cOne of the major barriers to becoming financially healthy for this vulnerable group is asset limits. But there\u2019s an information disconnect between caseworkers and direct service providers on the ground and [administrators of ABLE accounts].\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Many families are still unaware that saving money is now an option without risking government support.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Millions of disabled Americans face strict asset limits that make saving money a challenge. ABLE accounts offer a way to build financial security without risking essential government benefits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":103002,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-102993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33","no-featured-image-padding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102993"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102993\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":103003,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102993\/revisions\/103003"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}