The benefits for income, health care, food and housing for disabled Americans are awarded based on a resource test, so that individuals who seek benefits are typically limited to have no more than $2,000 in savings or assets. This includes eligibility for Supplemental Security Income (SSI), SNAP and Medicaid.

In 2014, Congress passed legislation allowing people with disabilities to establish an account, similar to a special needs trust and with some similarities to a 529 college savings account, to accumulate funds to pay for qualified disability expenses. The legislation was named the Achieving a Better Life Experience Act (ABLE).

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Okay, so you have heard about all the documentation you need to prepare for your special needs child, you understand about establishing a trust, and you opened a 529 to save for their education, but now college is approaching. This can be stressful because you are nervous about having them attend school and you might be a little unsure about how they will do at a higher education institution, but we have some tips/areas to address from The Hechinger Report on preparing for your special needs child heading to college.

Since higher education is not a right, there is extra work you will want to do as a parent of a special needs child. Your child will still be required to hand in assignments on time and the curriculum will not be changed to accommodate them. So, learning life skills (sometimes referred to as soft skills), procuring support for them while they are in college, and completing other documentation are all keys to your child succeeding in college!

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For those with disabilities, having an ABLE account can be a very important aspect of financial planning. In the wake of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, ABLE accounts reaped several benefits according to an article from Credit Karma, “ABLE Accounts: How Tax Reform Improved Accounts to Pay for Disability Expenses”.

ABLE (Achieving a Better Life Experience) accounts allow taxpayers with disabilities, who are eligible, to open and add to tax-advantaged savings without their access to benefits being affected. To be eligible, your disability needs to have arose before you were 26 years old. ABLE accounts work similarly to 529 education savings plans, and anyone can contribute to another’s account, but there is a cap on the total balance of the account and on how much you can personally contribute. The tax advantage of the account is that you don’t have to pay taxes on the money the account earns as long as your withdrawals do not exceed the expense of your disability.

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