December 2, 2019 • 19 mins
In 2014, President Obama signed into law the Achieving a Better Life Experience Act, better known as ABLE. The ABLE Act allows for people with disabilities to save money without disrupting their benefits. On Episode 5 of Focus on the Future, host Allycia Wolff chats with Katie McDermott about ABLE Accounts. Katie is the Self-Advocate Associate at The Arc Minnesota. In their conversation, they talk about how ABLE can keep you financially secure and living the life that you choose.
About ABLE
The Achieving a Better Life Experience Act was signed into law in 2014 by President Obama after receiving broad support. ABLE accounts allow people with disabilities to save up to $15,000 per year, or $100,000 throughout a lifetime, without disrupting benefits. ABLE funds can be used in any way that promotes quality of life for people with disabilities. Learn more at savewithable.com.
Resources mentioned in this episode
The Arc Minnesota's webinar, "Understanding Trusts & ABLE Accounts" is available at https://youtu.be/gNjL55XwQfw.
About Focus on the Future
You can find more information about Focus on the Future at arcminnesota.org/podcast. If Episode 5 inspired a question for an Arc Advocate, call The Arc Minnesota at 833.450.1494.
Focus on the Future is a podcast for caregivers and families supporting people with disabilities. In each episode, a conversation about the journey of discovering our best life and how to achieve it. While exploring legal, financial, and quality of life structures, Focus on the Future aims to get back to what matters most: living a fulfilling and meaningful life that is defined by each individual person.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Music (00:03):
[ Music playing]
Allycia (00:03):
Welcome to Focus on the Future, a future planning
podcast for caregivers andfamilies, supporting people with
disabilities.
Focus on the future is a podcastof The Arc Minnesota, a
nonprofit advocacy organizationworking with folks with
intellectual and developmentaldisabilities.
Hey, my name is Allycia W olff.
(00:23):
I'm an advocate here at The Arcand your host f or Focus on the
Future.
I n this week's episode, we'regoing to be talking about the
ABLE accounts.
We're doing a little miniepisode this week to talk about
this checking account/investmentaccount that people with
disabilities can open thatempowers people to save their
own money and not affect anybenefits that they're receiving.
(00:48):
And today I wanted to bring inKatie McDermott.
She is the Self AdvocateAssociate here at The Arc
Minnesota.
Katie does a lot of work withself-advocacy in our community
and making sure that there are alot of opportunities for self
advocates to be involvedpolitically, make sure their
voices are heard.
And that is her passion is sothat everybody has the ability
(01:10):
to live a good life, which iskind of the underlying theme of
this podcast.
And I wanted to bring Katie inbecause she works with people on
a day to day basis where it'sreally important to have that
financial security and thatfinancial knowledge.
And basically that's what theable account is all about.
Making sure that people have theopportunity to save and use
(01:30):
their own money and feelautonomy in that.
So let's dive into theconversation with Katie and then
we can talk a little bit moreafter.
Hey Katie!
Katie (01:44):
Hey Allycia!
Allycia (01:45):
Thanks for joining me today.
I just wanted to talk about theABLE account a little bit.
Would you like to introduceyourself before we jump in?
Katie (01:53):
Sure.
I'm Katie, I'm the AdvocateAssociate here at The Arc
Minnesota.
I do a lot of the self-advocacypiece.
We have a Self-Advocacy AdvisoryCommittee that meets every
second Tuesday here at The Arcoffice of the greater Twin
Cities from 5 to 7:30.
So if there's any self-advocatesthat want to learn more, just
(02:13):
email me atkatiemcdermott@arcminnesota.org.
Allycia (02:18):
Yeah.
And we will have a episode aboutself-advocacy in the future of
this podcast.
So you'll be coming back.
But today I wanted to chat withyou about the ABLE account.
So what do you know about theable account right now?
Katie (02:32):
Well, I know the ABLE account is really important
because you can save money, um,and it won't, if you have social
security, the ABLE account, youcan save money and it won't
affect the social securitybenefits that you have or MA
[Medical Assistance].
Allycia (02:51):
Exactly.
Yeah.
So if you're on social security,you can only have$2,000 to your
name or if you're on medicalassistance, depending on what
kind, but usually it's like$3,000.
So the ABLE account allowspeople to save in that account
$15,000 a year,$100,000 over alifetime without it affecting
(03:11):
those benefits.
So it can be a really greatresource to people who want to
save money.
Like if you want to save up fora car.
Katie (03:19):
Or save for a trip.
Or save for a conferenceconvention.
That's a really great way tosave money.
Allycia (03:26):
Exactly.
Yeah.
Do you have an ABLE accountright now?
Katie (03:28):
Not right now.
But I plan on getting one, Iplan on setting money aside and
putting money in there once Ihave a chance.
Allycia (03:39):
Yeah, absolutely.
Cause it could be a really goodaccount for anyone with a
disability to save, save upmoney.
Cause you get like a debit cardand you can set it up online or
you can request a paperapplication.
So if you go towww.savewithable.com that's
where you can set it up becauseyou can only have one ABLE
(04:03):
account if you have adisability.
So if you go online towww.savewithable.com you can set
it up and it only costs like$25to set up because it's just like
a checking account.
Katie (04:16):
Well that's a good deal.
$25.
You can put$25 and start an ABLEaccount and then you can put as
much money as you want on yourABLE account.
Save money.
Allycia (04:28):
Yup.
Up to$15,000 a year.
Yeah.
And so it's actually up to$15,000 a year that you or
anybody can put into thataccount.
Plus if you're making money likedirectly from an employer, you
can put an additional$12,000 inthat account.
So like$15,000 could come fromanywhere.
$12,000 additionally could comejust from employment.
(04:51):
So you have the potential to beable to save a lot of money.
Yeah.
And the ABLE account startedfrom, have you ever heard of the
529 account?
The college savings accounts?
Katie (05:03):
Yes, I have heard of those.
Allycia (05:05):
Yeah.
So a lot of people set up, a lotof parents set up a 529 college
savings account for theirchildren when they're like first
born for to save for college.
And then sometimes people arediagnosed with disabilities
later in life and then they,their parents say, Oh, well I
have this 529 account I andit's, and it has a bunch of
(05:28):
money in it, but my child has adisability and I don't think
that they'll ever be going tocollege.
And so then parents can movemoney from that 529 account into
an ABLE account so that if youhave a disability you can use
that money, like you said, for avacation or to go to a
conference or to save up for acar.
So that's like a way that theABLE account can be used really
(05:50):
well by a lot of people in a lotof different ways.
Do you, so you, you lead theself advocacy advisory committee
meetings?
Katie (05:59):
Yes, I do.
Allycia (05:59):
Uh, have you guys ever talked about the ABLE account or
do you have any questions aboutthe ABLE account that you've
heard?
Katie (06:06):
Um, I think we have talked about the ABLE account,
but I think it was quite sometime[ago], so we might have to
bring that back and refresh ourmemories, um, about the ABLE
account.
But, let's say I want to buy ahouse someday and I have to save
up so much money and it's morethan$15,000.
(06:28):
Am I able to do that with theABLE account?
Allycia (06:31):
Yeah.
So you can save$15,000 this yearand then next year you could
save up an additional$15,000 soeach year, and it's a new year
when the new year happens.
So January 1st is a whole newyear.
So if you put$15,000 on thataccount within the next month,
(06:52):
because we have November andDecember left, then January 1st
you could save a whole nother$15,000.
So it's 15,000 per year untilyou can get$100,000 in that
account.
So it would take like seven oreight years to get there.
But like so 15 this year, 15next year, that'd be$30,000 so
that's a really great start on adown payment for a house.
(07:13):
Yeah.
And then a lot of people want toknow if somebody can help them
in managing that account becausean ABLE account runs a lot like
a checking account.
Katie (07:25):
That was my next question is like if someone could look
over that account and trying tobuild your skills on saving
money but also build your skillson managing the account.
Allycia (07:35):
Exactly.
Yeah.
And I say that that's a hugereason why a lot of people
should open up an ABLE accountbecause it gives people more of
a chance to learn how to saveand spend and manage their own
account without somebody elsejust doing it for them.
Because if you were to open upan ABLE account, it would be
your account.
It's in your name, it's yourmoney and you can have people
(07:57):
support you in that because weall need help.
Especially with money.
Right.
It's like so hard to managemoney.
Um, so you can have somebodyjust like casually help you
manage that.
Meaning like you could log intothe account together and you
could talk about it or you canhave a power of attorney for the
able account.
(08:17):
So you could have like yoursister be your power of attorney
for the ABLE account.
So she would have the ability tolog on, um, see like how the
money is being spent, be able tocall the ABLE account if there
were any issues.
And so she could help you managethat.
But it's still your account.
It's in your name.
You have the autonomy to be ableto make those decisions.
Katie (08:38):
Oh, that would be good to know because maybe someone might
need help doing that.
Including myself, but I knowthere's others that may be
helping others may need helpmanaging their accounts.
Allycia (08:51):
Mmhmmm, yeah.
Did you have any other questionsabout the ABLE account or do you
think there's anything else weshould tell people?
Katie (08:59):
I just want people to know that it's out there.
It's a good way to save money,especially if you have a
disability and because of socialsecurity you can only save so
much.
But if you want to put somemoney away for that new house or
for a very expensive trip toHawaii, that ABLE account would
(09:21):
be really nice to have, causethen you could put money away
and it won't affect yourbenefits or your social
security.
I think it'd be very helpful inthe long run.
Allycia (09:32):
Yeah.
And people usually ask like, howcan you spend that money that's
in the ABLE account and you canspend it on anything that's a
qualified disability expense.
So anything that like relates toyou as a person who has a
disability and what you want todo to live a good life.
And it's really vague actually,the description that the
(09:54):
national resource center for theABLE account gives.
But I'll look it up here and wecan read it.
Katie (10:03):
Well, I know, I think it's used for health care.
Um...
Allycia (10:10):
Yeah.
So it says which expenses areallowed by the ABLE account?
And it says a qualifieddisability expense means any
expense related to thedesignated beneficiary, you, as
a result of living a life withdisabilities.
This may include education,housing, transportation,
(10:31):
employment training and support,assistive technology, personal
support services, health careexpenses, financial management
and administrative services, andother expenses which would help
improve health, independence andor quality of life.
So pretty much everything.
Katie (10:49):
That's pretty much everything I was going to say
that's a really great pointbecause now you know what you
can spend your money on.
Allycia (11:00):
Yeah.
And so it's a really, the ABLEaccount is just a really good
resource and it was passed backin 2013 when President Obama
signed it into law.
And so now there's a lot ofpeople with disabilities that
have that as a resource becausewith social security you can
only have$2,000 to your name,but that kind of forces you to
live at a really-
Katie (11:22):
-In poverty.
Allycia (11:23):
Yeah, in poverty.
It forces people to live withreally no assets to be able to
spend or save money.
So the ABLE account can be areally good resource.
Katie (11:29):
Yup.
And then also when people whohave a disability that, well
when you apply for SectionEight, but this might be another
one down the road, it's like youcan't, just because you make too
much to live in section eight orHUD, you sometimes you have to
find your own place.
Um, like I did, but I don't getthat special extra help.
(11:50):
I do it all on my own.
So it's kind of hard.
But with this ABLE accountyou're able to maybe save some
money but also things that youneed personally.
If you don't have the cash inhand, it's always a good backup.
Allycia (12:08):
Yeah and so you can use it as like a savings account.
And so I know that we weretalking earlier about like
wanting to save money and haveit in an account that like you
don't use very often.
So the temptation isn't there tojust use it all the time.
The ABLE account can be a reallygreat way to save.
Katie (12:22):
Great way to save.
Allycia (12:24):
Yeah.
All right.
Well I think that's mostly whatI wanted to chat about today for
the ABLE account.
Katie (12:30):
Well thank you Allycia for having me.
Allycia (12:32):
Thanks.
And we will chat again when wedo the episode on self-advocacy.
So keep an eye out for that.
Katie (12:38):
Oh yeah we've been really busy.
That might be a longer broadcastthan this one.
Allycia (12:44):
It will.
Thanks Katie.
Katie (12:45):
You're welcome.
Thanks.
Allycia (12:50):
I wanted to sit down with Katie today and talk about
the ABLE accounts because I feellike it's a really wonderful
resource to parents and tocaregivers and to people with
disabilities who want to learnmore about managing their own
money and feel more power orcontrol over the cash and the
assets that they have in theirname instead of fear.
(13:12):
Um, I talk with a lot offamilies everyday who say, I
have to stay under this assetlimit for social security and
medical assistance, but thatdoesn't give us any room to
save.
And so either people don't havevery much money because they
have to spend it all or theyhave to spend money on things
that they don't actually need tostay under the$2,000 limit.
(13:34):
So the ABLE account can bereally great for people as
they're actively saving fortheir lives.
It could also be a reallywonderful tool for people who
want to save for theirretirement or for a trip.
So there's a whole bunch ofdifferent ways that you can use
the ABLE account.
And I also wanted to clarify afew points.
In my conversation with Katie, Imentioned that you can set up
(13:55):
the able account online atwww.savewithable.com.
I also wanted to note inaddition that you can only set
up an ABLE account online or viapaper application.
So if you end up going to yourlocal bank and saying, I want to
set up an ABLE account, they'llprobably have no idea what
you're talking about because youcan only set it up online or on
(14:19):
that paper application becausethe ABLE account is overseen by
the Minnesota Department ofHuman Services.
Because to have an ABLE accountyou have to have a qualified
disability and you can only haveone ABLE account to your name.
So Katie and I, today weretalking about the Minnesota ABLE
account where it's just like aregular checking account.
There's investment options, butyou can think of it just as a
(14:40):
regular checking account whereyou get a debit card and you can
manage it all online.
To qualify for the ABLE account,you have to have had a
disability before the age of 26and that's the law as it stands
right now in November of 2019.
The Arc Minnesota is trying tochange that law along with other
(15:01):
Arcs throughout the nationbecause it's believed that
whether or not you have adisability before the age of 26
you should still have access tothe ABLE account.
But right now you have to havehad a disability before the age
of 26 to be eligible for theABLE account.
And then just one more thingabout the ABLE account.
(15:21):
Since the ABLE account is achecking account in the person's
name and it's money thatbelonged to that person at one
time, If a person were to passaway and there were still say
$10,000 in the ABLE account, anymoney left over in the ABLE
account is subject to a paybackclause.
So the payback clause means thatthat$10,000 leftover upon a
(15:44):
person passing away that has togo to payback any services that
the person got from the stateover the course of their life.
So that could be a waiver.
So if a person was on waiveredservices or got county services
in their lifetime and they had$10,000, once they passed away
on the ABLE account, the statewould go back and say since we
(16:09):
gave you resources for so long,we have claim to this money
because it's money that you hadin your name at one point.
And so that's just something toconsider in the ABLE account.
Um, and the ABLE account, Ithink overall is a really,
really wonderful resource.
Again, it allows people to saveand encourages people to have
money in their name, toeventually be able to maybe work
(16:30):
their way off of governmentbenefits or to feel more secure
in government benefits or tolive a better life because they
can afford something that is ahigher ticket item.
So really great resource.
Please call The Arc if you haveany questions.
We also have a YouTube videoonline about understanding
(16:52):
trusts and the ABLE accountbecause these two financial
structures can work togetherreally, really well.
So this webinar explains how atrust is a pool of money that's
managed by a trustee and thenthe ABLE account is a pool of
money that's managed by theindividual and basically what
those differences are and howthat works and all of the nitty
(17:13):
gritty in that.
So you can go onto our websiteor our YouTube page to find that
or call The Arc for moreinformation.
And that wraps up our littlemini episode today on the ABLE
accounts and how it's a greatresource for a lot of families
living in Minnesota.
Music (17:35):
[ Music playing]
Allycia (17:35):
if you would like to chat more about the ABLE account
or if you have any questions,please give us a call here at
The Arc.
Our number is(833) 450-1494.
On the next episode of Focus onthe Future, we're going to be
talking about how to care foryourself as a caregiver.
(17:56):
What are the important notesthat you should consider as you
are investing your life and yourlove into caring for somebody
else, and managing all thepieces.
So next time we will chat abouthow to take care of yourself as
you're taking care of others.
Focus on the Future is a podcastof The Arc Minnesota.
(18:17):
Please subscribe to the podcaston your favorite streaming
service to stay up to date withall the newest episodes.
If you're listening, pleasesupport the podcast and our
mission by donating atwww.arcminnesota.org/podcast.
Our podcast music is composedand recorded by Micah Kadwell.
(18:37):
Micah is a talented guitaristfrom New Brighton, Minnesota,
and he also has autism.
Thank you, Micah.
And Focus on the Future isco-produced by myself and Chloe
Ahlf and is engineered by BrentNelson.
Thank you, Chloe and Brent.
Have a great day and we will seeyou next time.
[ Music playing]
Allycia (00:03):
Welcome to Focus on the Future, a future planning
podcast for caregivers andfamilies, supporting people with
disabilities.
Focus on the future is a podcastof The Arc Minnesota, a
nonprofit advocacy organizationworking with folks with
intellectual and developmentaldisabilities.
Hey, my name is Allycia W olff.
(00:23):
I'm an advocate here at The Arcand your host f or Focus on the
Future.
I n this week's episode, we'regoing to be talking about the
ABLE accounts.
We're doing a little miniepisode this week to talk about
this checking account/investmentaccount that people with
disabilities can open thatempowers people to save their
own money and not affect anybenefits that they're receiving.
(00:48):
And today I wanted to bring inKatie McDermott.
She is the Self AdvocateAssociate here at The Arc
Minnesota.
Katie does a lot of work withself-advocacy in our community
and making sure that there are alot of opportunities for self
advocates to be involvedpolitically, make sure their
voices are heard.
And that is her passion is sothat everybody has the ability
(01:10):
to live a good life, which iskind of the underlying theme of
this podcast.
And I wanted to bring Katie inbecause she works with people on
a day to day basis where it'sreally important to have that
financial security and thatfinancial knowledge.
And basically that's what theable account is all about.
Making sure that people have theopportunity to save and use
(01:30):
their own money and feelautonomy in that.
So let's dive into theconversation with Katie and then
we can talk a little bit moreafter.
Hey Katie!
Katie (01:44):
Hey Allycia!
Allycia (01:45):
Thanks for joining me today.
I just wanted to talk about theABLE account a little bit.
Would you like to introduceyourself before we jump in?
Katie (01:53):
Sure.
I'm Katie, I'm the AdvocateAssociate here at The Arc
Minnesota.
I do a lot of the self-advocacypiece.
We have a Self-Advocacy AdvisoryCommittee that meets every
second Tuesday here at The Arcoffice of the greater Twin
Cities from 5 to 7:30.
So if there's any self-advocatesthat want to learn more, just
(02:13):
email me atkatiemcdermott@arcminnesota.org.
Allycia (02:18):
Yeah.
And we will have a episode aboutself-advocacy in the future of
this podcast.
So you'll be coming back.
But today I wanted to chat withyou about the ABLE account.
So what do you know about theable account right now?
Katie (02:32):
Well, I know the ABLE account is really important
because you can save money, um,and it won't, if you have social
security, the ABLE account, youcan save money and it won't
affect the social securitybenefits that you have or MA
[Medical Assistance].
Allycia (02:51):
Exactly.
Yeah.
So if you're on social security,you can only have$2,000 to your
name or if you're on medicalassistance, depending on what
kind, but usually it's like$3,000.
So the ABLE account allowspeople to save in that account
$15,000 a year,$100,000 over alifetime without it affecting
(03:11):
those benefits.
So it can be a really greatresource to people who want to
save money.
Like if you want to save up fora car.
Katie (03:19):
Or save for a trip.
Or save for a conferenceconvention.
That's a really great way tosave money.
Allycia (03:26):
Exactly.
Yeah.
Do you have an ABLE accountright now?
Katie (03:28):
Not right now.
But I plan on getting one, Iplan on setting money aside and
putting money in there once Ihave a chance.
Allycia (03:39):
Yeah, absolutely.
Cause it could be a really goodaccount for anyone with a
disability to save, save upmoney.
Cause you get like a debit cardand you can set it up online or
you can request a paperapplication.
So if you go towww.savewithable.com that's
where you can set it up becauseyou can only have one ABLE
(04:03):
account if you have adisability.
So if you go online towww.savewithable.com you can set
it up and it only costs like$25to set up because it's just like
a checking account.
Katie (04:16):
Well that's a good deal.
$25.
You can put$25 and start an ABLEaccount and then you can put as
much money as you want on yourABLE account.
Save money.
Allycia (04:28):
Yup.
Up to$15,000 a year.
Yeah.
And so it's actually up to$15,000 a year that you or
anybody can put into thataccount.
Plus if you're making money likedirectly from an employer, you
can put an additional$12,000 inthat account.
So like$15,000 could come fromanywhere.
$12,000 additionally could comejust from employment.
(04:51):
So you have the potential to beable to save a lot of money.
Yeah.
And the ABLE account startedfrom, have you ever heard of the
529 account?
The college savings accounts?
Katie (05:03):
Yes, I have heard of those.
Allycia (05:05):
Yeah.
So a lot of people set up, a lotof parents set up a 529 college
savings account for theirchildren when they're like first
born for to save for college.
And then sometimes people arediagnosed with disabilities
later in life and then they,their parents say, Oh, well I
have this 529 account I andit's, and it has a bunch of
(05:28):
money in it, but my child has adisability and I don't think
that they'll ever be going tocollege.
And so then parents can movemoney from that 529 account into
an ABLE account so that if youhave a disability you can use
that money, like you said, for avacation or to go to a
conference or to save up for acar.
So that's like a way that theABLE account can be used really
(05:50):
well by a lot of people in a lotof different ways.
Do you, so you, you lead theself advocacy advisory committee
meetings?
Katie (05:59):
Yes, I do.
Allycia (05:59):
Uh, have you guys ever talked about the ABLE account or
do you have any questions aboutthe ABLE account that you've
heard?
Katie (06:06):
Um, I think we have talked about the ABLE account,
but I think it was quite sometime[ago], so we might have to
bring that back and refresh ourmemories, um, about the ABLE
account.
But, let's say I want to buy ahouse someday and I have to save
up so much money and it's morethan$15,000.
(06:28):
Am I able to do that with theABLE account?
Allycia (06:31):
Yeah.
So you can save$15,000 this yearand then next year you could
save up an additional$15,000 soeach year, and it's a new year
when the new year happens.
So January 1st is a whole newyear.
So if you put$15,000 on thataccount within the next month,
(06:52):
because we have November andDecember left, then January 1st
you could save a whole nother$15,000.
So it's 15,000 per year untilyou can get$100,000 in that
account.
So it would take like seven oreight years to get there.
But like so 15 this year, 15next year, that'd be$30,000 so
that's a really great start on adown payment for a house.
(07:13):
Yeah.
And then a lot of people want toknow if somebody can help them
in managing that account becausean ABLE account runs a lot like
a checking account.
Katie (07:25):
That was my next question is like if someone could look
over that account and trying tobuild your skills on saving
money but also build your skillson managing the account.
Allycia (07:35):
Exactly.
Yeah.
And I say that that's a hugereason why a lot of people
should open up an ABLE accountbecause it gives people more of
a chance to learn how to saveand spend and manage their own
account without somebody elsejust doing it for them.
Because if you were to open upan ABLE account, it would be
your account.
It's in your name, it's yourmoney and you can have people
(07:57):
support you in that because weall need help.
Especially with money.
Right.
It's like so hard to managemoney.
Um, so you can have somebodyjust like casually help you
manage that.
Meaning like you could log intothe account together and you
could talk about it or you canhave a power of attorney for the
able account.
(08:17):
So you could have like yoursister be your power of attorney
for the ABLE account.
So she would have the ability tolog on, um, see like how the
money is being spent, be able tocall the ABLE account if there
were any issues.
And so she could help you managethat.
But it's still your account.
It's in your name.
You have the autonomy to be ableto make those decisions.
Katie (08:38):
Oh, that would be good to know because maybe someone might
need help doing that.
Including myself, but I knowthere's others that may be
helping others may need helpmanaging their accounts.
Allycia (08:51):
Mmhmmm, yeah.
Did you have any other questionsabout the ABLE account or do you
think there's anything else weshould tell people?
Katie (08:59):
I just want people to know that it's out there.
It's a good way to save money,especially if you have a
disability and because of socialsecurity you can only save so
much.
But if you want to put somemoney away for that new house or
for a very expensive trip toHawaii, that ABLE account would
(09:21):
be really nice to have, causethen you could put money away
and it won't affect yourbenefits or your social
security.
I think it'd be very helpful inthe long run.
Allycia (09:32):
Yeah.
And people usually ask like, howcan you spend that money that's
in the ABLE account and you canspend it on anything that's a
qualified disability expense.
So anything that like relates toyou as a person who has a
disability and what you want todo to live a good life.
And it's really vague actually,the description that the
(09:54):
national resource center for theABLE account gives.
But I'll look it up here and wecan read it.
Katie (10:03):
Well, I know, I think it's used for health care.
Um...
Allycia (10:10):
Yeah.
So it says which expenses areallowed by the ABLE account?
And it says a qualifieddisability expense means any
expense related to thedesignated beneficiary, you, as
a result of living a life withdisabilities.
This may include education,housing, transportation,
(10:31):
employment training and support,assistive technology, personal
support services, health careexpenses, financial management
and administrative services, andother expenses which would help
improve health, independence andor quality of life.
So pretty much everything.
Katie (10:49):
That's pretty much everything I was going to say
that's a really great pointbecause now you know what you
can spend your money on.
Allycia (11:00):
Yeah.
And so it's a really, the ABLEaccount is just a really good
resource and it was passed backin 2013 when President Obama
signed it into law.
And so now there's a lot ofpeople with disabilities that
have that as a resource becausewith social security you can
only have$2,000 to your name,but that kind of forces you to
live at a really-
Katie (11:22):
-In poverty.
Allycia (11:23):
Yeah, in poverty.
It forces people to live withreally no assets to be able to
spend or save money.
So the ABLE account can be areally good resource.
Katie (11:29):
Yup.
And then also when people whohave a disability that, well
when you apply for SectionEight, but this might be another
one down the road, it's like youcan't, just because you make too
much to live in section eight orHUD, you sometimes you have to
find your own place.
Um, like I did, but I don't getthat special extra help.
(11:50):
I do it all on my own.
So it's kind of hard.
But with this ABLE accountyou're able to maybe save some
money but also things that youneed personally.
If you don't have the cash inhand, it's always a good backup.
Allycia (12:08):
Yeah and so you can use it as like a savings account.
And so I know that we weretalking earlier about like
wanting to save money and haveit in an account that like you
don't use very often.
So the temptation isn't there tojust use it all the time.
The ABLE account can be a reallygreat way to save.
Katie (12:22):
Great way to save.
Allycia (12:24):
Yeah.
All right.
Well I think that's mostly whatI wanted to chat about today for
the ABLE account.
Katie (12:30):
Well thank you Allycia for having me.
Allycia (12:32):
Thanks.
And we will chat again when wedo the episode on self-advocacy.
So keep an eye out for that.
Katie (12:38):
Oh yeah we've been really busy.
That might be a longer broadcastthan this one.
Allycia (12:44):
It will.
Thanks Katie.
Katie (12:45):
You're welcome.
Thanks.
Allycia (12:50):
I wanted to sit down with Katie today and talk about
the ABLE accounts because I feellike it's a really wonderful
resource to parents and tocaregivers and to people with
disabilities who want to learnmore about managing their own
money and feel more power orcontrol over the cash and the
assets that they have in theirname instead of fear.
(13:12):
Um, I talk with a lot offamilies everyday who say, I
have to stay under this assetlimit for social security and
medical assistance, but thatdoesn't give us any room to
save.
And so either people don't havevery much money because they
have to spend it all or theyhave to spend money on things
that they don't actually need tostay under the$2,000 limit.
(13:34):
So the ABLE account can bereally great for people as
they're actively saving fortheir lives.
It could also be a reallywonderful tool for people who
want to save for theirretirement or for a trip.
So there's a whole bunch ofdifferent ways that you can use
the ABLE account.
And I also wanted to clarify afew points.
In my conversation with Katie, Imentioned that you can set up
(13:55):
the able account online atwww.savewithable.com.
I also wanted to note inaddition that you can only set
up an ABLE account online or viapaper application.
So if you end up going to yourlocal bank and saying, I want to
set up an ABLE account, they'llprobably have no idea what
you're talking about because youcan only set it up online or on
(14:19):
that paper application becausethe ABLE account is overseen by
the Minnesota Department ofHuman Services.
Because to have an ABLE accountyou have to have a qualified
disability and you can only haveone ABLE account to your name.
So Katie and I, today weretalking about the Minnesota ABLE
account where it's just like aregular checking account.
There's investment options, butyou can think of it just as a
(14:40):
regular checking account whereyou get a debit card and you can
manage it all online.
To qualify for the ABLE account,you have to have had a
disability before the age of 26and that's the law as it stands
right now in November of 2019.
The Arc Minnesota is trying tochange that law along with other
(15:01):
Arcs throughout the nationbecause it's believed that
whether or not you have adisability before the age of 26
you should still have access tothe ABLE account.
But right now you have to havehad a disability before the age
of 26 to be eligible for theABLE account.
And then just one more thingabout the ABLE account.
(15:21):
Since the ABLE account is achecking account in the person's
name and it's money thatbelonged to that person at one
time, If a person were to passaway and there were still say
$10,000 in the ABLE account, anymoney left over in the ABLE
account is subject to a paybackclause.
So the payback clause means thatthat$10,000 leftover upon a
(15:44):
person passing away that has togo to payback any services that
the person got from the stateover the course of their life.
So that could be a waiver.
So if a person was on waiveredservices or got county services
in their lifetime and they had$10,000, once they passed away
on the ABLE account, the statewould go back and say since we
(16:09):
gave you resources for so long,we have claim to this money
because it's money that you hadin your name at one point.
And so that's just something toconsider in the ABLE account.
Um, and the ABLE account, Ithink overall is a really,
really wonderful resource.
Again, it allows people to saveand encourages people to have
money in their name, toeventually be able to maybe work
(16:30):
their way off of governmentbenefits or to feel more secure
in government benefits or tolive a better life because they
can afford something that is ahigher ticket item.
So really great resource.
Please call The Arc if you haveany questions.
We also have a YouTube videoonline about understanding
(16:52):
trusts and the ABLE accountbecause these two financial
structures can work togetherreally, really well.
So this webinar explains how atrust is a pool of money that's
managed by a trustee and thenthe ABLE account is a pool of
money that's managed by theindividual and basically what
those differences are and howthat works and all of the nitty
(17:13):
gritty in that.
So you can go onto our websiteor our YouTube page to find that
or call The Arc for moreinformation.
And that wraps up our littlemini episode today on the ABLE
accounts and how it's a greatresource for a lot of families
living in Minnesota.
Music (17:35):
[ Music playing]
Allycia (17:35):
if you would like to chat more about the ABLE account
or if you have any questions,please give us a call here at
The Arc.
Our number is(833) 450-1494.
On the next episode of Focus onthe Future, we're going to be
talking about how to care foryourself as a caregiver.
(17:56):
What are the important notesthat you should consider as you
are investing your life and yourlove into caring for somebody
else, and managing all thepieces.
So next time we will chat abouthow to take care of yourself as
you're taking care of others.
Focus on the Future is a podcastof The Arc Minnesota.
(18:17):
Please subscribe to the podcaston your favorite streaming
service to stay up to date withall the newest episodes.
If you're listening, pleasesupport the podcast and our
mission by donating atwww.arcminnesota.org/podcast.
Our podcast music is composedand recorded by Micah Kadwell.
(18:37):
Micah is a talented guitaristfrom New Brighton, Minnesota,
and he also has autism.
Thank you, Micah.
And Focus on the Future isco-produced by myself and Chloe
Ahlf and is engineered by BrentNelson.
Thank you, Chloe and Brent.
Have a great day and we will seeyou next time.
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