Meet our Current ABLE NRC Ambassadors

Larry’s son, Anthony, became an ABLE account owner in July 2017, shortly after the Michigan ABLE program opened. “Achieving a Better Life Experience” caught Larry’s attention and that of his wife, Alice. Larry opened the ABLE account to learn how it worked and how best to utilize it to support his son Anthony’s needs in the future. Diagnosed with autism and a pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) as a young child, Anthony (now 21) receives Supplemental Security Income (SSI). His ABLE account will be his primary savings vehicle throughout his adult life, without disqualifying him for SSI benefits. For Larry and his family (which includes Anthony’s dog Lucy), having an ABLE account means having a financial savings vehicle that can improve Anthony’s health, independence and quality of life. As an ABLE Advisor, Larry hopes to be a resource for families, especially parents, whose children are entering a world beyond high school.

Larry Angeli, is the father of 21-year-old country music aficionado, world traveler and ABLE Account owner, Anthony. While they spent their summer travelling extensively, the Angelis live in Michigan and have their ABLE Account through Michigan’s MiABLE program.

As soon as Anthony was born, his family started to save for his future by putting money into his 529 college savings account. This was prior to Anthony’s disability diagnosis, as a young child, of Autism and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS). While they still want to invest in Anthony’s future, they are now unsure if college will be a part of that future. With this in mind, and trying to be prudent about Anthony’s current and future needs, Larry’s focus this year has been on rolling over the funds from his 529 college savings into his 529a ABLE account. It is of vital importance to Larry that he executes this properly so as not to put Anthony’s benefits into jeopardy.

Larry encourages other parents to be aware of the following if/when you do a rollover from a 529 college savings account to a 529a ABLE account:

1. Be sure that it is stipulated on the form as the “request reason” that this is a “qualified” distribution.
2. Be sure that the payment is being made to the ABLE account as a “Rollover” payment (i.e. you are not using the funds to pay college expenses) and you are simply rolling these funds over to another qualified plan.
3. Include the full information about where the money is going – both the company and the state plan names (e.g., In Larry and Anthony’s case this would be Michigan’s MiABLE program).

As an ABLE Advisor, Larry wants other ABLE eligible individuals and their families to know that, “In determining how much to rollover between 529 college savings accounts and 529a ABLE accounts, remember that you can only deposit up to $15,000 a year in the ABLE account from ALL sources, including rollovers. Make sure that the amount that you are rolling over takes into account how much you have already deposited to date and how much you plan to be depositing from other sources in the current tax year.  The total cannot be more than $15,000.”