The ABLE National Resource Center (ABLE NRC) has developed, compiled and updated various ABLE-related materials in an effort to provide stakeholders, including individuals with disabilities and their families, ABLE administrators and managers, financial institutions, state and federal agencies and departments, special needs attorneys and disability-related service providers, with a centralized virtual location in which they can quickly access printable ABLE-related education and information. The materials that we have selected are divided into four categories and together constitute our “ABLE Toolkit.” The goal of the toolkit is to facilitate and significantly broaden, widespread compressive education, information and awareness throughout the country.
The categories and subsequent materials and documents within those categories are as follows:
ABLE National Resource Center Information
Materials included under this category promote the Center in general and provide information about its purpose, activities, and how to access its supports.
ABLE National Resource Center Flyer
- This is a double-sided printable document which provides information concerning the mission of the ABLE National Resource Center, along with the Center’s areas of collective impact, the services the Center provides, and various ways in which to contact and interact with the Center.
ABLE Basics Information
Materials included under this category are meant to provide easily understandable ABLE-related information and education regarding general topics that a potential ABLE account owner should be aware of and familiar with.
ABLE Fact Sheet and Roadmap to ABLE Infographic
- This is a double-sided printable document that provides a brief overview of the ABLE program and the ABLE National Resource Center. The Infographic on side two illustrates the multi-step process of successfully opening and managing an ABLE account.
- What is ABLE?
- Who is the ABLE NRC?
- What does ABLE NRC provide?
- How do I enroll in an ABLE program?
- How do I manage my ABLE Account?
- This is a one-page printable document that provides the reader with a brief overview of the ABLE Act, its transformative relevance to the disability community, and several key characteristics related to ABLE accounts. The document focuses on concisely answering the following 5 questions:
- What is an ABLE Account?
- Why the need for an ABLE Account?
- Who is eligible to open an ABLE Account?
- What can the funds in an ABLE Account be used for?
- What happens to the funds in the ABLE account when the beneficiary passes away?
Choosing the Right ABLE Program
- This is a one-page printable document that provides the reader with information that they may want to take into consideration when choosing which ABLE program best meets their particular needs. The document poses a series of questions, based on four categories, that we recommend a potential ABLE account owner consider when comparing various programs. The document includes such questions as:
- Is there a minimum contribution to open an ABLE account?
- Is there a fee to open an account and, if so, how much is that fee?
- Are there restrictions on how often you can withdraw funds from your account?
- What proof will the ABLE program require to document a disbursement is for a qualified expense?
- What are the investment options the state ABLE program offers?
- Are the options likely to meet your needs for limiting risk with the growth of contributed dollars to the ABLE account?
- Does your state have a program and, if so, do they offer a state income tax deduction or credit for contributions to an ABLE account?
IRS Issues Final Regulations / Key Take-A-Ways
Sample ABLE-Related Blog Posts and Social Media Posts
Materials included under this category provide for sample publications and posts that ABLE-related stakeholders can use and/or re-purpose to help get education and information out to their various networks by means of utilizing conventional media, blogs, newsletters, social media and other outreach platforms and mediums.
- This sample article can easily be re-purposed to be included in various types of outreach platforms, including newsletters and blogs. The article provides readers with information and education related to the general history and purpose of the ABLE Act, along with more in-depth content related to how an individual with a disability, and their family, can begin to prepare to become an ABLE account owner. The article highlights the following areas in terms of helping the reader become “ABLE Ready:”
- Identify your need for savings
- Identify potential sources for income
- Consider an ABLE account as part of long-term financial goals
- Be aware of stipulations related to all ABLE accounts
- Start saving now
- Compare state ABLE programs
- Your needs are unique
- Be an informed consumer
- This sample article can also be easily used and/or re-purposed to be included in various types of outreach platforms, including newsletters and blogs. The article provides readers with easily understandable information about the various benefits of the ABLE Act and of being an ABLE account owner. The article also directs the reader to the ABLE National Resource Center for further, and more detailed, information.
Federal Guidance Related to the ABLE Act, ABLE Programs, and ABLE Accounts
Documents included under this category were not developed by the ABLE National Resource Center, but are a compilation of various publications put forth by a number of federal agencies and departments whose programs may interact with ABLE Accounts and/or funds in an ABLE Account. These documents, in many circumstances, serve as vitally important pieces of information that stipulate not only how ABLE Accounts and ABLE programs operate, but confirm the protection of an individual’s eligibility for different federally-funded means-tested benefits, despite having significant funds in the ABLE account. Additionally, nowhere else does there exist a centralized location to access all of these extremely important documents.
The documents included in this section consist of the following:
Social Security Administration (SSA) Guidance on ABLE
- This document provides information on how funds in an ABLE account may interact with Social Security benefits (specifically Supplemental Security Income (SSI)), this document also confirms that funds in an ABLE account will not be taken into consideration when determining eligibility for Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Guidance on ABLE
- This document provides information on how funds in an ABLE account may interact with Medicaid eligibility, this document also confirms that funds in an ABLE account will not be taken into consideration when determining eligibility for Medicaid.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) Guidance on ABLE
- This document provides information on how funds in an ABLE account may interact with SNAP (food stamp) eligibility, this document also confirms that funds in an ABLE account will not be taken into consideration when determining eligibility for
- This document details how ABLE programs operate.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
- This document provides information on how funds in an ABLE account may interact with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) eligibility. This document also confirms that funds in an ABLE account will not be taken into consideration when determining eligibility and continued occupancy for HUD.