ABLE accounts: save with a disability and keep your benefits

What an ABLE account is

An ABLE account is a savings and investing account for a person with a disability. ABLE stands for Achieving a Better Life Experience, the 2014 law that created it.¹ The account belongs to the person with the disability, and each person can have only one at a time.²

Its biggest benefit is what it doesn’t do. If you get Supplemental Security Income (SSI), savings over $2,000 usually put your payments at risk. Money in an ABLE account works differently. SSI doesn’t count the first $100,000 in the account, and money you take out isn’t counted as income.¹

That means you can build a cushion, save for a big purchase or invest for later, without giving up the support you rely on.

Who can open one

Since January 1, 2026, you can open an ABLE account if your disability or blindness began before age 46. Before then, it had to begin before age 26.¹

There are two ways to show you qualify:¹

• You get benefits because of that disability, such as SSI or Social Security disability benefits.
• Or you certify it. You, or whoever opens the account, confirm that the disability seriously limits daily life and began before age 46, and that you have a copy of a doctor’s signed diagnosis.

A parent, guardian or another trusted person can open and run the account for a child, or for an adult who wants help. The account still belongs to the person with the disability.¹

How much can go in, and from whom

Anyone can add money: you, your family, your friends, even a trust.¹ All of it together can’t go over the yearly limit, which is $20,000 in 2026.¹

If you work, you may be able to add more from your own pay. The extra amount is capped at the federal poverty line for one person from the year before, or at what you earned, if that’s less.¹ For 2026, that cap is $15,650 in the 48 states and D.C., $17,990 in Hawaii and $19,550 in Alaska.² You can’t add this extra amount in a year when money goes into a retirement plan at work for you.¹

Depending on your income, the money you put in may also earn the Saver’s Credit, a tax credit of up to $1,000, or $2,000 if you file jointly.²

Have money in a 529 college savings plan? It can be moved into an ABLE account for the same person or a family member. The move counts toward that year’s limit.⁵

What the money can pay for

Money spent on “qualified disability expenses” comes out tax-free.³ The list is wide. It covers costs like these:²¹

• Housing and food
• School, job training and support at work
• Transportation
• Health, prevention and wellness
• Assistive technology and personal support
• Money management, legal fees, and funeral and burial costs

For SSI, the timing of what you take out matters, and housing has its own rule.

Keeping SSI and Medicaid safe

SSI ignores the first $100,000 in the account. If the balance goes over that, and it’s the only reason your savings are too high, your SSI payments pause instead of ending, and Medicaid continues. Once the balance drops again, SSI can restart.¹

Two more rules are worth knowing:

• Your pay still counts. Wages you deposit into the account are still income for SSI that month.¹
• What’s left at death. After final approved bills are paid, the state can ask to be paid back from the account for Medicaid costs.¹

How to open one

1. Check that you qualify. Your disability began before age 46, and you get SSI or Social Security disability benefits, or you have a doctor’s signed diagnosis.
2. Pick a program. States run ABLE programs, and you can join another state’s program if it allows that.¹ Compare fees and investment choices.
3. Open it online, and name a trusted person to help manage it, if you’d like.
4. Keep receipts for what you pay from the account, especially for housing.

For advisers: the planning details

If you’re helping a client weigh an ABLE account, these are the details that most often matter.

• Eligibility by certification. A client who doesn’t get SSI or Social Security disability benefits can qualify by certifying marked and severe functional limitations that began before age 46, with a physician-signed diagnosis kept on file.¹
• Two different limits. In 2026, the ABLE limit is $20,000, while the annual gift tax exclusion is $19,000.¹⁴ A single giver who fills the account should check the gift tax rules.
• Extra contributions from work. These come only from the beneficiary’s own compensation, and only in a year with no contribution to a workplace retirement plan for them.¹
• 529 rollovers are permanent. Public Law 119-21 removed the 2025 end date. A rollover still counts against the year’s limit.⁵
• Distributions and SSI. A distribution isn’t income. One for housing, or for something that isn’t a qualified expense, counts as a resource if it’s still held the next month. Other qualified distributions kept for a planned expense don’t count.¹
• The $100,000 line. Above it, SSI is suspended, not ended, and Medicaid continues. Plan contributions and spending with that line in mind.¹
• Who can manage the account. Signature authority can go to an agent under a power of attorney, a conservator or guardian, a spouse, parent, sibling or grandparent, or a representative payee. It isn’t ownership.¹
• Trusts and what’s left. A trust can contribute to an ABLE account.¹ Because the state can claim remaining funds for Medicaid, some families also talk with an attorney about a special needs trust for larger gifts.