The year is 2024, and that means we’re celebrating ten years of ABLE accounts existing in law.

What is an ABLE account?

I’m glad you asked. We’ve covered ABLE accounts here on Femme Frugality before, but here’s a summation in case you’ve missed the coverage:

When you’re disabled, there are many programs you may need to access. Government programs tend to come with income and asset tests, and disability programming is no exception. While you’ll run into asset tests on any number of programs, the most notorious one is SSI, which caps the total amount of money saved or assets in your name at $2,000.

That means if you’re disabled and need SSI, you’re not allowed to build a healthy emergency fund, nonetheless build any type of economic stability or wealth.

Here’s some of the problems that ABLE accounts solve:

• They shelter assets from SSI up to $100,000. So for the first time, disabled people in America are finally allowed to build a healthy emergency fund.
• They are 100% sheltered from Medicaid and FAFSA calculations.
• When you make a qualified withdrawal, you don’t have to pay taxes on it.
• This is a specialized 529 account (529A), but this is money that’s not just for educational needs. You can withdraw the money for almost anything — food, rent, medical expenses, vacation, etc. You’ll want to read your state’s program disclosure, but the guidelines tend to be very generous.

There’s a lot more we could discuss, but those are the key points.

TCJA made ABLE accounts even better

In 2017, ABLE accounts got even better. As a part of the TCJA, we got these things added to legislation:

• ABLE to Work: This program allows extra contributions for disabled people that work. This year, standard contribution maximums are $18,000. But if you’re working and disabled, you can contribute $18,000 PLUS the Federal Poverty Level in your state. That’s at least an extra $15,060 in 2024 — or more, depending on where you live.
• Savers Credit: The Savers Credit is typically for contributions to specific types of retirement accounts. If you have an ABLE account in your own name and contributed to it yourself, the TCJA allowed you to claim up to $1,000 of the Savers Credit, too.
• 529 to ABLE account rollovers. Let’s say you’re saving for your kids’ college. But as they get to college age, you realize it’s something they’re probably not going to pursue. Well, if they’re disabled, the TCJA allows you to roll over the money you’ve been saving in a traditional 529 account to an ABLE account — without incurring any taxes. That way you can use the money for everyday needs or other financial goals.

PROBLEM: Major TCJA tax provisions are expiring.

At the end of 2025, a TON of TCJA tax provision are expiring. It’s not just the ABLE account portions. But these three ABLE provisions are included in that expiration.

There’s no reason they should expire. Period. The end.

The ENABLE Act passes the Senate

A couple months ago, a short little bill called the ENABLE Act passed the Senate in a beautifully bipartisan fashion. Here’s what that bill does:

• Removes the expiration on ABLE to Work and makes it PERMANENT.
• Makes the ability to claim the Savers Credit for ABLE contributions PERMANENT.
• Allows you to rollover 529 funds to an ABLE account tax-free in PERPETUITY.

This is huge. It’s not just extending the legislation by a few years. It’s removing the expiration dates altogether.

Make this bill law by calling your congressperson in the House of Representatives

The next step in turning the ENABLE Act into an actual law is getting it to pass the House.

This should not be an impossible task. But it does require some democratic participation on your part as a citizen.

In a hyper-polarized America, ABLE accounts are one of the few pieces of legislation that receive support from both sides.

This means that even if you’re utterly (and perhaps correctly) convinced that your representatives won’t listen to you about gun laws, women’s rights, queer rights, voter suppression or any other number of issues, they are still highly likely to listen to you about the ENABLE Act.

However, when people don’t let their congresspeople know it’s a priority, disability legislation sometimes slips under the radar. That means it can take a long time to get some things passed. That’s why you getting in touch with your representative in the House is so important.

There’s a time stamp on the expiration of these provisions, and people need to be able to plan their financial futures. The sooner the bill passes, the better.

You can find your house representative and their contact information here.

Some representatives may not have heard of the legislation, but if you stress to them that it’s bipartisan and will make them popular they may care a little more. If you need to drop names, here are the congresspeople who have already signed on as of the time of writing:

• Lloyd Smucker (PA-11)(R)
• Donald Beyer (VA-8)(D)
• Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-5)(R)
• Debbie Dingell (MI-6)(D)
• Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-1)(R)
• Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-Delegate at large)(D)
• Pete Stauber (MN-8)(R)
• Mike Rogers (AL-3)(R)
• Becca Balinti (VT)(D)
• Bill Foster (IL-11)(D)
• Carol Miller (WV-1)(R)
• John Rutherford (FL-5)(R)
• Joe Neguse (CO-2)(D)

If you reach out to your congressperson and get their name added to the list, let me know so I can add them!