03/20/2025

These Bank Accounts Allow Americans with Disabilities to Save and Invest

Very few know about these speciality accounts

Paul Safarik, 32, of Lincoln, Nebraska, has worked in the food industry since he was 21, delivering for quick service restaurants like Raising Cane’s and stocking groceries at stores like Trader Joe’s. With his earnings, Safarik, who has Down syndrome, recently bought a treadmill to stay active when the weather’s bad and helped cover the cost of braces for his teeth.

That's unusual, financially speaking, and it’s thanks in part to a little-known savings account called an ABLE account, which lets people people with disabilities save money beyond the $2,000 asset limit that is linked to benefits like Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicaid. Without the account, Safarik could have risked losing government assistance if he had more than $2,000 in assets saved at one time in a given month.

"With this ABLE account, we don't have to worry as much," said Deb Safarik, Paul's mother, with whom he lives. "It's nice that he can work and save, and not have that be held against him."

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Associated Press.