ABLE Account Decision Guide Series
ABLE Accounts and Working People with Disabilities
April 2021
Many people with disabilities have opened an ABLE account or plan to do so. Some are working or are moving toward employment goals. If a working individual receives or seeks public benefits, including means-tested benefits such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Medicaid, a Medicare Savings Plan or assistance from a State Vocational Rehabilitation Agency, the person has the opportunity to maximize use of their ABLE account while maintaining or establishing eligibility for public benefits for a period of time.
This decision guide examines key issues facing an ABLE account owner as they seek to achieve maximum levels of independence through employment. We assume the ABLE account owner, or someone from the ABLE account owner’s Circle of Support, has opened an ABLE account (or expects to do so), and the ABLE account owner is working, or will soon start work, and faces one or more of the issues addressed below:
- ABLE Accounts and Public Benefits for Working People
- SSI and ABLE Accounts for Account Owners Who Work
- SSDI and ABLE Accounts for the Working Person
- Medicaid and ABLE Accounts for the Working Person
- Means-Tested Medicare Support and ABLE Accounts for the Working Beneficiary
- Means-Tested Support from State Vocational Rehabilitation Agencies and ABLE Accounts for Beneficiaries Working or with Work Goals
- Using a Federal Tax Refund, Including the Earned Income Tax Credit and Saver’s Credit to Generate Potential ABLE Account Contributions
- Retirement Insurance Benefits (RIB) and ABLE Accounts for the Working Person
- Services Available Through a Work Incentives Counselor
Note: Our ABLE Decision Guide Series is designed as an aid to decision making as it relates to establishing and using an ABLE account. This document does not cover every possible issue related to the topic and is not a substitute to more in-depth analysis that may be required in some cases.
