CART Disclaimer:  This rough edit transcript, which may contain missing, misspelled or paraphrased words, is only provided for your immediate review and is not certified as verbatim and is not to be cited in any way. 
	
	CART Provided By SignNexus. 
	
National Disability Institute
ABLE National Resource Center
#ABLEtoSave ‑ Ask an ABLE Account Owner
Friday
August 13, 2021
1:30 PM‑3:00 PM
	
	[Captions integrated into Zoom] 
	
	[Captioner standing by] 
	 
	>> KATIE AUCHENBACH:  Is yours set to speaker?  
	>> LAURIE SCHALLER:  I wasn't able to change that yesterday for myself when I tried. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  I'm going to try to also see if I can bring ‑‑ 
	>> BRIAN INGRAM: I just changed mine a bunch. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  You can keep us posted, Brian, if it's all looking great or not. That would be helpful. 
	Let's do slide show view. 
	>> KATIE AUCHENBACH:  Mine, it's hard for me because I have mine stretched across multiple displays because I have all of the boxes, the chat and all of that open. But, I mean, the way Zoom is going to capture it anyway is just whoever has their video on, or who is spotlighted, it's going to display differently in the Zoom recording. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  So can we make sure we are always spotlighting Olivia or Ronda, depending on which one of them is signing, Katie?  
	>> KATIE AUCHENBACH:  Yeah, that's what we had gone over with Sara. I mean, that's something I can work on, but, like, also as a co‑host, you should have that ability. Like, over Olivia's, if you hover over the three dots, click on those, and hit the "Spotlight for everyone." 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  Oh, now I don't see her. Did I delete her?  
	>> KATIE AUCHENBACH:  You don't see her?  
	>> Olivia: I'm still here. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  Oh, good, good.  Yes. 
	>> KATIE AUCHENBACH:  She is very ‑‑ like, she is on mine spotlighted because she has a little yellow box around her. 
	>> That's what I see, too. I see Olivia now. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  Okay, great. 
	>> KATIE AUCHENBACH:  I don't know ‑‑ let me pull up the ‑‑ if we could have all of the ‑‑ I see Simon and Edward have their video on, but if we could have all of the Ambassadors pull up their audio and we'll need to ‑‑ I think that would ‑‑ who don't we have?  
	Eric and Davinna, if you could pull up your video just to make sure that it's working. 
	>> ERIC CARDENAS:  Hi. 
	>> KATIE AUCHENBACH:  Hi, Eric. 
	>> ERIC CARDENAS:  Hi. Can you see me clearly?  Or do I need to do change anything?  
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  No, you're great. You can put the laptop closer to you. And Edward, you, too, if that worked. 
	There you go! Perfect! We like the up close. 
	>> [Laughter] 
	>> ERIC CARDENAS:  I move around a little bit when I'm sitting. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  Yes. 
	Edward, yes, that's better. Thanks. 
	>> KATIE AUCHENBACH:  All right, well, it looks like everyone's video, although ‑‑ 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  Yeah, Davinna. And, Davinna, you are on mute, too. Oh, hi! There you go. 
	>> DAVINNA CHRISTIAN:  Hi. How are you?  
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  Good. How are you today, Davinna? 
	>> DAVINNA CHRISTIAN:  I'm good. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  Could you share your screen?  Are you able to do that?  
	>> DAVINNA CHRISTIAN:  Share my screen?  
	>> KATIE AUCHENBACH:  Share your video. 
	>> DAVINNA CHRISTIAN:  Oh, turn the video on?  
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  Yes. 
	>> KATIE AUCHENBACH:  Yeah, just do a quick video test to make sure. 
	>> DAVINNA CHRISTIAN:  Am I on?  I can't see myself. Oh, I see myself now. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  There you are! 
	>> KATIE AUCHENBACH:  So this is a test of ‑‑ I just wanted to make sure everyone's video was working and the way I have it set right now, there are actually seven spotlights, so you are all spotlighted. So I think we can have up to nine, so we should be good to have everyone spotlighted during the whole panel. 
	>> DAVINNA CHRISTIAN:  Are we leaving our video on the entire time?
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  I would say if you're not able to attend to what we're talking about, Katie, wouldn't you think it would be best to stop the video for that moment?  Just so it's not distracting for the viewers. 
	>> KATIE AUCHENBACH:  You could. I would just need to ‑‑ so, because the last time we did the panel, Miranda, you sort of asked, like, directly, all right, now we're going to talk to Davinna, now we're talking to Simon, so it's easy for me to make that switch with the spotlight on and off. 
	If Davinna turns her video off right now, I would need to know, like, when she turns it back on, if she is not spotlighted, she might, like, when she first put it on, how she said, "I can't see myself." So hers didn't pop up. 
	So if we're not doing direct, like, sort of order of questions like we did last time, maybe it would be better ‑‑ 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  To just have everybody on. 
	>> KATIE AUCHENBACH:  Yeah. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  And just in a few minutes, and I know ‑‑ 
	>> KATIE AUCHENBACH:  But I mean in the beginning or, like, during sort the housekeeping slides in the beginning and at the end, you definitely don't need to have it on for that, I would say. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  Yeah, hang on just a second. I wonder if anyone is having a hard time getting in. 
	>> LAURIE SCHALLER:  The person who is speaking, will their image show up definitely?  That all of the viewers will see them?  
	>> KATIE AUCHENBACH:  It should. So the spotlights are ‑‑ I mean, the default for Zoom is Active View, so whoever is actually speaking would show up.  But with the spotlight, it keeps everyone on the screen. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  So we're all on the screen is the thing to know, so, yes. 
	I see, like, Eric has turned off his video, for instance.  Or Davinna looks like she has as well. Would that be ‑‑ so that will just show up on the screen as their head shot, Katie?  
	>> KATIE AUCHENBACH:  I actually don't know that their head shot would show up at all. It just won't show the non‑video. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  Mm‑hmm. 
	>> KATIE AUCHENBACH:  So if they turn it on and off when they are joining the panel. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  Why don't we have them practice turning it back on ‑‑ well, we won't know if they are turning it back on. 
	>> KATIE AUCHENBACH:  But I believe, I think what it would do is that in the recording of it, it will only have, like, when people's videos are on.  It won't just have their little headshots or things.  
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  That would be fine as long as it's still capturing them while they're speaking.  
	And additionally, if the live presentation, folks can see them when they're speaking, it wouldn't be a problem when they pause their video and then unpause.  
	Just make sure you unpause your video when speaking, Eric and Davinna and anyone else, so they can see you. 
	>> KATIE AUCHENBACH:  As long as there's someone on video, even if it's just you, Miranda, and Laurie, the settings should be capturing, you know, at least a few squares, but you do just want to make sure for our Panelists, our ABLE Ambassadors, if you turn your video off and then you want to answer a question, you just turn it back on, it should pop up. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  There's going to be ‑‑ just so everyone knows, in the few minutes we have before we get started, and I did just text Nathan and Cheryl, so hopefully they'll hop on. 
	But the section where we get started is by saying, those who are new in the audience that are new to ABLE accounts and just considering opening one, what did you think about the information that went out this week about #ABLEtoSave?  That's going to be the first question. If folks want to raise their hand, make sure your video is on. 
	Ina the other question: What one or two resources that we shared this week do you think is essential and why?  
	And as seasoned ABLE account owners, what, if anything, did you learn that was new this week?  
	So those are the three questions I'm going to start off and just open it to the audience, and you guys, if you're on video, you can raise your hand and I'll go to you. 
	And a lot of the questions we got this week, I'm actually going to ask Laurie to answer, but after she answers, for many of them I'm going to show, you know, show of hands, Ambassadors, which of you have used that strategy?  And then I might ask you to say something about that, to just make it engaging like that. 
	Does that sound good to everyone?  
	>> LAURIE SCHALLER:  And the "raise hand" ‑‑ 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  No, no, I'm just saying ‑‑ 
	>> LAURIE SCHALLER:  ‑‑ down at the bottom of the screen?  
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  They can do that, but they can also raise their hand in the video, Laurie. I'm trying not to track too many things or have them do too many things. 
	Does anyone have any questions about that?  That won't work for them?  
	>> KATIE AUCHENBACH:  I saw Timothy joined. Timothy, do you want to test your video real quick?  
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  And you're on mute, too, Tim. Everybody can mute themselves. 
	>> KATIE AUCHENBACH:  There you are, Timothy. Hi! 
	>> TIMOTHY ELLIOTT:  Hi. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  Or pause their video. 
	And I don't know if when, if Cheryl and Nathan don't get on until right at the top, maybe Laurie or Katie, you can check in with them if I'm already talking and we can't get them into this practice session to kind of bring them up to speed on what we're doing. But making sure...
	>> KATIE AUCHENBACH:  All right, I'm going to have to try to juggle the spotlights then. I didn't realize we are having all of the Ambassadors we had last time. I thought there would can slightly less. We can only have up to nine spotlights, so I might need to change them back and forth. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  A tip, always one of the Sign Language interpreters and myself and Laurie because we are going to be engaging the book. Okay?  
	>> Olivia: This is the interpreter asking a question real quick before we start. On my screen, I can see the PowerPoints and I have pinned Eric and Ronda and that's all I see.  I can't see who is actually speaking. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  We need the names. Yes, Olivia. I'll introduce myself. When I go to someone, I'll call out their name. That's a great question.
	>> Olivia: Perfect. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  Thank you. We're pretty dialed in doing this, but it's a good reminder for everyone, if you speak up, I'll call your name, but if I say, hey, Edward, what do you want to say about this?  It might be helpful to say, hi, everyone, this is Edward. Here's what I want to say about this. Just to reinforce that. Making sure we are making this accessible for our deaf and hard‑of‑hearing audience.  
	Thank you, Olivia. 
	>> KATIE AUCHENBACH:  For our interpreters Olivia and Ronda, do you want to tradeoff about every 15 minutes?  Or?  Is that what you're thinking?  
	>> Olivia: Ronda and I had talked and we discussed every 15 minutes switching off. That would be great. Sorry to interrupt, as long as it doesn't interrupt kind of the flow of conversation. 
	>> KATIE AUCHENBACH:  Yeah. 
	>> Olivia: If it's a natural pause, we can switch. 
	>> KATIE AUCHENBACH:  Okay. If you two want to send either messages to me as the host or in the chat and be like, hey, I think we're going to switch. I'll try to keep track of which of you is signing and switch the spotlight over. It worked out pretty well last time we did it. Sometimes there's, like, a second or two of a delay, but I'll try to switch it over. 
	>> Olivia: Great. Thanks. 
	>> KATIE AUCHENBACH:  So are you starting, Olivia, or Ronda?  
	>> Olivia: So Ronda, do you want to go ahead and start now?  Yeah, Ronda ‑‑ oh, she is muted. [Laughter] She'll start. Whenever the presentation starts, then Ronda can start. 
	>> KATIE AUCHENBACH:  All right. Then I will go ahead ‑‑ 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  Katie, real quick, I'll be able to move the slides forward?  
	>> KATIE AUCHENBACH:  Yes, you have sharing. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  Everybody can see me moving to the next slide?  Yeah, don't anybody else try to move the slides because we are all co‑hosts. Don't touch the slides. [Laughter] 
	Okay, you saw me going back and forth, Katie?  
	>> KATIE AUCHENBACH:  I think you are the only one who can move them, Miranda. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  Okay, great. Well, then I will move the slides. 
	>> KATIE AUCHENBACH:  It's being shared from your computer. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  It's starting time. Thank you, everyone, for being here.  I think we'll have a great session. Brian is going to send me some chats with any of the questions that come in. 
	Okay. Thank you, everyone! 
	Do you want me to click "Start webinar," Katie?  
	>> KATIE AUCHENBACH:  I got it, I was just putting myself on mute. 
	[Recording in progress] 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  Hello, everyone, and welcome to our #ABLEtoSave ‑ Ask an ABLE Account Owner event. We're talking today about our theme, ABLE Keys to Success.  We would like that thank as we are getting started our sponsors for our #ABLEtoSave Campaign, Prudential, TIAA, CalABLE, ABLEnow, and ABLE America. 
	So I'm going to hand it over to my colleague, Katie, who is going to walk us through just instructions on how we can engage today, and then we'll come back to me and we'll get started. 
	Katie, go right ahead. 
	>> KATIE AUCHENBACH:  Thanks, Miranda. The audio for today's panel discussion can be accessed using your computer audio or by calling in by phone. If you select computer audio, please make sure your speakers are turned on or your headphones are plugged in. 
	If you do not have sound capabilities on your computer or you prefer to listen by phone, you can dial: 1‑929‑205‑6099 and enter the meeting code, 812 0803 4001. 
	Realtime captioning is being provided for this webinar panel discussion. The captions can be found by clicking on the closed caption icon in your Zoom controls at the bottom of the screen. 
	American Sign Language ASL interpretation is also being provided today. 
	If you do not see the captions after clicking the button or the ASL interpreter on the screen, please alert the host, NDR Webinars, via the chat box. 
	If you miss any portion of this panel, it is being recorded and it will be placed on the ABLE National Resource Center 2021 #ABLEtoSave webpage at ablenrc.org/abletosave‑2021. 
	If you have any technical difficulties during the webinar, please use the chat box to send a message to the NDI Host or you can e‑mail Katie Auchenbach at kauchenbach@ndi‑inc.org. 
	And I will turn it back over to you, Miranda, to get started. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  Great. Thank you so much, Katie. 
	Hi, again, everyone! My name is Miranda Kennedy. You can see me on the screen, but I'm the Director of the ABLE National Resource Center. I'm really glad to be here with all of you today.  Thank you for joining us.  
	Just a quick reminder for those of you who might be new to the ABLE National Resource Center and ABLE accounts, the ABLE National Resource Center is the leading comprehensive source of objective, independent information about Federal‑ and State‑related ABLE programs and activities, including guidance on tax‑advantaged ABLE savings accounts. 
	It's our mission to educate, promote and support the positive impact ABLE can make on the lives of millions of Americans with disabilities and their families.  We have been managed since 2015 by our parent organization, National Disability Institute, solely focused on the financial wellness capability. 
	A couple slides here to get us all oriented, our 2021 #ABLEtoSave Campaign, hopefully many of you have been following along, and if you haven't before, we're glad you are here now.  This is a month‑long campaign meant to provide information and resources about the ease, use, and significance of ABLE accounts for people with disabilities.  We're really hoping to increase awareness across the country and expand the number of people with disabilities that are benefiting from ABLE accounts. 
	Currently there's about eight million people with disabilities who are eligible for ABLE accounts and we just in the last quarter topped 100,000 folks with almost 9 hundred million dollars in the ABLE accounts with an average of almost $9,000 per ABLE account. So that's a real significant opportunity there for folks to save above the $2,000 resource limit. 
	And really, we have a lot of information and resources that have gone out this week about our ABLE accounts. And today's session is meant to be a Q&A panel of our Ambassadors.  
	We do want to thank before we get started, all of our sponsors for this month, many who sponsor specific weeks, but this week we would like to thank all of our sponsors.  Our funder, Prudential. Our sponsors CalABLE, TIAA, as well as ABLEnow and ABLE America. Without them, we wouldn't be able to pull off this campaign and we really sincerely appreciate their support. 
	So throughout the month of August, what we have been doing, we've been hosting events, we've been sharing ABLE tools and resources.  We have panels like this one where we have ABLE Ambassadors who are ABLE account owners and family members who have been some of the first folks who have stepped into owning an ABLE account and benefiting from one and who want to share their experience and the outcomes they have been achieving with others and answer questions from their peers and other people with disabilities across the country. 
	We shared and will be sharing more podcasts and informational videos.  We had a podcast go out earlier this week from one of our Ambassadors, Nathan Turner, as well as three different informational videos on the ABLE National Resource Center and our ABLE Decision Guides, comparison charts, those went out today. We are sharing a wealth of information, but hopefully it's in bite‑sized pieces for folks.  We want you to be able to catch what we're putting out there. 
	Last week was our first week of the month and we did our Welcome to #ABLEtoSave Month where we laid the ground week.  This week is #ABLEtoSave Keys to Success. And that will be the topic of today: Opening an Account: Keys to Success.  
	We hope you will come back and join us for the next weeks, especially where the topic might be very relevant to you and where you are at. Next week we will be tackling Best Practices for Eligible Individuals and Working Age Adults. 
	We will have best practices -- Week 4, we will have our Best Practices for ABLE Families and Circle of Support. And we will be highlighting family members of ABLE account owners who serve as our Ambassadors and resources that will be beneficial to the support members of ABLE account owners.  
	And the final week, which is really just a two day week, Monday and Tuesday, we'll be tackling our ABLE Call to Action: Next Steps to Achieve a Better Life Experience.  
	So we do hope you are following along our #ABLEtoSave Campaign on Facebook or Twitter and visiting our social media handle at @theABLENRC. Don't forget to use the #ABLEtoSave. 
	Please stay tuned to our 2021 #ABLEtoSave webpage. We are updating that webpage regularly with the events that went out earlier in the week in case you didn't get to during the week. 
	The website is on the screen, but it's ablenrc.org/abletosave‑2021/. 
	So for questions that we're going to be bringing in, we do have a series of questions that folks submitted throughout this week on the topic and we're going to tackle those because those did get e‑mailed to us.  You can e‑mail us your questions for next week as well. And you can e‑mail them to info@ablenrc.org and just put ##ABLEtoSave question in the subject line. 
	But for questions for today, please go ahead and use your question and answer box to submit those questions.  We'll try to answer all those questions. Or, if we don't get to them, we'll pull them over and address them in one of our next two Q&A sessions at the end of next week and the week after that. 
	And if your question is not answered or if you are listening by phone and not logged in, you can visit our website or, again, you can e‑mail us at info@ablenrc.org.  
	That's enough introduction in our first ten minutes.  Let's spend the rest of our time together diving in. 
	Here I'm sharing our #ABLEtoSave Panelists.  We have wonderful headshots for our Panelists for 21. We are focusing on the BIPOC community, people of color and are benefiting from an ABLE account. We have a number of these Ambassadors joining us here today. And we'll get to know them a little bit more as we answer some of these questions and have them assist us in answering some of the questions that you all have been submitting. 
	And with that, let's go ahead, I'm going to stop sharing so we can all come on to the screen together. 
	Hello, everyone! It's great to be here with all of you today.  I'm going to start off by asking the group, and I'm going to go around and just ask a few folks ‑‑ actually, if you want to go ahead and share your video screen and then you can raise your hand if you want to be the first to answer this question that I'm going to send out to our group. 
	For someone who is new to ABLE accounts and just learning about them and considering opening one, what did you think of the information going out this week?  
	Does anyone want to answer that specific question?  We sent out a number of different materials this week. 
	Hi, Tim and Davinna. I can see the two of you. That's great. 
	Davinna, can I ask ‑‑ oh, actually, I think I see Edward's hand up.  Great. 
	Hi, Edward. Let's go ahead and get your feedback on for someone who is new to ABLE accounts, and you have been one of our Ambassadors since 2018, Edward. You're in Tennessee. Can you share what you think about that answer?  What did you think of the information going out this week?  
	>> EDWARD MITCHELL:  I believe the information was very informative. It really helped break down that ice because you got to hear especially from Nathan his information going out on, you know, how he opened an ABLE account. But I believe it was the ice breaker to get people comfortable and warmed up to opening an ABLE account and knowing how easy it is. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  Speaking of Nathan, I just got a message from him, he's trying to join. Maybe someone can reach out to him. He did a podcast with us that went actually on Tuesday of this week. So we encourage folks to check that out. That's on our 2021 page. I'm actually forwarding to Katie his e‑mail right now so she might be able to assist him in getting linked up because I know he would probably like to talk about that a little bit. 
	Katie, you just got that e‑mail. 
	Yeah, Edward, I think that, you know, Nathan did do a podcast with on what he thought the keys to success were and he is one of our Ambassadors who is in Ohio who opened his account when they first opened up.  He is a financial coach and has a real perspective as someone with a developmental disability and who lives in Ohio and has that perspective. 
	All right, thank you, Edward. 
	Does anyone else want to talk about the information that went out this week and what you thought about that information as a resource to someone who is new to ABLE accounts?  
	And maybe, Simon, do you mind if I go to you because you are also fairly new to ABLE accounts?  You just opened your ABLE account this year, so you are fairly new yourself and new to ABLE. What did you think of the material that went out this week and was it helpful to folks?  
	>> SIMON CANTOS:  I would say it has been very informative. It's a lot of info. I know it can seem a little bit overwhelming at first, but I know when I started, I was a little apprehensive and nervous because I was, you know, it was a lot of info to take in, but, you know, the ABLE NRC site and the information released this week has been very informational. 
	It's been reiterated by others, it's surprisingly easy to set up and establish. And I know myself, based on my personal experience setting up my ABLE account, like, I set it up on a random Tuesday night and I did it in less than, you know, less than an hour, kind of going into it blind. I was kind of shocked and surprised as to how easy it was to set up and establish. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  Thanks, thank you, Simon. Yeah, we had our ABLE Roadmap to enrollment go out this week, as well as Nathan's podcast, from his perspective, from the financial wellness side and as an ABLE account owner, we had our three short videos.  They were each about 15 minutes.  They went out on social media. They are also posted on that 2021 webpage, which, by the way, a quick cheat sheet for everyone, if you just even get on our ablenrc.org, it will say "ABLE 2021" and it will pop up. 
	Thank you, Simon. 
	We had the Decision Guides go out today.  We did a walkthrough of the website. We did a walkthrough of the comparison chart which are tools for helping folks decide which ABLE program to open with. 
	I'm going to go ahead and ask Laurie to join us and we'll have our Ambassadors weigh in as well to some of the questions that are coming in. 
	Actually, here is a great question, Laurie, I just saw it pop up on the screen.  What are Decision Guides?  I think somebody needs to check out the Video Guide that walks folks through that. But a real answer to what Decision Guides are, Laurie. You worked closely on working on those. Laurie, can you tell folks what Decision Guides are?  
	>> LAURIE SCHALLER:  Sure. So we have five Decision Guides to begin. The first is, "Am I ABLE eligible?" 
	The second is, "Finding funds to save in an ABLE account." 
	I'm seeing a lot of questions coming in about: What is a qualified disability expense?  
	How am I able to spend the money from the ABLE account to purchase something or pay for something?  
	The fourth Decision Guide is, "Understanding ABLE account savings and public benefits." 
	That talks to the points to those who receive SSI, Supplemental Security Income, or SSDI, Social Security Disability Insurance benefits and how able can help that person who may be working, for example. 
	And more information is included within the ABLE accounts and working people with disabilities. 
	And what I'll do, I'll put the link into our website where these guides can be found for all of our viewers. I'll put that in the chat box. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  Great, thanks, Laurie. Because they are located multiple places. On our homepage we have them, under "Resources" on the website we have them, they are also on the 2021 page, a guided video walkthrough for those from our colleague Marlene Olinski. 
	Before we go forward, do any of our Ambassadors want to weigh in on those Decision Guides?  We're getting some interest from that. I'm wondering, in particular, Davinna, I'm wondering if I can call on you to talk about those because we have had some chats about the Decision Guides and your thoughts on those?  What would you tell folks about the Decision Guides as a family member of an ABLE account owner?  
	Oh, you're on mute, Davinna.  I can see you, but you're on mute. 
	>> DAVINNA CHRISTIAN:  I'm sorry. 
	So definitely you want to access the Decision Guides. They answer tons of questions.  They answer questions you didn't even know you had. And they are kind of in order, so if you start with the roadmap, it will walk you through everything but the actual registration process, which is very, very good. 
	It will answer your questions as you go and it makes your decision a lot easier.  It's simplified so you can understand it, which is very important. 
	And it also leads you down ‑‑ it's a roadmap, so it actually leads you down the road to actually registering for your account. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  Yeah. That first one.  This is Miranda. The first Decision Guide, that's what it does.  And the other guides kind of walk you down on a kind of more personalized basis.  It's a very interactive tool.  You just click the answers that are relevant to your situation and then you only get those answers. But you can play around with it and see what the answers would be if you were answering it differently as well.  
	And those are new resources we have.  We just are launching those this month officially, so definitely check those out. 
	Thank you, Davinna. Glad you are getting a lot of benefit out of those.  
	And actually, Davinna is in Michigan folks, so even though it looks like it's the Golden Gate Bridge behind you, Davinna and her son DeShawn live in Michigan in Detroit. Thanks for being here today, Davinna.
	Let's go ahead, I'm going to ask some other questions that are coming. Laurie, could you respond to: What are some critical features to consider when comparing ABLE accounts?  We talked about opening an account. There's more than 40 ABLE programs across the country, could you share what are some critical features to consider when opening an ABLE account?
	>> LAURIE SCHALLER:  Sure. Our ABLE plan comparison tools posted on our website display specific information if a person selects, for example, their State's ABLE plan. And that may include features like tax incentives for contributions made to that ABLE account. And many people who receive Medicaid benefits are interested in seeing the Medicaid payback statement for that particular ABLE plan. 
	And then there are differences, some ABLE plans, for the savings account portion of the ABLE plan, may over FDIC insurance. And then these differ from State ABLE plan to ABLE plan as well.  
	So I'll put that link into the chat box so people can see how to view that material on our website. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  [Audio muted] 
	Apologies, everyone, I was on mute. This is Miranda, I'm back. 
	In terms of some of those critical features to consider, and I would encourage you to check out, there's a video, a short video, about 15 minutes, where Laurie, who manages our comparison tools and communicates with the state ABLE programs to get information into those tools, the state ABLE programs who operate the ABLE accounts, there's a good guided walkthrough that I encourage you to check out that went out earlier today on our social media.  That video will also be posted on our 2021 page. 
	So for a little bit more of a guided walkthrough the tools and to consider the critical features, check that out. 
	And in terms of our comparison tools, can I see from any of our Ambassadors, you know, we talk a lot about the ability to choose among the different ABLE programs. Decide if you want to open one.  If you want to transfer it open to a different program.  But does anyone want to speak to using those tools or the kind of information you're able to get out of those tools?  
	I'm wonder, you know, Tim, if it might be okay if I call on you.  Tim is in New York State and, Tim, you have a New York ABLE account, right?  
	>> TIMOTHY ELLIOTT:  Yes. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  Okay. And I believe, I know you talk to a lot of people about opening ABLE accounts.  Did you use the comparison tools to open the account or check those out?  Or do you remember those to others?  
	>> TIMOTHY ELLIOTT:  Yes, I always use those. Before New York had established their ABLE account in 2018, when I was teaching, I was using the comparison tools to parents to other individuals with developmental disabilities to show them the different states that already have ABLE accounts and comparing the fees and whether they had a checking account and a debit card. That's one of the things that is important to people, whether they can use a debit card for their account. So those are some of the things that I was using to show individuals and the families about the different ABLE accounts. And, of course, the fees, everybody worries about the fees.  The fees are relatively low compared to what you'll be able to save over the course of time. 
	A few dollars as compared to losing your Social Security or things like that, there's no comparison. I use the comparison tool because some people are probably interested in moving to another state. So if they wanted to use an ABLE account from a different state, they can look that up, and I showed them how to use the tool. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  And it's important to note, too, you can only have one ABLE account at a time, but you can roll your account can over to another state. And that's important because we do know that, you know, you might want to ‑‑ maybe you want to open an ABLE account and your state has not opened a program. At this point, there's not that many states that don't have an account that's open ‑‑ a program that's open that you could open it somewhere and roll it into your home state or out of your home state. You have that kind of flexibility. 
	We did get a question here ‑‑ thank you, Tim. We did get a question here, I'll throw it to Laurie asking: Do you need to accept a separate bank account for ABLE funds?  Can you use your current account instead of opening a new one?  I think the resources we sent out this week would be really helpful for the person who asked that question, right, Laurie?  
	>> LAURIE SCHALLER:  Yes. So a regular checking or savings account or a retirement account is not a protected account in terms of ‑‑ for a person who receives SSI or Medicaid or means tested benefit programs. 
	So an ABLE account, when funds are deposited directly into the ABLE account, other than earned income or other sources of countable income, that is not an accountable resource, up to $100,000 for the person who receives SSI benefits. 
	And otherwise, people who, for example, receive SSDI, any type of Medicaid, Medicare, SNAP benefits, any amount of ABLE savings is not an accountable resource for those means tested programs, including HUD benefits. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  This is Miranda, again.  That's a great explanation of what ABLE accounts are, Laurie. 
	Part of the question, too, was: Do you need to open a separate account for ABLE funds?  The ABLE account is its own account. You would use your ABLE account separately from your existing bank account, right?  
	>> LAURIE SCHALLER:  So, yes. And for a person who receives SSI benefits, for example, it's best to have those benefits deposited into a regular checking account and then to pay for housing and food from that account directly. 
	Extra SSI can then be deposited within that ABLE account, that that person can then spend those monies when they choose to on qualified disability expenses. 
	And once that money is deposited in ABLE, up to $100,000 for that SSI beneficiary is disregarded as a countable resource for the person who receives SSI. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  [Audio muted] 
	>> LAURIE SCHALLER:  Would it be possible, Miranda, for me to offer a couple questions that have come in?  
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  Yes. And could we ‑‑ I want to get to those questions, too. I see those.  But I think I have a question ‑‑ this is Miranda ‑‑ that's related to what we were just talking about, which is just real quickly, can SSI payments be directly deposited into an ABLE account?  And can you set up to deposit SSI funds to an ABLE accounts automatically?  
	Which I think you answered that question by saying, the real best practice, that I hear, is to put it into your regular bank account and not to use that and deposit that directly into an ABLE account. 
	So the best practice is to take those SSI funds and deposit it into your regular banking account, right?  So I think we have answered multiple questions that came in along those lines. 
	Okay, yes, go right ahead and throw out a couple of those other questions coming in. 
	>> LAURIE SCHALLER:  Okay, Ambassadors, hear this question, too. So a lot of ABLE account owners are working.  That's wonderful. And people are wondering, if they don't have another retirement account, can they save additional monies in their ABLE account above the $15,000 limit each year?  And can they make use of the Savers Tax Credit from the monies from their earnings that they deposit into their ABLE account?  
	So the answer is yes for both. 
	Generally, the additional amount is up to an additional $12,760 from the person's earnings that they can save into their ABLE account. It is more for those who live in Hawaii or Alaska. 
	And because ABLE savings can be used to cover retirement expenses in the future, people are allowed to, on their tax form, add the amount that they have saved within their ABLE account under the Saver's Tax Credit.  
	So you want to speak with your tax preparer if you own an ABLE account and you need to file taxes about your additional savings made into your ABLE account from your earned income. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  That's a great point. Thank you so much, Laurie. And that was a really good question from our audience, too. 
	I'm wondering if any our Ambassadors have used these strategies, have used these saver credits, or want to speak about any aspect of what Laurie just shared in response to our questions coming in. 
	And if you want to show your video and maybe raise your hand if you want to weigh in, that would be great. Okay. 
	Well, I will ask this then, we know our Ambassadors and family members, is some of this new to you?  Did you learn anything new from the resources that went out this week, even though you have an account, either from as recently as a few months, all the way back to 2018 or 2016. Edward?  
	>> EDWARD MITCHELL:  I know with the individual that prepares our taxes, I definitely will be speaking more with them about the Tax Savers Credit.  Again, it's one of those things you overlook or sometimes you don't want to disrupt the status quo, but now, after hearing this, I think that's something I will approach with them because when I do work and especially from, you know, my second job, that's what I do deposit. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  Right. And being able to take money from your earned income and saving above that amount is also helpful. 
	Edward, I just wonder, as one of our first Ambassadors, you have been working with us since 2018, you have had an account since early days, I think it's important for folks to know, and it's kind of common across all of our Ambassadors that we have worked with over the years, ABLE account owners and family members, to say, you don't have to know everything about ABLE accounts.  You should know the basics, but don't feel like you need to know everything before opening that account. 
	And I think you have just demonstrated here, you are hearing about something new from a question that came in, something else you can explore, what would you have to say about that?  
	>> EDWARD MITCHELL:  Just, you know, just in getting new pieces of information, it's lying building Legos. I have the foundation of Legos, now I'm trying to grow that tower. I'm definitely taking the information that I learn and continuing to build upon mine because, again, not an expert, but always willing to learn.  And I'm just a sponge.  The more you give me, the more I'm going to absorb. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  Right. Right. And it's interesting, I think ‑‑ thank you, Edward. I think I'll throw this next question to Tim, if I could. 
	We'll leave Edward in Tennessee and go to Tim in New York, if you don't mind, Tim. This question came in about: Can a money in an ABLE can account be used for down payments or mortgage payments?  I think you may know a little bit that. We have other Ambassadors that know about that, too.  But I know you have a new plan and savings goal, so go ahead and take it away.  What's the answer to that question?  
	>> TIMOTHY ELLIOTT:  Yes. What I'm using my ABLE account towards now is towards purchasing my own condo here in New York.  Hopefully the prices come down soon, but that's what my ABLE account is set up for. 
	And quite a few other people that I've helped establish their ABLE accounts, they are saving up to purchase their own co‑ops or condos.  
	A couple of people during the pandemic that had savings in their ABLE account had used it once or twice to help cover their rent since they didn't have enough in their regular account, so that was a good emergency plan for them to have that ABLE account as a backup. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  Great. Thank you, Tim. Thanks for weighing in on that.  That was a really good question and it's actually one of the longer term strategies for an ABLE account, to save for a down payment on a home, pay for mortgage payments.  
	Laurie, do you have anything else you would like to add to that?  
	>> LAURIE SCHALLER:  Often people come to need an accommodation, maybe to modify their home, to make their bathroom accessible or to change their countertops or their doorway or install a wheelchair ramp, so when other sources of funding are not available to cover those costs, those are certainly expenses related to housing for an account owner. 
	And they left the definition of accommodations so that as things change in the future, we can still use those ABLE accounts to meet our needs. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  Yes, they are pretty broad.  One of the easiest ways to think about it ‑‑ this is Miranda, again ‑‑ it has to benefit the owner, the ABLE account owner with the disability, but it can other benefit others.  
	You know, one question was about a down payment on a home.  What about purchasing a vehicle?  Does that mean only the person with the disability can live in that home or drive or ride in that vehicle?  No, other people can benefit from it, too, but it has to benefit the individual themselves. 
	So it's not something to be used to purchase gifts for others, things like that. Right, Laurie?  
	>> LAURIE SCHALLER:  Yes. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  So we have had a couple of questions come in over e‑mail this week, as well as earlier this week about folks who, it might be that they Googled ABLE accounts and the name of their state and then they ended up maybe opening up an ABLE account with a program that actually wasn't ‑‑ that was accepting residents of their state, but it's not their State's ABLE program. 
	I think those questions are really on point because just this morning we sent out, and it's now on our website as well, the video of Laurie, you walking through our comparison tools.  And I think this is a really good example. It's one of the first things folks think of with the ABLE National Resource Center, how do we navigate the 40‑plus programs and decide on the right one for us?  
	And, also, how do we land with the one they for sure want?  Laurie, I'm going to pitch that question to you since this is your whole wheelhouse here. 
	>> LAURIE SCHALLER:  There are a lot of characteristics of ABLE that are common from ABLE plan to ABLE plan, but, you know, if I were to select an ABLE plan for my home state, I would start there with the comparison tools and see if there's a tax qualified deduction for contributions made to the ABLE account. 
	For ease of access, I would want to know that there's a debit card available that I could use to pay for qualified disability expenses. 
	But really, you know, that's up to each person, how they select the ABLE plan that is right for them. 
	Some people really want assistance and they want their Financial Advisor to help them with their account, so they may choose a plan that is managed by Fidelity, for example, or by Virginia America plan. So it's up to each individual. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  Yeah, the ABLE America plan that has the Financial Advisor.  Thank you, Laurie, that's really helpful. 
	The other aspect of the question I was asking, if you put ABLE account and the name of your state into a Google Search engine, you may end up as your top items finding a plan that's not actually out of your home state, which is one of the reasons you would want to be using the ABLE National Resource Center website because then you can look at our comparison tool, you can look at ‑‑ you can find your state, and it will direct you to your own state or the state you are looking to and their website to open a plan, an account, with that state. 
	So we really encourage people to use our tools.  It will be ‑‑ you'll more easily end up opening an account with the program you meant to versus using a Google Search. 
	And I know our Ambassadors, we've talked about that a little bit. I don't know if any our Ambassadors want to speak to that. 
	Davinna is smiling a little bit. I'm going to ask you to unmute and say something about that, Davinna. You have been around for a few years, you help other parents, you have seen that happen, right?  
	>> DAVINNA CHRISTIAN:  Yes. The comparison tool is my absolute favorite tool on the website. It is the best ever! And what I did with the comparison tool is, I live in Michigan, but I looked at the states where I had relatives that if something happened and I had to leave Michigan, where I could go. 
	So I'll just give you some random examples.  I have family in Florida, in Texas, in Mississippi, and in Alabama. So I used the comparison tool first to look at each state individually just to see what the states were offering. And then I narrowed it down and I used the three state comparison to see which was my best option. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  Mm‑hmm. 
	>> DAVINNA CHRISTIAN:  At the time I opened the ABLE account for my son, there were no debit cards, but the site was able to say which states knew that debit cards were coming in the future. That helped me out as well.  
	That's how I use the comparison tool, to look at my home states, if I had to change states, where would I go, and which account would be better between the states I had a choice to move to. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  Thank you, Davinna, for weighing in on that. Yeah, you can do those comparisons side‑by‑side of up to three states.  We've got three different kinds of tools you can use to help you figure out where to get started. 
	You know, kind of the top 13 questions folks might have. Some of those characteristics are the same across all programs because it's Federal Legislation or, you know, it's just this across the board, but a number of those characteristics are different from state to state. Who has a debit card option?  Who has, you know, different investment options or with different firms?  
	And I actually want to ask ‑‑ and Davinna, I'll ask you this, too. I know you have said before that for you and DeShawn, ABLE answered five of your six most pressing issues had.  
	We just had someone ask, you know, can you ‑‑ I have to scroll back up to that question. Can you make money with investments through your ABLE account?  
	>> DAVINNA CHRISTIAN:  You can. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  Have you?  
	>> DAVINNA CHRISTIAN:  That is something I'm learning as I go. When I first opened DeShawn's account it was strictly for savings. It was not going to do anything but save for the future, but life happens and things change.  
	Then I did start to look into the investment efforts. At first, I didn't do so well, so I had to change some things up and now we're doing a little better. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  That's great. 
	>> DAVINNA CHRISTIAN:  So it is possible. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  That is a tax advantage.  You know, you don't pay taxes on those investments when you draw them out, the money you are making on it, if you are spending it for qualified disability expenses.  So that's a real benefit to that. 
	I'm wondering if any of our other Ambassadors want to ‑‑ hi, Cheryl, I see you are here. It's great to have you join us.  
	I wonder if any of our other Ambassadors want to touch on that, too. Raise your hand if you would like to. 
	I see Nathan has raised his hand.  Nathan, it's great to have you joining us. 
	>> NATHAN TURNER:  It's great to be here.  I'm sorry it's not an optimal set‑up for me, so I hope you all can hear you. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  We can hear you, yes. Nathan, this is Miranda, real quick, we were talking about your podcast earlier. 
	But, yeah, that question about being able to make money off of the assets in your ABLE account through investments.  Everyone, Nathan is in Ohio. We referenced him earlier. He does financial coaching for people with developmental disabilities through the Lucas County Board of Developmental Disabilities.  
	Nathan, yeah, go ahead and weigh in on that question. 
	>> NATHAN TURNER:  So you are asking specifically about investments in the ABLE account and how I use them?  
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  If you can make money from your ABLE account. 
	>> NATHAN TURNER:  You can definitely make money using an ABLE account. I know with Ohio ABLE we have four options and a savings account to choose from. And they all have differing levels of aggressiveness.  So if you want to invest more in the stock market, you can pick one account. If you want to, you know, invest more in bonds, you would pick a different one. 
	And it's a ‑‑ one of the things I love about ABLE accounts, and I said this in the podcast is, it's a really great way for individuals with disabilities and their families to exercise self discrimination and have an easy gateway to investing. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  Well, thank you, Nathan, for weighing in on that. We certainly appreciate that. And I encourage everyone to check out Nathan's podcast. It went out on Tuesday.  It should be up and loaded on our website for you to check out. If you click on the 2021 webpage, it just went out this past Monday.  You can also find it on our social media accounts as well. 
	Thank you, Nathan. 
	Laurie, are you seeing other questions that are coming in that we might be able to address?  
	Oh, yeah, are you seeing any other questions that are coming in that our Ambassadors can address or that you can?  I'm kind of looking through my notes, too. 
	>> LAURIE SCHALLER:  We know the IRS has defined qualified disability expenses for ABLE account owners. And we know many people find vacationing a nice activity for themselves. So vacationing, per se, is not a qualified disability expense, so if a person cannot use other monies outside of the ABLE account for their vacation expenses, what does that person do?  
	Well, you know, we know if a person goes to a disability‑specific vacationing event, for example yoga for maybe the person who has a mental health condition or a spa, you know, that person may want to ask for a script from their physician. 
	If a person has a disability that requires that an attendant or assistant accompanying them in order for that person to be able to travel, that would be a qualified disability expense for that person to pay that attendant to accompany them on that vacation. 
	But otherwise, a person probably would want to make the decision to use other funds.  
	Now we just got a unique question in the Q&A box, so the person is saying: To travel at this time, it's probably safer to be in an RV maybe as opposed to airfare or using a train or other public transit. Would that be a qualified disability expense?  
	So maybe to ask for a script from the physician authorizing that so that you have some sort of back‑up should the IRS question that particular expense being paid for from the ABLE account as a qualified disability expense. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  Thank you, Laurie. I do want to ask a question here, I'm actually going to ask a question to Cheryl and then I've got another one that is kind of related that I would like to pitch to you.  
	And Cheryl was able to join us.  Hi, Cheryl. 
	>> CHERYL WALFALL‑FLAGG: Hi, Miranda. Happy to be here. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  Cheryl is coming from in North Carolina. Cheryl has three sons. Her oldest is off and launched, the two younger are teenagers and both on the autistic spectrum. Your youngest is also your nephew that you have guardianship over. 
	And this is a question that kind of comes to both of those, both of your youngest. What happens ‑‑ someone was asking this about their client, this would be relevant for you for your kids, your young adults I should say, right?  They probably don't want to be called kids at 14 and 19, right?  
	>> CHERYL WALFALL‑FLAGG: No, they don't. [Laughter] 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  But what kind of documentation do you need to open an ABLE account for someone who is not receiving Social Security benefits before the age of 26?  I think we have a resource on this, too. 
	>> CHERYL WALFALL‑FLAGG: Yes, of course, on the ABLE National Resource Center website, you have the frequently asked questions and you have the Decision Guides, which help to answer some of those questions when people are looking for information. 
	But as a parent, when I opened my son's account, he does not receive Social Security benefits, he didn't at the time and he still doesn't. And the documentation that is required is a certification from a medical professional to say that they have ‑‑ they qualify under the definition of the ‑‑ the disability definition that the ABLE account uses. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  Mm‑hmm. 
	>> CHERYL WALFALL‑FLAGG: And so my son has an account. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  And your nephew is in a different position, so you are able to use that disability certification, and we have an example of that on our website and it's linked to our Decision Guides, some of the ABLE programs also have that kind of disability certification. You can find that resource. 
	But your youngest, your nephew, is receiving benefits, right?  
	>> CHERYL WALFALL‑FLAGG: Correct. He is receiving benefits, so we're in two different camps as ABLE account parents or owners of ABLE accounts because he is receiving benefits, so he qualified under the first category as someone receiving benefits.  
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  So you kind of straddled that question beautifully, Cheryl. That was very convenient for the question that kind of had two sides.  Thank you. 
	And Laurie, I'm going to ask the other question to you. And Cheryl, you might be interested, and Davinna as well, because you are both parents.  
	The question came in: If you open an ABLE account for a child receiving SSI, can the account be closed at any point if it is no longer funded?  
	>> LAURIE SCHALLER:  Yes. So we know that almost every ABLE plan charges a fee and it averages about $45 a year. And those monies to pay that fee are taken directly out of the ABLE account, whether that be within the savings portion or within the investment portion. 
	But the ABLE account owner can decide to close that ABLE account at any time. If there are fund that is are then made payable to that ABLE account owner, we need to keep in mind that for that SSI beneficiary or someone who has means tested benefits, that is now a countable resource for that individual. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  Yes. 
	>> LAURIE SCHALLER:  So those monies are no longer protected when the ABLE account is closed and there's a disbursement from the ABLE account. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  Right. You can spend down for qualified disability expenses and if you are not worried about that resource limit, that could be ‑‑ if you are off of benefits and you want to close that account for any reason, although you could certainly continue to benefit from the tax‑advantaged saving of it, that brings some flexibility to that as well. 
	Also, it's important for folks to know that, you know, even if you are spending down that amount, you could potentially want to save maybe 10 grand or a little less in there because it can be used to pay for funeral expenses, legal expenses, things like that and it might be a good still rainy day savings account for folks.  
	Would you agree, Laurie?  
	>> LAURIE SCHALLER:  Yes. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  Here's another question, I kind of want to go back over to Cheryl for a second for this one just because it came in. Cheryl, I'm wondering if you can answer this question from the chat because I think it's a good one and it shows the flexibility of it. 
	And there's a real easy answer to this, Cheryl. Can someone use ABLE account fund to pay for swim lessons for a child that has autism. 
	>> CHERYL WALFALL‑FLAGG: The way I would answer that is it benefits that child, it benefits them because of their disability, why not?  It's going to enhance their life and allow them to have a better life experience. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  And I think you nailed that correctly. We've talked to the IRS quite a bit about the qualified disability expenses and the question is always, why don't you have a list of everything that is covered?  Well, it's going to change from person‑to‑person.  If it can be justified as an expense for that individual and it's not solely benefiting someone else, and it's real broad, it's really about achieving that better life experience. And it sound like, you know, swim lessons for a child who has autism, you know, certainly, also, if it's helping them in terms of, you know, just a helpful thing for them to do, that would be allowable. 
	Laurie, do you want to weigh in on that?  That kind of talks a little bit, too, about the flexibility of those qualified disability expenses. And as Cheryl was saying earlier, we have a Decision Guide on those qualified disability expenses, don't we, Laurie?  
	>> LAURIE SCHALLER:  Yeah. So, you know, this is another one of those gray areas.  So in my mind as a parent, I send my kids for swimming lessons and it helped my children to qualify for more job opportunities in the future, da, da, da, da. It had all kinds of benefits. 
	So if you feel confident that you can justify that as a qualified disability expense should the IRS ask, that is your decision. You could ask a doctor for a script, again, for that gray area expense. And that will help you then to justify that expense should the IRS conduct an audit. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  And if you are ever ‑‑ this is Miranda, again ‑‑ if you are ever not certain, a best practice is just to use other funds and let the funds in the ABLE account grow maybe toward as bigger, longer term expense, like a down payment on a car or vehicle or a laptop you might need or additional job coaching support services, things like that. 
	And the nice thing about not using an ABLE account for everyday expenses, although we understand most folks might want to do that or might benefit from that not have to worry about the $2,000 ceiling if they are on benefits, and not everyone who is ABLE account eligible is on benefits. 
	If you are not certain you can make that justification, that would be a way to go. 
	Other things to keep in mind, you know, yeah, gifts to others or gambling, things like that would be a no. Other things can be a different shades of gray. And the IRS, unless it was something really egregious, we don't expect them to audit, you can show that justification.  They want you to benefit from it. 
	I'm going to look. We have a lot of other messages coming through and I know you have been scrolling through those, Laurie. 
	>> DAVINNA CHRISTIAN:  Miranda, this is Davinna, while you are looking for questions for us, I just want to say, when I opened DeShawn's ABLE account, it was fairly new in Michigan and it was only $25 to open his account. The first nine months I never used his account because I couldn't figure out what I was going to do with the funds. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  [Laughter] Right. 
	>> DAVINNA CHRISTIAN:  So they just kind of sat there and then I realized the benefits of it. If it was just a savings account, there were still benefits to that. 
	But for the parents and the public that is asking questions about using the funds for their ‑‑ themselves or their children, my rule of thumb is if this is an unexpected expense for that person, it probably qualifies as you can use your ABLE account. 
	And I'll give you an example.  We started off as just a savings account. That's all I used the fund for because I can save over the $2,000 for him. 
	But then we needed specialized feeding supplies for him. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  Yeah. 
	>> DAVINNA CHRISTIAN:  So I can use his ABLE account to pay for that because it's not an ordinary spoon that I can go to Walmart or Target and purchase. I have to order it from a specialty place.  
	And he requires a special cup, so I can use it to order that kind of stuff. And this is small things I'm using as an example, but this is how I use his account. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  In addition to the vehicle, right?  
	>> DAVINNA CHRISTIAN:  Yes, we used his ABLE account ‑‑ his ABLE account has changed over time because life happens. So we started off with just a savings account and then we needed a wheelchair accessible vehicle. So we're going to save as much as we can for a down payment for a wheelchair accessible vehicle. 
	Once we accomplished that goal, we needed things for augmentative communication device. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  Yeah. 
	>> DAVINNA CHRISTIAN:  That insurance wouldn't cover. So we used the account to cover those expenses.  So over the years, the account has ‑‑ responsibility has changed. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  Mm‑hmm. 
	>> DAVINNA CHRISTIAN:  But that's just a rule of thumb that I use, if it's something special that my ‑‑ DeShawn requires, then you can use his ABLE account for that reason. 
	>> MIRANDA KENNEDY:  Well, thank you for weighing in, Davinna.  I think that's great. 
	It's funny, the time has really flown by, we only have another minute here.  I want to let folks know as we are wrapping up, we hope we have answered and I think we have answered many of the questions that came in on the chat, we're going to hold those.  You can e‑mail us, but you can also join us, and I'm going to pull this slide up now, we hope you will join us next week and the week after that, we have two more question and answer sessions with this group of Ambassadors. 
	Next week we actually will be doing our Best Practices ‑‑ actually, I'm going to pop this screen up here.  Next week, Week 3 is our Best Practices for Eligible Individuals and Working Age Adults.  
	The week after that, again, Best Practices for ABLE Family Members and Circle of Support.  And we're going to have a panel, just like what we did today next Friday and the Friday after that on those topics. 
	So we can bring forward questions we didn't get to today that are relevant to those topics, which many of those are, and happy to address and engage all of you again.  We hope you will bring more folks to the #ABLEtoSave Campaign and the information we're sharing.  
	If you didn't get a chance to check out those resources that we sent out this week that we've talked about and eluded to that answer many of the questions that came in on the chat, we encourage you to check out our #ABLEtoSave 2021 website. 
	We want to thank all of our Ambassadors for joining us.  You can also e‑mail us with questions, we won't make you wait until the next panel, but we hope you will come and talk and share your stories.  
	Again, you can e‑mail info@ablenrc.org. And also in the post‑webinar survey, you can ask questions there. We saw many questions that were similar and we hope we addressed most of them.  But there are always lots of questions and that's what we are here for. 
	We hope you are able to spread the word about #ABLEtoSave. I just really want to end by thanking, again, our sponsors for #ABLEtoSave, our ABLE Ambassadors, account owners, and family members you heard from today.  We certainly build our work off of our interaction with them, what they say they need, what insights they give us, they help us with these resources tools, they are featured on our podcasts. Go check out Nathan's. We have another one coming out next week. 
	With that, I'm going to say thank you and we hope to see you again next week.  Have a great day, everyone! Bye! 
	
	[Session concluded] 
	
	CART Disclaimer:  This rough edit transcript, which may contain missing, misspelled or paraphrased words, is only provided for your immediate review and is not certified as verbatim and is not to be cited in any way.