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8‑30‑21.  SNX NDI.  1:30 p.m.
National Disability Institute
ABLE Call to Action:  Next Steps to Achieve a Better Life Experience.  
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>> Hello everyone.  Thank you for joining us today.  For our ABLEtoSave panel.  
We are on week five of our ABLEtoSave month.  And this week, today and tomorrow, are our wrap up and our Call to Action.  Next Steps to Achieve a Better Life Experience with ABLE accounts.  With our panel of ABLE Ambassadors.  So we have 90 minutes and we're going to be hearing from a range of Ambassadors, who are ABLE account owners an family members.  
Before we dive into that, and I first off want to say a sincere thank you to our sponsors for ABLEtoSave month.  Prudential, TIAA, Cal ABLE, ABLEnow and ABLEAmerica.  
And thank you all of you for joining us.  We're really glad you're with us here today.  We're going to take two or three minutes and I'm going to hand things over Sarah Ingram our program coordinator to walk us through some logistical slides before we get started with our panel.  So Sarah.
>>  Thanks Miranda.  To listen to today's panel discussion it can be accessed using your computer audio or calling in by phone.  If you select computer audio in Zoom please make sure your speakers are turned on or head phones are plugged in.  
You may call in by using this number 992056099 and using webinar code 84894862595.  
Today panel discussion is AS L interpreted and real time captioning is provided.  The captions can be found by clicking on the closed caption icon on the Zoom controls at the bottom of your screen.  That's the little CC icon.  
If you don't see the captions after clicking the button or the ASL interpreters on the screen, please alert the host via the chat box.  
And if you missed portions of this panel today, it's being recorded and will be placed on the ABLE National Resource Center's 2021 ABLEtoSave web page at ABLE NRC/ABLEtoSave‑2‑20‑20.  If you have any issues please send a chat box to send a message to the host or email me directly, singran@ablencr.org.  Back to you Miranda.
>>  Thank you Sarah.
>>  Thank you.
>>  Again my name is Miranda Kennedy I'm the Director of the ABLE National Resource Center and we are managed by National Disability Institute.  
In case this is the first time you're hopping on one of our ABLEtoSave live meetings or sessions, activities that we've had this month, just a quick recap of what the ABLE National Resource Center does.  
We are the lead willing comprehensive source of objective, independent information about federal and state related ABLE programs and activities, including guidance and best practices and strategies, we provide resources.  And exam tells on tax‑advantaged ABLE savings accounts and how to make the most of those.  
It really is our mission to educate, promote and support the positive impact that ABLE can make on millions of Americans with disabilities and their families.  An we estimate about 8 million people with disabilities currently are eligible for ABLE accounts.  And we just have around a hundred thousand account owners right now so we really want to make sure others are aware of this opportunity and know what ABLE accounts are all about and how those can be used.  
I do want to make one quick point that we do try to reinforce.  We provide objective, independent information.  We don't actually manage any of the State ABLE programs but we have great information on the 40 plus State ABLE programs that exist, how you can access those in open accounts.  And just some really great best practices and strategies.  That's a lot of what we've been talking about this month, as part of our 2021 ABLEtoSave campaign.  
This has been a month long campaign where we've provided information and resources about the ease, the use and the significance of ABLE accounts for people with disabilities.  
We're really hoping to increase our awareness across the nation, expand the number of folks who are benefiting from ABLE accounts.  Thank you again to our sponsors this month, Prudential, Cal ABLE, TIAA, ABLEnow and ABLEAmerica.  
So, quick recap of where we've been, you know.  We're on August 30th today.  But throughout the month of August, we've been hosting events, and sharing ABLE tools including panels with our ABLE Ambassadors, pod casts, Q and A sessions where you can ask an account owner.  Sharing informational videos or decision guides which are new.  All kinds of great resources.  
So week 1 we had our welcome to ABLEtoSave month.  On week 2 we talked about opening an ABLE account, keys to success.  Week 3 was all about best practices for eligible individuals and working age adults.  Last week, week 4 was best practices for ABLE family members and circle of support.  And this week which is really just two days, is our Call to Action week.  Next Steps to Achieve a Better Life Experience.  
If you've missed anything this month or you just want to take a look at the resources that we've pulled together, it's really easy to finds.  Just go on able NRC dot org right there at the top of the page you click on learn more because it talks about ABLEtoSave month.  But here's the link as well.  Ablenrc.org/ABLEtoSave‑2021/.  So that's a great link to hold on to, because you can click on that's pod casts the archives of panel.  All that stuff.  
This is what we're here for our time today.  We're really happy we have many of our 2021 ABLE Ambassadors, who are family members or ABLE account owners shoe have lived experience.  Some of them have ABLE accounts for years.  We have one of our Ambassadors ready to open an ABLE account just this year.  So I have a series of questions to ask them.  We're going to go through those.  And then I'm also going to at the very end tap into two of my colleagues Laurie Schaller and Brian Ingram who have been supporting the Q an A sessions we've had just to get some of their feedback and thoughts as well as we wrap up our time.  
(Tech problem).  
Again, we don't provide case management but we absolutely can answer general questions and most likely they're going to circle you to resources on our website so you can find the answers to your questions there.  We have a very comprehensive website.  And quick tip, if you're ever looking for something on the website you can't find, just use the search function in the upper right‑hand corner, type in some key words you'll probably find what you're looking for.  Okay so we're going to go ahead and get started and I am going to stop sharing my power point and I'm going to spotlight myself.  I'm going to actually ask my colleague for a little bit of help in making sure I'm spotlighting the right folks.  I'm going to start off with spotlighting Edward.  
And I'm wondering, Sarah, if you can make folks co‑hosts so I can spotlight them.  Maybe you can unmute yourself I'm having a little difficulty.
>>  I can help spotlight.
>>  That would be fantastic.  Can you spotlight Edward so it will be myself, our interpreter Laura and he had war who are showing up on the screen.
>>  Yep.  All three of you are spot lighted.
>>  Okay.  Great.  I see everyone else's but that's okay.  If what you're seeing is just the three of us, that's fantastic.  Okay.  
Well we'll go ahead and get started.  Hi Edward.
>>  Hello.
>>  So, Edward has been an Ambassador with us since 2018 and he's coming to us today from Tennessee.  And Edward before I ask you the three questions, can you just let folks know a little bit about who you are, how you're ABLE eligible and what you're doing with your ABLE account.
>>  Okay.  Edward Mitch she will.  My ABLE account is here in Tennessee with T and ABLE I was a victim of a hit and run accident in 2003 which let me with a C‑5 spinal cord injury.  I'm AC U graduate of Lane College and also a member of alpha phi corporate.  I work two jobs, one living special lights an one with a minor colleague baseball team.
>>  Okay.  You've got a lot going on there Edward.  And you also, well, I want to talk a little bit about how has your ABLE account changed your life?  When did you open your ABLE account and what have you been doing with it?
>>  I opened my ABLE account in 2017 just needed to find a way to be ABLEtoSave.  And it's been a game changer in my life, but also giving my parents peace of mind, because with them getting older they need to just be able to, a way to be able to contribute to me and my long term savings and needs with living with a spinal cord injury.  
I've used my ABLE account for long term savings and I was recently able to purchase my wheelchair accessible vehicle.
>>  I know that your plan with your ABLE account has changed.  There is a lot going on with it and things you were planning on doing with it.  Could you talk about, especially as someone who, you've had an ABLE account for awhile.  The program opened in 2016, you opened yours pretty early on.  But we all know that, you know, it takes awhile before you know everything about ABLE accounts.  And maybe you don't.  But your own situation continues to evolve.  
What would you say is one or two things that you've learned this month, that you didn't know before, that you might be able to put into practice?
>>  One is the tax safer credit savings.  So when I do my taxes, that's something I had not, you know I wasn't too sure about but just attending the different webinars I definitely learned more about it.  
The second one was just hearing the overall Ambassadors from the video logs to especially our other counterpart Eric seeing him share his testimony and seeing how other people are applying and using their ABLE accounts or ways I can possibly use mine as I advance in my career.  I'm still new to it, but always growing and learning new things from other individuals is always good.
>>  It's funny that you say you're new to it.  You're kind of an old hand.  Many people are still coming into the ABLE space from the beginning.  It's not so much that you're new, it's just that it's all new.  But it's some exciting opportunity here.
>>  And it's always evolving.
>>  You know.  And really, you've seen it grow a lot over the years.  I mean we've gotten a new website, lots of new resources since you started.  What would you say is your favorite ABLE National Resource Center resource or what would you think people should check out next that maybe we didn't cover this month?
>>  If you don't have ABLE account, checking out the three state comparison tool to get a very factual adjustment and basically over arcing of different ABLE programs.  And the second one would be the decision guide tool.  Just to be able to know if you're working and you know you need an ABLE account.  You know exactly how it applies to you and how they explained it to your peers as well as manage it.
>>  Those are some great resources Edward.  You know, I would just say, what would be the one thing you would say about, what's the difference in your life now that you have an ABLE account and are using it, versus before when you didn't have an ABLE account.
>>  I have peace of mind now knowing I'm able to contribute to my long range savings as my next big obstacle, would be, well accomplishing my accessible home and just having that peace of mind for my parents so she know that my future is set and I have the tools and ABLEtoSave without jeopardizing my waiver which I use to get nursing care.
>>  So that's your Medicaid waiver, right?
>>  Yes.
>>  Great.  Well thank you Edward.  I'm going to have another question for you at the end, but for now, I'm going to turn our attention over to Davinna.  So I'm going to stop spotlighting Edward and I'm going to shoot over to Davinna who has a really deceptive background there.  You're not actually at the golden gate, right, Davinna.
>>  It's nice and calm, but no I'm not there.  (laughter).
>>  So, Davinna, you're actually coming to us from Michigan.  Could you tell folks who you might have seen Davinna like Edward on some of our other Q and A sessions.  Some of you might be new.  Davinna could you tell folks who you are and the ABLE account in your family?
>>  My name is Davinna Christian.  I am a parent of a young man that has an ABLE account.  My son's name is DeShawn.  He is able eligible because he was born with Sickle Cell Disease, which is genetic.  He was diagnosed at birth, basically.  
I have started a nonprofit organization called caregivers network.  And it's to help families and friends become caregivers.  DeShawn suffered multiple strokes at age 11 which left him nonverbal and in a wheelchair.  And it also created a lot of stress.  Our life went from a quote/unquote normal life to a new life.  
So, we've had to adjust over the last eleven years and I think we are adjusting pretty well.  And ABLE has helped us to do that.
>>  Well, I wonder, so you've been with us a an Ambassador working with us since 2019.  And you know, like we're talking about with Edward, I mean it's constantly learning new things, right, and evolving what you're able to do with your ABLE account or what you understand.  And maybe you don't need to know everything single thing about ABLE accounts before you start moving forward, but what would you say as someone who you guys have had your ABLE account in your family for awhile now, you and DeShawn and you continue to grow with the goals you've got for it.  But what specific one or two things have you learned from the month we just went through and the resources that we shared.  Do you have things that you learned that are new to you that you could share with the audience?
>>  Oh, absolutely.  I learned a lot this month.  Which I don't know if I should be embarrassed to say that or, I know it's a good thing because you should learn every day, but one of the things I learned about was the amount of contributions that working ABLE account owners can make to their own account.  
I didn't realize that there was a difference.  So that was very good information to know.
>>  Well, and if we could clarify too, that's the ABLE to work legislation that came into effect in 2018.  And that means above the $15,000 that the individual or family or others can put into the account, there is an amount above that and maybe Laura you could send me the exact amount; I think it's $12,7 6 oh from your own earnings if you're in the Continental US.  So if you're in Alaska or Hawaii you can contribute more than that from your earnings into your ABLE account which men means you can contribute potentially up to $27,000 in that ABLE account.  
Now that's only if you adopt have a employer contributing to that account.  I'm going to put in this plug, we're going to talk a lot more about that in October in national disability employment awareness month when we do our able to work event where we're going to go through a lot of those resources.  But I'm glad that you learned that, you know, and it's no problem being, learning those new things, Davinna.  Certainly DeShawn is now in his early 20s so this is more to be more on your radar than when he was a lot younger, right?
>>  That is true, that is true.
>>  Anything else?
>>  The only other thing that I learned that I was not really sure about was the tax savings credit, which I learned a lot more about it.  So, that was very helpful.
>>  Okay.  I think that might also be the saver's credit.  I wonder if Brian and Laura you could put a link into the chat for folks.  But that's great, Davinna.  And you know what, I learn things every week, and I'm the director of the center.  So it's okay.  I think this space is really evolving and that's kind of exciting too.  
Do you think people need to know everything about ABLE before they move forward?
>>  Absolutely not.  I knew nothing about ABLE when I opened DeShawn's account.  I knew the bear, bear basics.  I believe I opened his account in December of 2016 or in January of 2017.  And basically, I knew that it was a savings account that I could use for him and any of his diagnosis related needs.  And it was really, really simple to open.  And it only took I think $25, maybe $50 to open it.  That was basically all that I knew when I opened his account.  And I essentially have learned the rest as I go along.
>>  I mean, even early on as an Ambassador, I know that you learned from another Ambassador to put DeShawn ABLE you gift link on his graduation notice so folks knew they could give to Sean money without jeopardizing his benefits.
>>  Yeah.  Every time you learn something new it's pretty useful, isn't it?
>>  It's very useful information.
>>  I think he got some good funds from that.
>>  He did.  He was able to, that was, that was very, very, very educational.  That was like one of the best things that I learned about ABLE.  Not only for, not affecting his means, or his benefits, but just the fact that you don't have to send the money to me and I'm responsible for it.  It's something that you can do on your own, from your own computer or your phone.  And you can just bypass me.  I don't even have to know you did it.
>>  You know, DeShawn is 22.  I'm sure he appreciates it.  You don't have to give my mom money to give it to me.  Yeah, what 22 wants to go through mom.
>>  Yeah.
>>  Okay.  Thanks Davinna.  I want to ask too, you know what's your favorite resource or what do you think people should check out next that we didn't cover this month?  Do you have anything?
>>  I think we covered everything.  My, okay, I have two favorite resources.  The first one is the road map.  It is like the easy, it is, it's a road map.  That was the perfect title for it.  There is nothing else to say about it.  It walks you through opening and setting up an account.  If you follow it to the letter, you will do everything successful.  
And the second one is, it's the three state comparison tool, but I use it to compare about six states.  I just did it three at a time.  But those are my two favorite resources, because like I said, the road map actually walks you through step lie step, and the comparison tool I used it to see which states that if I have to potentially move to, would be the best states to have an ABLE account opened in.
>>  Right.  I think the important thing to think about there too is that you certainly could keep your ABLE account where it is right now, but if you moved to another state that has some state level legislation that might incentivize you opening or having an account there, you definitely want to check that out.  That's why we always encourage folks, they always ask, like what's the best state to open an ABLE program with.  They're all pretty great and for different reasons and there is some competition and difference in the marketplace, and that's great, it's what you want, but people should take a look at their home state first, just in case.  There have been a number of states that have incentivized through legislation why you might want to open an ABLE can there.  Look at your own state an others.  That's a good tip, we do hear quite a bit of our road maps and our comparison tools.  
So I'm going to have another question for you at the end Davinna.
>>  Okay.
>>  But thank you for joining us for now.  Next up I'm going to go to Simon.  So, Simon, if you could, there you are.  I'm going to add you to the spotlight.  Hi Simon.
>>  Hi.  How are you?
>>  I'm good.  So, Simon is actually the newest Ambassador to the space and Simon, you opened your ABLE account this year, right.
>>  Yes.  I opened it, I believe in March.
>>  Could you tell folks where you are, how you're ABLE eligible, what you're planning on doing with your ABLE account since you opened it in March?
>>  Okay.  My name is Simon Cantos, I works a inside sales engineer at a very large air conditioning company in Philadelphia.  I was born with a very rare form of muscular dystrophy.  
And I started the ABLE account to be able to have a way to kind of set up a long‑term savings account without having it impact my assets or benefit limits with my medical assistance.  And hopefully in the long term, or in the long run at some point I would like to use the funds to purchase an accessible home.
>>  And you're a car guy too, Simon.
>>  Yeah.  That too, yes.  That's what I do in my spare time.
>>  So, as one of the newer folks to this space, we always like to have Ambassadors who are fresh to this.  I'm sure Edward and Cheryl probably still feel fresh even though they've had their for years.  Even Davinna.  But what specific one or two things have you learned from this month.  Because you're really diving in, into the ABLE space.  I don't know if you can limit it to one or two things but maybe the top one or two things that you learned this month that might be beneficial for the audience to hear.
>>  The tax credits was something that I didn't even know that was, that existed until this month.  So, that was huge.  Just hearing how even the other Ambassadors kind of use their ABLE account.  That was something that was really interesting and I found to be very useful, you know, just to kind of see some of their tips and tricks and how they use it and some of the other little enter seeds of the ABLE account hi ‑‑ intricacies of the ABLE account I didn't know was possible.
>>  It's one of the reasons too, for folks who are new, we have spot lights on our Ambassadors, we include them in pod casts and presentation when we share their information in our newsletters.  We always try to demonstrate the ways you all are using your ABLE accounts to just really embody best practices, you know.  Hey, this is something you might not have thought of, but you can do this.  Just like the example with Davinna we talked about for, mentioning the YouGift link to the friends and family when you're saving for a purpose or you have a big milestone event.  
Do you have any other, what's your favorite resource from the ABLE National Resource Center, or what do you think people should check out next that maybe we didn't cover this month?  Is there anything?  I know Davinna said it was pretty comprehensive, but.
>>  Yeah.  It is actually pretty comprehensive.  Comparison tool, I know that's been mentioned before.  And that, I know when I started out, and surely before I established my own ABLE account, I used that tool.  That was extremely useful.  And not too long after I set up my ABLE account, the specific guides were rolled out.  And you know, that tool in particular like, that was something that if, if had had been around right before I started my ABLE account, I would have found that to be a game changing kind of tool that you know, if you are starting out and you're, or if you're kind of on the fence as to whether to establish an ABLE account or not, that decision guide would have been very helpful.
>>  Yeah.  So, those two resources you mentioned, the comparison tool for the State ABLE programs to help people figure out which of these might I want to dive into further or which one might be the best for me.  We do link to all of the different state ABLE programs and, in their disclosure statements and their websites off of our website.  We don't manage any of the programs, so we can help you navigate and figure out information, basic information that everyone has about different ABLE programs, how do they look different, and help you figure that out which we hear regularly is very helpful to folks.  
It's very objective.  We're not selling any of them, we want to make folks know he's what they are, here's how they might be different from each other.  And again we encourage folks to check out your home states first and there is lots of different options.  And it might be there is a program out of your state.  And maybe you live in one of the seven states that currently don't have an ABLE program and guess what, you can sign up for an ABLE program because there is states that take nonresidents, in fact a lot of them do.  
But the decision guides too, you said, those are new.  Those ABLE decision guides.  We've got five of them on our site right now.  We talked about them this month.  We're adding three more and we'll continue building those out.  They're very interactive.  
One of the reasons they didn't exist before Simon is we had to work with our Ambassadors, all of you, to figure out what would be helpful, what's the topics, what's the information we have our Ambassadors look threw the stuff and make sure, is this useful.  It's great, we heard from you all that those are helpful.  So, yeah, checking out those decision guides a little bit more.  
And we'll have Laurie or Brian put the link to the decision guides in the chat.  Obviously those decision guides are also on that 2021 web page.  And even on our website.  If you go under resources, and then click on decision guides, it will take you to our decision guides.  I'm glad you're liking those Simon as someone who is really new to this space that's useful, that's good.  
I'm going to come back to you in a little bit Simon with my final question for you, but for now, I'm going to stop spotlighting Simon and I'm going to move over and say hi to Cheryl.  Cheryl, can you show your video and I'll put the spotlight on you.
Hi Cheryl.
>>  Hi.
>>  We're leaving Simon and coming over to Cheryl who is in North Carolina.  Cheryl, you're a parent and you also work with service providers.  Can you tell folks a little about your story with ABLE accounts and your family and what you're doing with them as an Ambassador.
>>  Hi I'm Cheryl Walfall‑Flagg.  And I have two adult, well young adults, one is 19, he is in his second week in college, community college in Carolina.  And our 14 year‑old is in 9th grade, just started high school.  
And they both are on the autism spectrum, different needs as you may figure that out.  And when I first started with an ABLE account in 2017 or I heard about it before that, and then I searched.  Some of you may have heard me say this already, if you were on any of the previous presentation.  But I had no idea what this was and I did some search and landed on the NRC website and I fell in love.  
I pinned that website on my computer and kept going there to find more and more information.  And opened my son's account.  
Fast forward a couple of years when our nephew, my husband's nephew, we are his legal guardians.  And he came to live with us.  And we just opened his account earlier this year.  And so, we have two different, we qualify in two different sections.  
My son does not receive any means tested benefits because at the time because of our income, he didn't qualify as you know how those are measured.  And our nephew does, because he is receiving benefits based on his parents and based on his disability.  
So when I did my son's account, I clicked the certification that he meets the definition of disability even though he does not receive benefits.  And Miranda mentioned or someone mentioned the disability certification.  An example is on the ABLE NRC website that your medical provider can sign to say that you qualify for this account, if you have a disability, but you're not receiving means tested benefits, Social Security benefits.  
At the time that form didn't exist when I did my son's account.  So what I did, I had to go through some of my paperwork and I couldn't find anything.  And I called my son's neurologist in New York and asked him to send me the documentation from the files that she had signed way back in 2002 or something like that, to say that he had a disability.  And I kept that just in case a question comes up as to his qualification.  12347 and we should mention too.  So if Brian or Laurie, if you could put the link to the disability certification form into the chat.  Some of the state level programs have a similar type of documentation as well, but we also have a form that we developed and posted on our website last year.  
So, Cheryl, you started being an Ambassador with us in 2018 and you opened Sean's account before then.  We didn't have that yet.
>>  Right.
>>  Talking with you we realized we maybe need to make one for folks.  I'm glad it's a useful resource for you, it's certainly helpful for others.  But your strategy around that.  
Do you have, could you share one or two things that you've learned with us this month?  I know you've been working with us for quite awhile, just for a audience to know.  Cheryl also works for a nonprofit agency that oversees head start and early head start programs in North Carolina, as well as you're active with the rethinking guardian group.  
So you certainly help a lot of parents and families as well.  You aren't just a family member yourself, you have a role that you share that you do.  But what specific one or two things have you learned this month?  Is there anything new you've learned?
>>  Of course.  Like Davinna said, there is allegation something new to learn.  When my son started, he was still a young man in early high school and so we were just thinking about, you know, saving money for his future.  
But now that he is starting college and things are changing for him, I am thinking about how do I transition him into the working world.  And you know what to do I need to do to prepare for when he starts working.  
So a lot of the information on the website and a lot of the information that was presented this month about balancing SS A funds and being a working adult with an ABLE account, and working with certified work incentive coordinator.  It's not something that I need at this minute, but the seeds are, I've planted those seeds and I'm looking at that stuff and I have that stuff on the website.  I can go back to it and review it again and just cross reference information to prepare me to transition him into the working environment.  
So I think those are very good tools that people can go back to, you know, and review again and again to get more information.
>>  Well you're queuing us up great, just like Davinna, everybody sign up for the newsletter if you haven't already so we can share what we're doing in October for national disability employment awareness month and how ABLE accounts can support employment.  We did talk about it during one of our weeks on ABLEtoSave month for working age adults but we're going to be sharing more resources and information.  We've got our new ABLE National Resource Center team member, Brian Ingram ha who is a 30 plus year history in disability employment.  And has an ABLE account in his family as well.  
You know, we're going to be pulling together a lot of great stuff in October.  So stay tuned, because 14 and 19 and then for Davinna, 22, you know, that's great ages to be aware of how ABLE accounts can support employment.  And we have more coming, you know.  
I do want to ask, favorite resources; or what do you think people should check out next that we maybe didn't cover this month?  Because we covered a lot, but we couldn't cover everything.  We wanted to, you know, toss everyone some underhanded soft balls they could catch instead of fast balls to the head, you don't want to do that.  You don't want to have people taking a drink of water out of the fire hose.  Our website, there is a lot on it.  We wanted to break it down and make it management able for folks who are just getting started.  
Is there anything that I thought, oh, we could have shared this month that we didn't.
>>  I'm not quite sure if there is anything that we missed.  But I do think, even though there is a lot on the website, it has changed over the years.  And everything is sort of sectioned off.  So you have the tool kit.  And you have the decision guides.  And once you go into each section, you will see different pieces of information that you can use, such as, I'm going to mention the service provider tool kit, because even though family members may be on this cool and I'm sort of speaking from a family member perspective, when you walk into an office and your service provider is clueless about ABLE accounts, you don't have to have the answers to give them as a family member.  You can send them to the website.  And tell them look at the service provider tool kit.  
You know, even for someone on the job who might want to share this with your employer.  You can send them not website and they can go through the tool kit and there are different pieces of information that they can incorporate into their, their world and their understanding and share with others.
>>  And that was, that was the ABLE employer tool kit is the one you might want to share with your employer, if you're unfamiliar with it.  Great information for employers.  They don't have to become experts but they can share it with, you know, their Human Resources department, with managers, with employees or employees who have family members on those employee resource groups would be great opportunities to share that.  And like you said too, service providers.  If your case Manager is not that familiar with ABLE accounts, they don't have to be intimidated by it.  We have a service provider tool kit.  And these are all new things we've developed since you started with us Cheryl that none of that existed before you came on borrowed.  So we've worked on a lot of that together and I know Cheryl has shared that with her employer as well as with the service providers you're working with.  
What's the response been to those?
>>  People are very receptive, because a lot of people, and this is why we're doing this month activity as NRC, but personally I keep hearing people say they don't know about it.  And that sort of breaks my heart, because I remember, and many people can probably relate to this.  When my son was first diagnosed.  You kept hearing the phrase of spending money down, spending money down.  Or you know when your child gets benefits you can't put any money in their name because they then they don't qualify for benefits.  
That created a lot of anxiety and fear for my son's future.  Right now, having these, this tool, the ABLE account, has changed that perspective for me.  I'm no longer as worried about his future, because I feel like I've given him a foundation and we're building on that foundation.  And just like Davinna mentioned that she learned from another provider.  This year my son graduated.  And I had to, we did the same thing with the announcement cards and we sent messages out to family members about the YouGift option where people can deposit money into his account.  
And, you know, some folks were a little bit resistant to it and some folks tried and it didn't work.  But when they got it, they were happy, because they felt like, oh, they gave to him, and you know it's helping him.  
So, the tools are there.  And it changes your life when you are able to see the benefits of using the account or the different mechanisms that are involved in the account.
>>  Well, thank you Cheryl.  I know that, I know Davinna when you were talking about that one piece was probably like, yes, same thing, like, gosh we can't put any money in this account for our child.  That's unfortunate.  Now of course they're getting older and they're young people, they're no longer children.  But that really makes a difference.  
And I know there is probably folks listening who, that's been, you know, a continuing narrative, like don't put money in the name of.  Someone who is receiving benefits for sure.  But ABLE accounts can be beneficial to those who aren't getting benefits like your older son, Sean.  
I have a question for you I'm going to come back around to you at the end, but I want to thank you Cheryl.  
I'm going to go now to spotlight Nathan.  And Nathan, let me.  
Hi Nathan.  Coming in from Lucas County, Ohio.
>>  Arrive my background here.
>>  That's okay.  You're also tech Ambassadors, I see.  The Ambassador label I'm not surprised to hear that.  
So we're talking about ABLE accounts with tech Ambassadors, I would say.
>>  I do, I use them as an instance to put technology, to QDE.
>>  That's fantastic.  Anyway that's a nice thing.  See it's like picking up fish hooks.  They're all connected.
>>  They are.
>>  Can you introduce yourself, tell us a little who you are, your ABLE account for your personal life but also professionally you've been sharing information about ABLE accounts.
>>  Yeah I would be happy to.  So my name is Nathan turner, hi everyone.  I live near Toledo Ohio, in Lucas County.  I sit on the Lucas County Board of Developmental Disabilities and I'm one of the, the first individual in the county to receive services and sit on the county board.  
And, I also have been working with community life engagement across the state to advocate for economic (indiscernible) with developmental disabilities and my work with ABLE NRC is a nice segue into that.
>>  And you, along with your colleague Margaret, teach financial education classes.
>>  Yes.
>>  For the board.  And financial education curriculum, but you also incorporate information in there about ABLE accounts as well.
>>  Yes.  We have a financial education curriculum called money matters.  And we focus on three things.  Financial literacy, work readiness the and advantages of the (indiscernible) Social Security incentives.  So yeah, all phases.
>>  So ABLE fits right in there, right?
>>  It does.
>>  And you have your own personal story about your ABLE account as well.
>>.
>>  I do.  So being in how, I have my ABLE account with Ohio Staple.  And I actually got it in July of 2016.  So, basically a month after the program opened, I decided to open an ABLE account and I have been working with a variety of community organizations and service providers.  So I knew about the potential benefits, because as a person with a disability, especially a developmental disability, I always had a fear of having more than $2,000 in resources in a month.  And losing my eligibility for public benefits.  
So I knew immediately that ABLE accounts would help with that.  And I didn't have all of the answers right away, but I knew that opening the account would give me so much flexibility.
>>  Well, and even though you opened your account a month after, oops, let me go ahead and respotlight myself.  And Nathan.  I know we just switched sign language interpreters there.  Great, we're back.  
Let's, so I know you opened your ABLE account Nathan, a month after the first ABLE account in the country opened their accounts.  But you know like we've talked about with the other Ambassadors, you're always learning new things, right?
>>  Yes.
>>  Can you share any one or two specific things that you learned this month that you maybe didn't know before?
>>  So, I think one of the things I've learned this month is just learning how specific qualified disability expenses are applied and how people use them to facilitate independence in their own lives.  
I love listening to stories about how people use the ABLE accounts and use it to strengthen what they already get from public benefits, not replace, and that's key.  You want an ABLE account to strengthen what you already get from public benefits and not replace them.  But maybe you want to purchase something faster than what public benefits might be, what you get free or something above what they might be able to ordinarily cover.  So it would give us much more freedom.  
And I would also say, I got a question from someone separately about fees related to certain ABLE accounts.  I did some research related to that.  Because that is an important piece, especially for someone getting started, to know what the fees are.
>>  And those fees, they're pretty nominal, especially for the tax advantage benefit you're getting out of your ABLE account.  It grows tax free, you can use it for such a wide array of qualified disability expenses.  As long as it benefits the individual.  It can also benefit others, but it has to benefit that individual themselves too.  And we have a lot of great guidance on that.  
We have a decision guide on qualified disability expenses.
>>  Yes.  So the decision guides are so helpful.  They run through a variety of different scenarios.  I really focus on the first one was finding funds.  I know when I had first opened my ABLE account, I only had a small amount of money to put into it.  And at the same time I was also in the middle of my trial work period and that's one of the areas that the decision guide explores in finding funds that during that trial work period, you're going to get that SSD I check no matter how much money you make in a month, and that's extra money that one could contribute to their ABLE account.  
And so that was really helpful to me.  And then also the decision guide for working individuals.
>>  Right.  And you're working on becoming a community work incentive coordinator.
>>  I am.
>>  And work with Margaret, who is a community work incentive coordinator.  We're going to be talking about employment a lot in October as I've mentioned a few times before I think today.  You guys are cueing me up great for talking about that.
>>  Yes.
>>  But for folks who are curious, we have information on the decision guides and a walk through of those introduction on your 2021 ABLEtoSave web page.  Also you want to hear more from Nathan you can listen to his podcast.  We did a podcast with him from the personal as well as professional side of all the different hats that you wear Nathan.  
But do you have a favorite resource of ours or what do you think people should check out next that maybe we didn't cover this month?
>>  So, I think my favorite resource is going to depend on, I have so many and it's going to depend on where the person is in their journey with ABLE accounts.  If they're just starting out, maybe they want to look, the comparison tool, but check out their state of residence first.  If they have a little more experience or if they're working, they're want to go to the decision guides.  If they need help finding funds, they're want to go to that decision guide.  If they're at the very beginning of the process, you know, it's the road map to independence.  
If they're not sure, maybe it's just signing up for the newsletter or watching some of the webinars or pod casts that we've done.
>>  Yay.  Well, you're pretty good Ambassador for us, I bet you're a great Ambassador for those tech Ambassadors too Nathan.
>>  I hope they think so.
>>  I'm sure they do.  I'm going to have another question for you next.  But I'm going to start back with, thank you Nathan.  I'm going to start back going through our Ambassadors one more time, going back to Edward.  And Edward I'm going to spotlight you, if you could show your video then I'll click on your spotlight.  There you are.  
Edward, I have one final question for you.
>>  Okay.
>>  As I'm wrapping up here.  What would you say your advice is or what next steps do you think our ABLE to save participants this month should do?  If they're new to the space?  They're just joining, they've learned a lot, what next?
>>  Continue to click and follow the, click and follow the website and definitely review some of the old webinars.  Because there is always useful information that you can grasp and that can only strengthen your knowledge.  And just being familiar with your qualified disability expenses.  And just, you know, just staying in tune and popping in for these webinars.
>>  Great.  Because we all continue to learn, right?
>>  Yes.
>>  Thank you Edward.  All right.  
Next I'm going to go to Davinna.  Let me find Davinna in our panel links.  There you are.  Hi Davinna.
>>  Hi.
>>  Hi.  So, for our new to the space, the ABLE space, welcome those folks who are new.  Davinna, what would be your advice on next steps for our ABLEtoSave participants who are coming along this journey with us?
>>  My advice would be to look at your comparison tools, figure out which that you want to open an account and open the account.  Learn as you go with it.
>>  All right.  That's pretty good advice, right?  We have heard from a lot of folks who are like, I feel like I need to know more.  It's not much of an entry fee to get started and go as you learn.
>>  Um‑hmm.
>>  Just you've been with us for awhile.  I think it's pretty consistent across all of our Ambassadors, the one thing everyone says they wish they had done.  Do you know what I'm talking about?
>>  Um, I don't know.
>>  Just said, you guys always talk about, oh man I wish I would have opened this as soon as possible I could.  Nathan opened it a month after he could have.  And he always tells me I wish I would have opened it that month.
>>  I wish it could have been started years ago, because it just, you know, better late than never, we'll take 2016, 2017.  It's never too late to start.  We're for opening an account.  Whether you're a parent, a caregiver or an actual individual.
>>  Yeah.
>>  And like I had said, just do it.  The little bit of money it takes to open it is what you can spend at the grocery store or on an outfit or something like that.  So it's definitely worth it.
>>  Okay.  Great.  Thank you for your advice Davinna and for being with us here today.
>>  You're welcome.
>>  Next I'm going over to Simon.  Hi Simon.  Can you share your video and I will put the spotlight, there you are.  All right.  Hi Simon.
>>  Hi.
>>  So you are pretty new but you're an Ambassador and you're a great Ambassador for someone who is just diving into the pool and learning a lot as you go.  What would be your advice to other folks who are really new about next steps they might take after this month?
>>  I would say keep looking at the site.  There is new resources, new info, new webinars that pop up all the time.  And I even catch myself like, you know, going to the website on a regular basis and seeing if there is anything new.  Seeing if there is any info that, you know, I would just suddenly discover and realize, O I should have, I should use this.  
So that's something I definitely need to know.  And just, all of the info from that site has been such a gold mine of information, because I know before I openly up my account or even before I was aware of the site, this only thing I new about an ABLE account is that it existed.
>>  Yeah.
>>  I was like, okay, like, and I knew a few other people that like, they knew a little bit more, but I was still kind of on the fence as to whether to start it or not.  And then discovered that site.  Went through some of the, you know, comparison guides, read some of the info on there.  And I was like, all right, I'm going to pull the trigger.  And I just opened up the account.
>>  Well, I think, you know, that really is, we don't do case management.  We're not in a position to be able to do that, but we do our ABLE subject matter experts, our Ambassadors, together, you know, our partners in the space.  Our disability partners, we've got over 20 national disability partners who we work with to disseminate information on ABLE accounts.  
You know, we really work together to try to develop and those resources that you can use and make sure that folks like yourself, you know, this is where we get these ideas of what would be helpful.  
But the other thing you know, you mentioned the website.  Another real, someone's probably going to mention this.  But our newsletter.  It's only bye monthly it's only every other month but we try to pop out, share some stories, up coming webinars.  The top FAQs, things like that.  So help people navigate, all that stuff ends up on our website from our newsletter but that might be another thing too, just to get that in your inbox and be able to check that out.  
Thank you Simon, we're really glad that you've joined the team.  
Okay.  All right.  Next up we're going to go back to Cheryl to here, Cheryl if you could share your video.  And I will spotlight you.  Advice for those folks who are just getting started as part of our ABLEtoSave group here.
>>  Well, it's almost going to seem repetative.  I would say don't wait.  I'm going to reference back to one of my passions as a parent as trying to support other parents, is I want to help parents start early with their child, no matter what the disability is; so that you can build skills, you can build ability you can build capacity from an early age, for everything.  
But with this ABLE account, I think that's important, because the earlier you start, the more you can grow.  And like, you know, others have said, I really didn't know much.  I said to myself, I'm just a parent trying to figure out a future for my child.  I am not mathematically inclined, investments and all of that is not my wheel house.  I'm an English major.  But when I opened my account, I knew that I had to invest in my son's future.  And it's similar to when I first opened my 401K as a young mother, a young wife earlier on, I knew I had to invest in my future and my retirement.  
So I saw this ABLE account as something similar for my son.  And I just opened it with a $25 that I had to open it.  And you know, you can do the research ahead of time.  Look at the plan that you choose.  If you use the state comparison tool and then you decide I'm going to pick this state.  Open up that state account.  They have their program description.  They tell you what they offer.  They tell you the investment options.  And if you're scared of investment, you can do the checking account or the saving account, what they offer.  
Or you can do moderate, high risk, low risk investment.  Those things are there.  And don't be afraid to ask for help.  Even if you're an individual with a disability and you're trying to figure it out yourself.  Because I don't know everything about cars.  When I need to find out about cars, I go ask my uncle or I take a car to the dealer.  Let the experts do it.  
But you can do that primary research just reading the program plan and figuring things out.  And as long as you have that basic understanding of it, you can open the account.  And like Simon said, you can always come back to the ABLE national resources, look at the videos, look at the other things and make decisions that get more information.  
And I'm going to say something else about not waiting.  I talked about not waiting for the child.  But I'm also going to say for those of you that has an aunt, uncle, a parent, a grandparent, whoever that may be elderly or, in an older age adult that has a disability that may qualify for this, don't wait.  Because that 40 year‑old, 50 year‑old, 60 year‑old, 70 year‑old, may live another 20 years and having the ABLE account can enhance their life.  
So, don't put it off because you think, oh, they're this old or that old or whatever.  Do it.  Because it can help.
>>  That's great.  Thank you Cheryl.  Yeah, and you know what?  We've had, we've had other Ambassadors who talked about that investment side.  It's funny because I have an undergraduate degree in English literature.  I know Brian does too.  A bunch of us, like you don't have to be an expert.  We have the experts you can access.  And that's the best part, right?  
You can learn as you go and you've got help and resources to support.  But the other thing you were saying, gosh, there was a lot that you hit upon there.
>>  Yeah.
>>  But oh, I do want to say, it's interesting those tricks and tips that you learn from other Ambassadors.  One of our first Ambassadors who was in your year, 2018, Lauren who's taught me, oh my gosh I'm not very familiar with investments it's a little intimidating my child is very young though.  At the time he was 9 or 10.  And she said, I haven't had a chance to save money in his name before and invest and maybe let that money make money and grow tax free.  
And so what she did was, hey, I went the FDIC insured for 70%.  Was in my ABLE account and 30% I decided to try out a moderate investment strategy to just put my toes in the pool can my money make money and that was a great strategy.  And there is some programs you can do things like that.  
So, you can kind of test that out and increase your comfort level as you go, right?  And you can make changes to those, to those allocations too.
>>  Exactly.
>>  Those are great tips.  Especially the, don't wait.  If this is going to be a good resource for you, don't feel like you need to get a Ph.D. in it.
>>  True.
>>  That will have a very long time.  At the end you'll be like, gosh, I wished I would have opened this earlier.  
Thank you so much Cheryl.  
I am going back to Nathan.  We will also be going to my colleagues but Nathan I kind of like ending here with you again, since you are the financial education coach.  And that's the work that you do with Margaret, you teach those financial education classes.  You have an ABLE account yourself.  
You know, for those, you're old hand.  You started this a long time ago.  But if you were to say to folks who are new here right now today, or maybe go back in time and have a chat with yourself when you knew a little less, what would your advice be to a four, five years ago Nathan or to this group here today on next steps?
>>  Well, I hate to over this road but it can't be over stated.  The simplest piece I can give is open the account.  But also reach out to the Ambassador resource center and reach out to your local agencies if you're nervous about it.
>>  Great.  I think those are some great pieces of advice.  I really appreciate all of the Ambassadors who have been here.  I do want to offer an opportunity for just a minute or two, for my colleagues who you may have heard on other sessions, to pipe up.  I'm actually going to ask Brian if you would like to go first and we could show your video and I can put a spotlight on you.  
And just, you had joined last week as a parent of an ABLE account owner.  And Sarah, I'm wondering if you could support me with getting Brian onto the platform here.
>>  Yeah.  I'm working on it, thanks.
>>  Maybe I should go to Laurie first.  All right.  Laurie, can you show your video and I will pull you on?
>>  Well, this is Laurie.  I am not allowed to display my video at this time.  But I have a resource for folks.  So, you know, we've heard a lot of dialogue about how those who work and use the SS I and/or SSD I work supports are ABLEtoSave more money in their ABLE account.  
I just wanted to draw attention to particularly youth who are under the age of 22, who receive SS I, and are going to school.  This is the perfect time to work.  By working at that age, income most likely will not reduce SS I.  And we have guidance on that.  And I'll post that in the chat box; regarding the student earned income disregard.  
And that really helps a youth to save a bunch more money in their ABLE account while they're young, that they can use, you know, for their education, for transportation to their job in the community.  Whatever qualified disability expense they need that money for will in the future.  Or it could even be saved to purchase a home, for example.  Thanks.
>>  Thank you Laurie.  Those are great resources.  We have a lot of great resources but that's a good one, especially it ties into some of the conversations we've been having with our parent Ambassadors.  
And you know, we have those, you know, younger folks, young adults who are launching.  That we've also heard today from Ambassadors who are in their 30s, 40s.  
So I want to go back to and I'm going to bring Brian Ingram on.  He actually covers a couple, awe wears a few different hats too.  Brian is new to our team, he's been with us two months now, and he's got a long background in disability employment.  And also Brian, do you want to share just a little about yourself, because you have an ABLE account in your family too and any advice you have on next steps for folks.
>>  Well, I would be happy to Miranda.  And as Miranda said, my name is Brian Ingram.  I am not the newest member of the team anymore, but the second newest member.  And they brought me on because background around employment and disability.  
I also have a personal connection as Miranda mentioned.  I have a son who is 20 years old right now, so he's a man, he's a grown adult but he's still a very young one.  And he's current leave transitioning into independence.  
And he has an ABLE account here in Oregon, which is where I live.  And what's been amazing to me so far is the flexibility around qualified disability expenses.  The fact that my son is in charge of this account.  I guess the example I like to use is, he wanted to have a service animal, a service dog.  And it was really important to him.  
And me and his mother talked about it a lot because we already have a lot of dogs, I'll just put it that way.  And we said that, we don't want to stand in your way.  We want to allow you to get this service animal.  But you're going to be in charge.  And so, he did all the research.  He figured out the training programs.  The kind of dogs.  The breeders.  And he paid for it all using his ABLE account that he was in control of.  And it allowed his relatives if they wanted to contribute to the effort, to put money into that ABLE account and it just worked swimmingly.  
The other thing, because I am an employment specialist, the thing that's really starting to become fascinating to me as I learn more and more about ABLE is the potential there around enter weaving ABLE accounts and other, you know, publicly funded or privately provided employment supports to help people to make a living wage out in the world.  And also you know, the use and coordination with Social Security work incentives.  
So, all of these things are covered on the website.  (laughter).  That's also a wonderful resource that I just can't say enough about.
>>  Well, we got to cue you up Brian, because people are going to be hearing and seeing more from you and myself and Lore and our Ambassadors in October as we've been mentioning because what with redoing in October, Brian?
>>  We're doing able to work month, which is going to be an (indiscernible) ABLEtoSave.  And we're going to be having some web, we're going to have some panels.  We're going to have some pod casts.  And we're going to have some guests many and we're going to start talking about some of these issues that are becoming very fascinating to me and very important.  
One of the things that the Ambassadors also mention is that it's important to learn as you go.  And not, not need to know every contingency before you open an ABLE account.  
I mean I take that a step further.  I say we are all still learning.  How ABLE accounts can be used and applied.  And that in a certain way, you guys are the pioneers around using this tool.  And we're just the witnesses.  
Now E and I guess they call us the experts and everything, but really this is a conversation that we're having with folks out in the world who are living their lives and using this tool.
>>  Yeah.
>>  And we help wherever we can, but we learn as much as we teach for sure.  All right I'm getting open my soap box aren't I?
>>  No, you're good.  This is why we brought you onto the team, Brian, we're glad to have you here.  
I will mention we're going to be sharing lots of good resources and FAQs on employment.  We always push out new information and resources.  That fifth decision guide is actually about ABLE and working age account owners and employment.  So we do have a decision guide on that already.  You could check that out.  
But we'll be sharing more information, things like there is a self employment guide that Lore and Marlene and Brian on my team have developed and we'll be sharing in October.  Because self employment is a real area of interest with people with disabilities and ABLE account owners.  Things like that.  
So, join us.  Sign up for our newsletter.  I'm actually going to click over here now to just share the last couple slides.  We're wrapping a little earlier than our hour.  But that's okay.  We'll gift you all back some time so you can check out our website and check out that web page which is able NCC.Org/ABLEtoSave‑2021/.  That's important, because all these resources that we shared this month are on that web page.  
We certainly also have a lot of other great resources on our website, FAQs, decision guides.  You can check out our pod casts from this year, last year.  
Brian mentioned we'll have some new ones.  Just a lot of great resources.  Certainly those comparison tools that got talked a lot about.  The road map.  It's all on the website.  Which is able NRC dot org.  And there is the, there is the screenshot of our website.  
But please do, help us spread the word.  If you've come along and you've learned some new things, if you find this beneficial, think it might be beneficial to others who might be eligible or have family members, employers, service providers.  Share some information with your groups.  And you can certainly sign up for our AchievABLE news letter.  It comes out once every other month.  You can connect with us on social media on Facebook and Twitter using the sign @theABLE NRC.  And again there is the ABLEtoSave web page.  
With that I just want to wrap with giving a big thank you oh our sponsors for this oh month; without whom we couldn't have pulled this off so we greatly appreciate their support.  
Our sponsors are Prudential, Cal ABLE, TIAA, and able now and ABLEAmerica.  
And last, we just thank you all for joining us for our ABLEtoSave month.  We really appreciate you being here.  We look forward to hearing your stories and having you join us on future presentation, events that we do and we hope you have a great rest of your Monday and ends of our August.  And ABLEtoSave month.  
Thank you so much everyone.  Have a good day.  
(End session).