[Transcript]
This is Money Talks with Chad Olivier.
Sponsored by Olivier Group.
Hi. I’m Chad Olivier, certified financial planner and CEO of Olivier Group. Today, we’re talking about the Louisiana ABLE program, which stands for Achieving A Better Life Experience. This is a powerful planning tool for families with loved ones that have disabilities.
An ABLE account allows you to save money for disability related expenses without hurting eligibility for benefits like Medicaid or supplemental social security income. That is the big advantage. You can save for the future without fear of disqualifying someone from their benefits they depend on. You can contribute up to nineteen thousand dollars per year into an ABLE account, and that can be done by the individual or by family members and friends helping. And as long as the account stays under a hundred thousand dollars, it’s not counted as a resource for SSI. If it temporarily goes above a hundred thousand, the SSI benefit is only suspended, not lost permanently, and it can be reinstated once the account falls below that threshold again.
Also, any earnings or interest inside the ABLE account is tax free as long as it’s used for qualified disability expenses. And these expenses are very broad. They can include education, employment support, assistive technology, transportation, medical costs, personal support services, and much more. One important note, when using ABLE account funds for housing expenses, make sure those withdrawals are used right away. If housing withdrawals sit too long before being used, it can impact SSI benefits. For Louisiana families, this is one of the most flexible and impactful tools available to help support a child or adult with disabilities while still protecting benefits and helping them maintain long term financial independence. And that’s why money talks, but planning pays.
This has been money talks with Chad Olivier.
