Overview

The Stephen Beck, Jr., Achieving a Better Life Experience Act of 2014 (the “Act”) was passed by Congress and signed into law by the President to provide certain individuals with disabilities a means to save for disability-related expenses. It allows creation of a qualified ABLE program by a state (or agency or instrumentality thereof) under which an ABLE account may be established for an individual with a disability who is the Designated Beneficiary and owner of that account.

The Texas Legislature enacted the Texas Achieving a Better Life Experience Act that established the Texas ABLE^® Program (“Texas ABLE” or the “Program”) (1) to encourage and assist individuals and families in saving funds for the purpose of supporting individuals with disabilities to maintain health, independence, and quality of life; and (2) to provide secure funding for qualified disability expenses on behalf of Designated Beneficiaries with disabilities that will supplement, but not supplant, benefits provided through private insurance, the Medicaid program under Title XIX of the Social Security Act, the Supplemental Security Income program under Title XVI of the Social Security Act, the Social Security Disability Insurance program under Title II of the Social Security Act, the Designated Beneficiary’s employment, and other sources.

The Texas Prepaid Higher Education Tuition Board, with assistance from the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, administers the Program.

The Program cannot provide legal, tax, financial, benefit, or investment advice. Contact your attorney or other advisor regarding your specific legal, tax, financial, benefit, or investment situation.

Keep Your Government Benefits

Eligible individuals with disabilities can save up to $18,000 per year¹, not to exceed a lifetime maximum of $500,000, in a tax-advantaged Account and funds up to $100,000 are generally disregarded for purposes of determining eligibility to receive government assistance or benefits. There are exceptions and you should carefully read the ABLE and Government Benefits Considerations section of the Program Disclosure Statement for more information and you should also consult your disability benefits advisor(s) with questions about how participation in the Program might affect you.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

As of the date of the Program Disclosure Statement, no final guidance has been issued by HUD related to the effect ABLE will have on housing benefits.

Save in a Tax-Advantaged Account

The Program offers tax-advantaged investment accounts intended to be used for the Qualified Disability Expenses of a particular eligible Designated Beneficiary. Investment earnings, if any, on your contributions accumulate on a tax-deferred basis while in an Account. Qualified Withdrawals are exempt from federal income tax if they are used to pay for the Designated Beneficiary’s Qualified Disability Expenses. See the Federal Tax Considerations section of the Program Disclosure Statement.

Enroll and Manage Your Account Online

The Texas ABLE Program is an online program which means you can enroll and manage your Account online. Online enrollment is quick and easy at TexasABLE.org. The minimum initial contribution to open an Account is $50, and there is a minimum of $25 for subsequent contributions.

After establishing an Account, you can access and manage it online.

There is no “brick and mortar” location for ABLE programs. Enrollment and account activity are administered fully online at TexasABLE.org.

Anyone Can Contribute

Any person (including your friends and family), corporation, trust, or other legal entity may make a contribution to an Account. Our online gifting tool makes it easy for others to make contributions to an Account. The Designated Beneficiary is the owner of the Account. Generally, contributions made to an Account by anyone other than the Designated Beneficiary become the property of the Designated Beneficiary.

Prepaid Card

Texas ABLE offers a reloadable prepaid debit card as an optional service to Texas ABLE account owners. You may request a U.S. Bank Focus Card at the time of enrollment or, if you are an existing Texas ABLE account owner, you can log into your Texas ABLE account any time and request a card on the Profile tab. You can transfer money from your Texas ABLE account to the Focus Card and use it when you need to pay for qualified disability expenses anywhere Visa® debit cards are accepted. Funds on the card are FDIC insured.

¹Annual contributions to an ABLE account cannot exceed the individual gift tax exclusion for that given year unless the expanded contribution for working individuals with disabilities under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 applies.