ABLE accounts can help people with disabilities create a secure future. Connecticut finally created one.

Jessica Sahlman of Simsbury is 23 years old and has all the dreams of any young adult. An apartment of her own. Furniture she picked out herself. A car.

Sahlman, who works part-time at BeanZ & Co. Café in Avon, is putting money away to achieve that dream. She found an apartment. She bought furniture. She wants to buy a driverless car.

None of this would have been possible without the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Savings Program Act, a federal savings-and-investment program for people with disabilities.

ABLE accounts allow people to put much more away in savings than traditional bank accounts, without risk of account holders losing their public benefits such as Medicaid, Social Security and SNAP. The increased assets, multiplied by state-monitored and tax-free investment programs, help pave the way for a more stable financial outlook.

“It makes me feel like I will have a good future,” Sahlman said.

Sahlman has Down Syndrome. Her ABLE Act account is based in Pennsylvania. She probably will move it to Connecticut, now that this state has rolled out its own ABLE account program.

On Oct. 15, State Treasurer Shawn T. Wooden announced that Connecticut residents with disabilities, or their legal guardians, can now open accounts under the ABLE Act.

“I think we should maximize every opportunity available to help people in our state,” Wooden said. “Given the pandemic and everything that has happened, that only heightened the need to provide some relief.”

Wooden added that people with disabilities “have significant health expenses, home assistance expenses, a host of expenses that people without disabilities never think about or encounter.”

The ABLE Act was signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2014, enabling states to create ABLE legislation. With Connecticut on board, 44 states and the District of Columbia offer ABLE accounts, according to the ABLE National Resource Center in Washington D.C.

Wooden did not say why Connecticut straggled behind most other states to offer the accounts. “Discussions had taken place and there were some efforts prior to me coming,” said Wooden, who took office on Jan. 9, 2019. “I’m not clear why it didn’t get off the ground.”

Differences

When a person with disabilities has more than $2,000 in assets in a traditional bank, that person risks losing their benefits.

“Every month, we’d have to go in and spend it down to keep it under the amount,” Sahlman’s father, John Sahlman, said of his daughter’s previous checking account. “We bought a bedroom set and a laptop and all the things she needed, but there’s only so many clothes you need to buy.”

Or, as the ABLE National Resource Center website put it in more bluntly, “To remain eligible for these public benefits, often an individual must remain poor.”

ABLE accounts, in contrast, can accept deposits up to $15,000 annually with no benefit takeaways. A person with a job, who does not contribute an employer-sponsored retirement account, can contribute $12,490 more than that every year. An account can build up a balance as high as $100,000 and not count against the account holder’s benefits, according to the Resource Center.

ABLE Act accounts are administered by the state treasurer’s office, which invests the deposits. The accounts are 529s, similar to CHET accounts. There is a $15 quarterly maintenance fee, less if opting for electronic statements.

All interest earned is tax-free, when withdrawn for disability expenses. These include education, housing, transportation, job training, technology, personal support, health services, financial management services, legal fees and funeral and burial expenses.

Money in the bank

Having more money in the bank can change the lives of people with disabilities in many ways. Kevin Zingler, president and CEO of MARC Inc., a social-service organization, said more cash in hand offers greater flexibility to handle unexpected expenditures.

“We’ve had folks who can’t afford to get things replaced like adaptive equipment, because the federal reimbursement takes time to get back,” Zingler said. “It stays broken and they wait for approval. But if they have that money, they can get it replaced immediately.”

Tom Fiorentino of West Hartford, whose 30-year-old son Danny has Down syndrome, said having money also allows people with disabilities more options for improving the quality of their lives. For example, if approval is slow to come for government-sponsored housing, he said, a person can pursue alternative housing options.

“If you’re not solely relying on the state of Connecticut to come through, having some financial independence will allow you to take advantage of other opportunities,” he said.

Danny Fiorentino works in a doctor’s office and has been socking away his earnings in an Ohio-based ABLE account for about four years, his father said. He will possibly move his account to Connecticut he said, if the management fees and investment options are more advantageous.

State-by-state

ABLE Act accounts are administered individually by each state. It is legal for a person to have an account in a state other than where they live.

But it’s satisfying to have the account in the state where you live, Sahlman’s father said.

“She’s done really well in the [stock] market with Pennsylvania,” he said. “Hopefully, she will continue to do well here.”

Miranda Kennedy, director of the ABLE National Resource Center, said that organization encourages people to look at their home state ABLE program first.

“People feel an increased level of confidence in opening an ABLE account when their home state has a program and will sometimes wait until that program opens or rollover an ABLE account from a different state when they do,” Kennedy said.

Wooden also emphasized the comfort level, especially for people who have suggestions on how to fine-tune the program.

“There is an ability to engage with those overseeing the program,” Wooden said. “If there’s an issue with the program, you have me right here in the state.”

Financial planning

Andrew Komarow is a Farmington investment counselor, who is on the autism spectrum. Many employees at his firm, Planning Across the Spectrum, also are autistic.

Komarow said if a person’s assets are limited to $2,000, or if their Medicaid and Social Security are cut off, that person will never be lifted out of the cycle of poverty.

“There are a lot of individuals who are working just part-time, but when they got their stimulus checks or the enhanced unemployment, suddenly they were over the limit," Komarow said. "So there is a lot of interest in ABLE accounts.”

Komarow said people with an ABLE account can control their own finances, rather than relying on trusts, which aren’t designed for self-governance.

“The individual doesn’t have the control to spend the money as they see fit. If I had a trust, I would have to ask you for the money,” he said.

Increased visibility

Komarow already has an ABLE account in Massachusetts. He plans to keep it there.

Shannon Jacovino, policy manager of ARC CT, a social-service organization, said many people who have ABLE accounts in other states may keep them there. She said the new in-state ABLE accounts will appeal most to families with small children and to people who have never heard of ABLE before because Connecticut didn’t have it.

“Across the state ABLE has been an underutilized resource because we didn’t have our state plan yet," Jacovino said. "There wasn’t the visibility.”

Beth and Alan Gard of South Windsor opened Connecticut’s first ABLE account, for their 8-year-old son Alijah.

“When you first find out you are having a child who has special needs ... you’re very fearful about what their life is going to look like," said Beth Gard, who is board president for Down Syndrome Association of Connecticut. "That fear is always going to be there. But having something like this in place, that fear is lessened by the fact that you feel more empowered to do something to help your child.”

Who qualifies?

To qualify for an ABLE account, a person must meet one of these qualifications:

Living with a disability that was present before age 26

Eligible for SSI or SSDI because of a disability

Experiencing blindness as defined by the Social Security Act

Have a disability with a written diagnosis from a licensed physician.

Those who want to open an ABLE account, or see if they are qualified, can visit ct.savewithable.com.

Susan Dunne can be reached at sdunne@courant.com.

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