Health Care and Services
ABLE Accounts
What Is an ABLE Account and Who Can Open One?
An ABLE account is a tax-advantaged savings account for a person whose disability or blindness began before age 46, the new onset age that took effect on January 1, 2026. Anyone can contribute, up to $20,000 in total for 2026, and a working account owner may add more from their own pay. SSI ignores the first $100,000 in the account, and money spent on qualified disability expenses comes out tax-free. Most states run their own plan; the table below lists every state's option.
What Is an ABLE Account?
An ABLE account is a savings account for a person with a disability, set up under a 2014 federal law called the Stephen Beck, Jr., Achieving a Better Life Experience Act. States run the programs, and the IRS sets the tax rules (section 529A of the tax code).
It solves a specific problem. SSI only lets you keep $2,000 in countable resources ($3,000 for a couple) in 2026, so saving for a car, a deposit or a wheelchair van normally costs you your check. Money in an ABLE account doesn’t count against that limit up to $100,000, and withdrawals for qualified expenses are tax-free.
You, the person with the disability, are always the owner and the beneficiary. Family and friends can add money, but it’s yours and can only be spent for you.
Who Can Open an ABLE Account in 2026
The big change for 2026: your disability or blindness must have started before age 46. Until December 31, 2025, the cutoff was age 26, so many more people now qualify.
You qualify if any one of these is true:
- You get SSI because of a disability or blindness that began before age 46.
- Your SSI is suspended only because of excess income or resources, and you’d otherwise qualify on that basis.
- You get SSDI, childhood disability benefits or disabled widow’s or widower’s benefits based on a disability or blindness that began before age 46.
- You sign a disability certification: that you’re blind or have an impairment causing marked and severe functional limitations, that it began before age 46, and that you have a copy of the diagnosis signed by a doctor.
Conditions on SSA’s Compassionate Allowances list count for the certification if they were present, with marked and severe limits, before age 46. You don’t need to be on benefits at all to use the certification route.
You can own only one ABLE account. SSA doesn’t decide ABLE eligibility; the state program does. The disability requirements guide explains how SSA defines disability if you’re applying for benefits too.
ABLE Account Limits for 2026
| Rule | 2026 figure |
|---|---|
| Annual contribution limit, all contributors combined | $20,000 |
| Extra a working owner may add from their own pay (continental U.S.) | $15,960 |
| Extra for a working owner in Alaska | $19,950 |
| Extra for a working owner in Hawaii | $18,360 |
| ABLE balance SSI ignores | $100,000 |
| Age the disability must have started before | 46 |
The $20,000 limit covers everyone’s deposits together, including yours. The extra amount for workers is separate. You can add it only from your own earnings, it can’t be more than you earned that year, and you can’t use it if your employer put money into a 401(a), 403(a), 403(b) or 457(b) plan for you that year.
The IRS adjusts the contribution limit each year, so check the current figure before a large deposit.
How an ABLE Account Affects SSI and Medicaid
SSI. SSA ignores the first $100,000 in your ABLE account. Only the amount above $100,000 counts as a resource. If that excess, alone or with your other resources, puts you over the SSI limit, SSA suspends your payment rather than ending it. Payments restart for any month the balance no longer puts you over, with no time limit.
Medicaid. Your Medicaid continues during that suspension as long as you’d otherwise qualify for SSI. This is different from other savings: if non-ABLE resources put you over the limit, SSA suspends SSI and Medicaid stops, and SSI eligibility ends after 12 months of suspension. The Medicaid for people with disabilities guide explains how SSI links to Medicaid in your state.
SSDI. The resource rules above are SSI rules. The SSDI vs SSI comparison shows how the two programs differ.
Use the SSI calculator to see how other income changes your payment.
What You Can Spend ABLE Money on
Spending must be for a qualified disability expense: something related to your disability that improves your health, independence or quality of life. SSA’s list includes:
- education and job training;
- housing and basic living expenses;
- transportation;
- employment support;
- assistive technology and related services;
- health care, prevention and wellness;
- financial management, legal fees and account oversight;
- funeral and burial.
Withdrawals for qualified expenses are tax-free under IRS rules.
One SSI timing rule matters. If you take money out for housing, or for anything that isn’t a qualified expense, and still have it at the start of the next month, SSA counts it as a resource. Spend it in the month you withdraw it and your SSI isn’t affected.
What Happens to the Account When the Owner Dies
ABLE accounts carry a Medicaid payback rule. When the owner dies, a state can file a claim against the account for Medicaid it paid for the owner after the account was opened. Before any payback:
- the account pays the owner’s funeral and burial costs;
- it pays any qualified disability expenses still owed;
- the claim is reduced by premiums paid into a Medicaid buy-in program.
Once the state’s time to file a claim has passed, the plan can pay what’s left to a successor beneficiary or to the owner’s estate. SSA notes that some states have limited payback, so read your plan’s disclosure documents. This rule is separate from Medicaid’s general estate recovery.
Choosing a State ABLE Program
You don’t have to use your own state’s plan. Many plans accept people from any state, while some take only residents. SSA suggests looking at your home state’s plan first, because some states give a state income tax deduction for contributions.
North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin don’t have their own plans, and residents open an account through another state’s program. Puerto Rico has no plan of its own, though its tax agency publishes an ABLE informative return.
Your state page also shows the ABLE program alongside your state’s Medicaid, vocational rehabilitation and SSI supplement details.
Opening and Managing an ABLE Account
You open an account online through the plan’s website or by calling its customer service, and some plans take paper forms. If you can’t open your own account, these people can do it for you, in this order: your agent under a power of attorney, a conservator or legal guardian, your spouse, a parent, a sibling, a grandparent, or a representative payee appointed by SSA.
A few practical points:
- You certify your eligibility each year.
- Your Social Security or SSI payments can go straight into the account. A representative payee who does this must follow all payee rules.
- Plans report contributions and withdrawals to you and the IRS on Forms 5498-QA and 1099-QA.
- If you want to work and save more, the working on disability guide and vocational rehabilitation cover the work incentives and job services that pair well with an ABLE account.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I Have More Than One ABLE Account?
No. SSA says an eligible person may own only one ABLE account, no matter which state's plan it's in. You can move the whole balance to a new plan in a program-to-program transfer, and the first account closes when the money moves.
Can I Put My SSI or SSDI Payments Into an ABLE Account?
Yes. SSA says people who get Social Security or SSI can deposit their benefits into their own ABLE account. If you have a representative payee, the payee can do it when it's in your best interest but must still follow every payee rule; SSA makes no exceptions for ABLE accounts.
Do I Need to Send Medical Records to Open an Account?
Generally not. SSA says most ABLE programs only ask you to certify that you have a qualifying disability. You must keep proof, including a physician-signed diagnosis if you use a disability certification, and show it to the IRS or the program if asked. Owners recertify eligibility every year.
Does SSA Decide Whether I Can Open an ABLE Account?
No. SSA states plainly that it doesn't determine ABLE eligibility. The state ABLE program handles enrollment. SSA's role is how the account affects your SSI, which the SSI guide covers.
Can Money From a 529 College Plan Go Into an ABLE Account?
Yes, in limited amounts. The IRS says funds from your 529 qualified tuition plan can roll into your own ABLE account or a family member's, and the IRS caps how much can move.
Can a Working Owner Claim a Tax Credit for Contributions?
Yes. The IRS says the account's designated beneficiary can claim the saver's credit for contributions to their ABLE account, if they meet that credit's other rules.
More on Health Care and Services
- MedicaidHow people with disabilities qualify for Medicaid: SSI links, working-disabled buy-in and home and community waivers
- MedicareMedicare for SSDI recipients: the waiting period, ALS and kidney failure exceptions and 2026 costs
- Vocational RehabilitationState vocational rehabilitation agencies: who qualifies, services and how to apply
- SSDIHow Social Security Disability Insurance works: work credits, the disability test, the waiting period, amounts and Medicare
- SSIHow Supplemental Security Income works: income and resource limits, the 2026 federal payment, state supplements and Medicaid
- SSDI vs SSIThe differences between SSDI and SSI, side by side, and when you can get both
This guide explains official rules in plain language. It isn't legal advice, and only the agency that runs a program can decide your case.