Adelaide Winters explains ABLE savings accounts, contribution limits and benefit protections

Adelaide Winters, a full-time financial advisor with Cordell Narin Company and CNC Financial Group, told attendees at a community presentation that ABLE accounts are tax-advantaged savings vehicles modeled on 529 college plans that let money grow tax-free when used for qualified disability expenses.

ABLE accounts, Winters said, are intended to help individuals with disabilities pay for housing, transportation, assistive technology, health care, legal and financial-management fees and other ‘‘qualified disability expenses’’ without immediately jeopardizing means-tested benefits such as Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). ‘‘They are modeled after a 529 savings plan,’’ Winters said. ‘‘If you use [the growth] for the right kinds of expenses, that $90,000 comes out tax-free.’’

Winters walked through several features families should know. The account owner is the individual with the disability; a guardian or person with power of attorney may manage the funds if the owner cannot. Contributions are treated as gifts (Winters said contributors do not receive an income tax deduction), and earnings in the account grow tax-free when used for qualified expenses. She warned that ABLE balances above $100,000 can jeopardize Medicaid and SSI eligibility.

On contribution limits, Winters cited current figures for 2025: an annual contribution limit into an ABLE account of $19,000 and an additional allowance for earned income (she referenced roughly $14,580 as an example), noting those numbers can change year to year. ‘‘That annual limit is $19,000,’’ she said, adding that it is the total into the account rather than a per-contributor cap.

She recommended pairing ABLE accounts with special-needs trusts for families with larger estates: a trust can hold larger assets (including property in some cases) while an ABLE account can serve as a more flexible, day-to-day spending vehicle. Winters contrasted the two approaches: trusts often require receipts and reimbursements, while ABLE accounts can sometimes pay expenses directly but carry the $100,000 balance limit that affects means-tested benefits.

Winters encouraged families and providers to document expenses because the Internal Revenue Service can request receipts in an audit even though holders do not submit receipts as part of routine filings. She also described practical funding options: family and friends, payroll deductions where available, transfers from trusts, and potential rollovers from 529 plans. On the latter she said she believed rollovers are permitted as tax-free transfers if done correctly but offered to follow up to confirm details.

She urged attendees to compare program fees and investment options when selecting a state ABLE program and recommended consulting a financial professional for investment and tax-planning choices. ‘‘Functionally, it’s an investment account,’’ she said. ‘‘You want to work with someone to understand what those options are and what the impacts of them are and the costs of them are.’’

Winters closed by offering follow-up consultations, leaving copies of the presentation with contact information, and inviting attendees to bring case-by-case questions about tax law, trust interactions and program rules.

The presentation concluded with a brief question-and-answer period in which attendees and Winters discussed specifics of trust mechanics and reimbursement processes. Winters also noted an expected policy change extending the age-of-onset eligibility from 26 to 46 next year but did not specify an effective date and offered to provide confirmation.