CalABLE Set to Launch This Month!

Since the passage of the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act in 2014 Californians with disabilities, their families, and caretakers have been anxiously awaiting implementation. This month these dreams will become reality. The CalABLE program will officially launch on December 18.

Through CalABLE Californians with disabilities can open savings accounts which won’t be counted against their total assets by the agencies many of us rely on for crucial benefits such as Social Security. People with these accounts can save up to $15,000 per year, and an overall total of $100,000 without impacting their benefits. Moreover, these savings are not taxable, nor are any withdrawls used for qualified disability expenses. To learn more about these accounts CalABLE has this handy fact sheet.

To mark the much anticipated program launch CalABLE is hosting two media kickoff events with California State Treasurer John Chiang. The first will take place in Berkeley on December 18, the second in Los Angeles on December 19. Attendance is open to the public. If you are interested in attending visit https://www.calable.org/news and please RSVP!

In addition, there are event posting for each launch event on the CalABLE Facebook page. Facebook users can find them here:

• Berkeley Event on December 18
• Los Angeles Event on December 19

For those who are interested in receiving program updates you can subscribe to the CalABLE email listserv at: https://app.e2ma.net/app2/audience/signup/1864790/1809089.90961601/.

Christian McMahon, Communications Specialist, The Arc of California