PA ABLE accounts give you the option to potentially grow your money or to have your money available for ongoing disability-related living expenses. Or to do both!

Whether you decide to place your money in an PA ABLE checking account, or to save for a disability-related expense in one of the investment options, there are four questions you should ask yourself when deciding what’s best for you:

1. What disability expenses do I want to save for?


• Am I planning to use these funds to pay for ongoing expenses that require easy access to funds on a regular basis? Example: weekly therapy or extra job coaching.
• Am I looking to save funds for a rainy day? Example: I get laid off from my job.
• Am I saving for a larger, more expensive item that may require a longer savings timeline? Example: A new place to live or an accessible vehicle.
• Do I want to use the funds for all of the above?

PA ABLE accounts can be used to save for expenses you have regularly, for emergencies, for future expenses, or for a combination of all of these.



2. When will I need the money?


• What disability-related expenses do I need to pay for today, tomorrow, next week or next month? These are called short-term expenses.
• What disability expenses do I want to save for down the road, perhaps in one to three years? These are called medium-term expenses.
• What disability expenses do I want to save for in the longer term? Example: over the next four years or more. These are called long-term expenses.

When thinking of savings, think about your short-term, medium-term and long-term disability-related expenses. This can help you decide whether and which of the checking or investment options are right for your PA ABLE account.



3. What is risk?



Risk is any uncertainty in the financial markets, now or in the future, that has the potential to negatively affect the money you invested. In other words, when you invest your money, the investment values might rise or fall because of market conditions, which means that your account balance could increase or decrease. This is not the case in the PA ABLE Checking account option. In the PA ABLE Checking account option, your funds are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and are not exposed to market fluctuations.



4. What is my risk tolerance?



How do changes in financial markets affect what I want to use my PA ABLE funds for? How will I feel if the value of my PA ABLE account balance changes because financial markets are going up or going down? Your answers to these questions will help you determine your “risk tolerance.” It means the degree to which you, the investor, are comfortable with your invested money increasing or decreasing because of fluctuations in the financial markets.

Think about the current, medium-term and long-term disability-related expenses that you are saving for and decide when you will want to use the money in your PA ABLE account. This will help you decide what your risk tolerance is and will influence which PA ABLE investment options you choose.

Match your investment choices with your needs, your timing and your risk tolerance

Below are some examples of how some hypothetical account owners go through the process of matching their needs with their timing and risk tolerance in making their investment and/or checking option choices: Important Note: The following hypothetical scenarios are provided as examples only and should not be considered investment advice or guidance.

You may find additional sources of information about disability resources and ABLE accounts below.

1. StudyMoney - StudyMoney provides people with disabilities and their families information to learn about managing money, including saving wisely, building credit, protecting against identity theft and more. StudyMoney is a program of the Pennsylvania Assistive Technology Foundation.
2. Pennsylvania Assistive Technology Foundation (PAFT) - PATF helps Pennsylvanians obtain the assistive technology they need to go to work, be active participants in their communities, and live in their own homes.
3. Arc of Pennsylvania – The Arc promotes the human rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and actively supports their full inclusion and participation in the community throughout their lifetimes. The Arc of Pennsylvania has 33 local chapters and represents over 8,000 members.
4. ABLE National Resource Center (ABLE NRC) - The ABLE National Resource Center (ABLE NRC) is the leading, comprehensive source of objective, independent information about federal- and state-related ABLE programs and activities, including guidance on tax-advantaged ABLE savings accounts.
5. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) – Information about federal tax treatment of 529A ABLE accounts.
6. Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) - The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) is a self-regulatory organization charged with protecting investors, municipal entities, obligated persons and the public interest by promoting a fair and efficient municipal securities market.
7. Institute on Disabilities at Temple University - The Institute on Disabilities at Temple University learns from and works with people with disabilities and their families in diverse communities across Pennsylvania to create and share knowledge, change systems and society, and promote self-determined lives so that disability is recognized as a natural part of the human experience.