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Your Investment Options
With PA ABLE, you can choose one or any combination of investment options to help your money grow over time. Plus, the reloadable PA ABLE Visa® Prepaid Card ensures your money is easily available to spend.
Explore Investment OptionsChoosing the Right Option For You
To help you choose the appropriate investment options, consider these important questions:
What disability expenses do I want to save for?
PA ABLE accounts can be used to save for a wide range of disability-related expenses, from day-to-day expenses, emergencies, future expenses, or any combination of these. Examples of Qualified Disability Expenses include:
- Planning for ongoing expenses that require easy access on a regular basis. Example: Weekly therapy or extra job coaching
- Saving for a rainy day. Example: Unexpected job loss or home repair
- Saving for a larger, more expensive item with a longer savings timeline. Example: A new place to live or an accessible vehicle
When will I need the money?
When selecting investment options, you should consider what expenses you are saving for and when you will need your money:
- Short-term expenses you may have today, tomorrow, next week, or next month.
- Medium-term expenses you may have in the next one to three years.
- Long-term expenses you may have over the next four years or more.
This can help you decide which of the investment options are right for your PA ABLE account.
Usually, a more conservative investment may be the right choice if you need to spend your funds sooner. If you have a longer time for your money to grow, a more aggressive investment option may be appropriate.
PA ABLE makes it easier for you to pick a time-based strategy by offering Target-Year Investment Options. These slowly become more conservative over time and you can match these time-based options to when you think you may need the funds. But don’t worry, you can withdraw funds at any time, no matter which year you choose.
What is my risk tolerance?
Risk is any uncertainty in the financial markets, now or in the future, that has the potential to negatively affect the money you invest. 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.
Risk tolerance is the degree to which you, as the investor, are comfortable with your invested money increasing or decreasing because of fluctuations in the financial markets.
Think about the short-term, 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. You’ll need to ask yourself how you’ll feel if the value of your PA ABLE investment account balance changes because financial markets are going up or going down. This will help you decide what your risk tolerance is and will influence which PA ABLE investment options you choose.
If you have no or low risk tolerance, consider the Capital Preservation Option, which is the most conservative and focuses on preserving your money with stable returns.
Match Your Choices with Your Needs
Important Note: The following scenarios are provided as examples only and should not be considered investment advice or guidance.
Andre needs a new computer.
Andre’s short-term goal is to save enough money to buy a computer at the end of the year. He won’t be comfortable with the possibility of the value of his investment going down between now and the time he buys the computer. That means Andre’s risk tolerance could be described as low. Based on his needs, timing, and risk tolerance, he is considering the Conservative, Moderately Conservative, and the Capital Preservation Options.
Rosa wants a new wheelchair in a few years.
Rosa’s goal is to buy a new wheelchair in three years, and she wants to begin saving for it now. She hopes to see the value of her investment grow steadily so that she can pay for a new wheelchair, but understands this is not guaranteed. Rosa decides that she has moderate risk tolerance for the potential ups and downs of the financial markets and that a combination of stocks and bonds will best fit her needs, timing, and risk tolerance. She is considering investing in the Moderate, Growth, Moderately Aggressive, or Target-Year Options or a combination of those options.
Emily’s parents are investing for the future.
Emily is a toddler with a disability whose parents want to grow her PA ABLE account to use after she finishes high school. Her parents are comfortable with potentially big swings in the financial markets and know that prices may fluctuate a lot over the long term. Their comfort level and understanding of the market means they have high risk tolerance. They decide to invest funds in the Moderately Aggressive, Aggressive, or Target-Year Options, where there is a higher chance for fluctuation in the account value both up and down, but also a higher chance of returns over the long term.
Investment Options
Any combination of PA ABLE's investment options can be used to support your disability-related expenses.
PA ABLE Account Options – Frequently Asked Questions
PA ABLE offers seven Risk-Based Investment Options with a range of risk levels so you can invest according to your personal strategy. We also offer nine Target-Year Investment Options. Target-Year Investment Options offer the ability to easily select an investment based on when the saver anticipates needing funds.
PA ABLE accounts are free to open and have an annual fee of $17 ($4.25 per quarter)if you select e-delivery of quarterly statements and account confirmations. For paper delivery, the annual fee is $37 ($9.25 per quarter).
Additional asset-based fees for the Asset-Allocation Options currently range from 0.00% to 0.25% depending on the option(s) selected.
Any person (including you, your friends, and your family members), business, employer, trust, corporation, or other legal entity can contribute to your account.
Requesting gift contributions from family and friends is a great way to help you reach your savings goals and it couldn’t be easier. Just sign in to your account to find your gifting page information and share your unique gifting link. You’ll be able to customize your page and select where you would like the gifted funds to go. When you’re ready, just share your unique gifting link directly with friends and family, or even on social media.
Note, gift contributions can be made online for as little as $5 or as much as $20,000 per transaction.
You may also purchase a PA ABLE gift card for a special occasion or easily redeem a gift card into your PA ABLE account. Through our partnership with Gift of College®, family and friends can securely contribute to a PA ABLE account.
Keep in mind that gift contributions count toward your annual contribution limit. So, if you’ve already reached the limit, your page will remain public, but no one can contribute again until next year.
Eligibility
Discover if you or a family member is eligible to open a PA ABLE account.
Explore Requirements
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