Whether it’s saving for retirement, college, or a new house, no one has ever said they wished they started saving later.

While Enable might not be available yet, it will be soon. And when it comes to building up your financial reserve for your Enable account, the same philosophy applies: save early and often.

This can be a novel, but exciting, concept for many in the disability community to grasp. In the past, people with disabilities generally became ineligible for federal benefits such as Medicaid or Supplemental Security Income if they had more than $2,000 in person savings. With the passing of the ABLE Act, that changes.

The ABLE Act allows individuals to save $14,000 per account every year.*

The account owner can save for his or herself and families and friends can also contribute to the account. Because savings are tax-advantaged, you don’t need to pay taxes on the earnings in the account or when used for qualified expense. So your money earns money. Those savings can have a big and positive impact on families.

But like any savings account, it’s important to be diligent in when and how often you are saving.

The more you can put away now, the more you will have to put in to your Enable account when the time comes. Meaning you’ll be off to a solid start on your financial footing.

*For those account owners receiving SSI, they can save up to a total account balance of $100,000 in their account without losing other benefits

-Joanna Swanson, Outreach, Savings Plans, First National Bank of Omaha