State Treasurer’s office unveils the Enable logo
State Treasurer Don Stenberg today said a special savings program for the disabled will be operational by the summer.
ABLE stands for Achieving a Better Life Experience. It allows disabled individuals or their families to accumulate savings tax free if used for qualified disability-related expenses.
“The ABLE program is expected to become operational in the summer of 2016. From what we now know, we expect the Nebraska program to be one of the first ABLE programs in the nation to be up and running,” Stenberg told a gathering in the Capitol Rotunda.
First National Bank of Omaha will manage the program. The Treasurer’s office entered a five-year contract with First National, which also manages the Nebraska Educational Savings Trust (NEST) 529 college savings programs. First National will provide a range of services for ABLE account owners for an annual fee of $50 per account.
Family members listen to the presentation in the Capitol Rotunda
Stenberg is Trustee of NEST and ABLE. The Nebraska program will be labeled Enable.
“The vision shared by First National Bank and the Treasurer’s office is to create a product that can be understood and used by a broad range of people with disabilities and their legal representatives with a minimum amount of paperwork,” Stenberg said.
Disabled Nebraskans will be allowed to save up to $14,000 a year through the ABLE program.
Sen. Kate Bolz of Lincoln sponsored the measure that created the ABLE program during the legislative session.
“When we introduced the bill our vision was that individuals with disabilities and their families would have the same opportunities for tax free savings for their future education and other goals as every other Nebraskan,” Bolz said. “And I think we are well positioned to achieve those goals.”