2024

People with Disabilities Achieve Greater Financial Independence Through ABLE Savings and Investment Accounts Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs is celebrating the first-ever National ABLE Savings Day. The Treasurer’s Office’s Illinois ABLE program helps people with disabilities achieve greater financial independence through investment accounts. ABLE is short for Achieving a Better Life Experience, and a decade ago Congress passed a law allowing states to create programs to help individuals with disabilities save and invest their money to pay expenses that help to improve their health, independence, or quality of life, without…

Money Match Drives Big Increase in Missing Money Returned Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs returned a record $301 million to 321,558 Illinois residents through the state’s missing money program during Fiscal Year 2024. “Putting money back in people’s pockets helps families and our state’s economy,” Frerichs said. “This money belongs with its rightful owners, and we have added tools to return more of it.” Illinois’ missing money program — also known as I-CASH — is one of the state’s oldest consumer protection initiatives. The Illinois State Treasurer is tasked with…

Students Earn Bright Start Scholarships, Photos Displayed at Illinois State Fair Nine photographers ages 8 to 18 won Bright Start college savings scholarships in the Cream of the Crop Photo Contest, Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs announced today. “The students showed amazing creativity and talent with these photos,” Frerichs said. “The images beautifully capture the wonderful diversity of Illinois agriculture.” The winning photograph s will be displayed during the Illinois State Fair in the Treasurer’s Tent. You can see the photos of the top three finishers in each of the…

Frerichs Thanks Governor, Lawmakers for Bipartisan Approval Parents who don’t use all the money in their Illinois 529 College Savings Accounts (Bright Start and Bright Directions) are now able to roll over the funds into a Roth IRA under Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs’ plan that was signed into law. “This will give parents another option when deciding what to do with the money they’ve saved for their children if they don’t use all of it,” said Treasurer Frerichs, who thanked Gov. JB Pritzker for signing the legislation and State Sen.…