News Releases About Able UP

SPRINGFIELD — Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs today announced reduced fees for account owners in a program that allows people with disabilities to save their own money for disability-related expenses. Annual account maintenance fees were lowered approximately 25 percent for Illinois Achieving a Better Life Experience (IL ABLE) account owners who receive their statements electronically. Additionally, program management fees were reduced an average of 6 percent. The lower fees are the result of a new contract between the Office of the Illinois State Treasurer and Ascensus College Savings, the program…

CHICAGO — State Treasurer Michael Frerichs announced today that the Michigan ABLE Program has joined the 18-member consortium known as the National ABLE Alliance, making Michigan the 19th member of the largest consortium in the country to offer “Achieving a Better Life Experience” savings and investment accounts to people with disabilities. “As the acting facilitator and founding member of the National ABLE Alliance, Illinois welcomes Michigan ABLE to the Alliance,” Treasurer Frerichs said. “I congratulate MiABLE account owners for being able to enjoy the benefits of a low-cost and high-quality…

SPRINGFIELD — People with disabilities have saved more than $150 million using Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) accounts through the National ABLE Alliance, Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs announced today. Frerichs says the milestone triggered a lower cost for families through a fee reduction of 2 basis points. The National ABLE Alliance, an 18-member, bi-partisan consortium, provides a high-quality, low- cost investment and savings program for people with disabilities that allows them to preserve their federal benefits while saving for expenses that come with living with a disability. With…

SPRINGFIELD — Three hundred people with disabilities in Illinois invested more than $1.3 million in the first year of a groundbreaking partnership that fosters independence for people who have disabilities, Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs said today. The Illinois Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) program allows investors to set aside up to $15,000 in private funds each year without jeopardizing their federal benefits. Prior to ABLE, a person with a disability could not have a net worth exceeding $2,000, leaving many individuals in a chronic state of poverty with…

13-State Alliance Will Offer ABLE Investment Accounts to Help Families Save for Better Future WASHINGTON, D.C. – Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs joined members of the National Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Alliance, U.S. Senator Richard Burr (R-NC), and advocates of people with disabilities in Washington, D.C. today to tout a new investment program for people with a disability or blindness that does not jeopardize their federal disability benefits. ABLE accounts are now available in multiple states across the country. The ABLE Alliance is led by Illinois and serves as…