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Attainable Savings Plan

The Attainable Savings Plan is offered by the Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority and managed by Fidelity Investments.


  • Program typeABLE Savings plan
  • Investment Manager
    Fidelity
  • Inception2017
  • State agency
    Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority
  • Program Manager
    Fidelity
  • Manager contract termUNLOCK PRO

Eligibility

Who can be a participant/owner in the program?

An Attainable Plan Account must be established by the designated beneficiary or on behalf of the designated beneficiary by a Person with Signature Authority (PSA). The PSA must be the designated beneficiary's parent, legal guardian, or have a valid power of attorney (POA). The designated beneficiary or PSA opening an Attainable Plan Account must be 18 years or older, a United States resident, and have a valid SSN.

Program restrictions:

To be eligible for an ABLE savings plan, an individual must have been diagnosed with a disability before age 26, and be eligible to receive benefits under Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and/or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). Individuals who are not receiving SSI and/or SSDI may still be eligible if they meet the age requirement and have been diagnosed by a licensed physician and received a letter of certification.

Did you know?

  • The plan can be used to pay for qualified disability expenses.

    This can include education, job training and support, healthcare and financial management.

  • Savings in an ABLE account will not impact eligibility to receive government benefits.

    The first $100,000 is exempt from the Supplemental Security Income limit, and beneficiaries will continue to receive Medicaid regardless of account size.

  • Residents are not limited to investing in their own state's ABLE plan.

    Another state may offer a plan with better suited investment options, lower fees or preferred features.

  • Visit this plan's website to learn more

Contributions

Maximum contributions:

Annual contribution limit is currently $15,000 from all sources. If the beneficiary works, the beneficiary can also contribute part, or all, of their income to their ABLE account. This additional contribution is limited to the poverty-line amount for a one-person household. For 2018, this amount is $12,140. The designated beneficiary is not, however, eligible to make this additional contribution if their employer contributes to a workplace retirement plan on their behalf.

ABLE account beneficiaries can qualify for the Saver's Credit based on contributions they make to their ABLE accounts. Up to $2,000 of these contributions may qualify for this special credit designed to help low- and moderate-income workers.

There is also a maximum contribution limit of $400,000 for 2017. You may not make additional contributions to the plan at a time that the total value of the account is at or above the maximum contribution limit.

Minimum contributions:

None

Investment Options

Target-Risk Options:

Select among 8 investment options: ABLE Money Market Portfolio, ABLE Conservative Income 20% Portfolio, ABLE Income 30% Portfolio, ABLE Moderate Income 40% Portfolio, ABLE Balanced 50% Portfolio, ABLE Moderate Growth 60% Portfolio, ABLE Growth 70% Portfolio, and ABLE Aggressive Growth 85% Portfolio

Bank Money Market Investment / Checking Option:

ABLE Money Market Portfolio seeks as high a level of current income as is consistent with the preservation of principal and liquidity

Fees & Expenses

Enrollment or application fee:

None

Account maintenance fee:

None

Program management fees:

0.15% for all portfolios, plus 0.05% state sponsor fee

Expenses of the underlying investments:

0.37% - 0.73%

Total asset-based expense ratio:

0.57% - 0.93%

Fees or restrictions on the number of disbursements

None

Taxes and other Benefits

Program match on contributions:

None

State tax deduction or credit for contributions:

None

State tax recapture provisions:

None

State tax treatment of qualified distributions:

Distributions taken to pay for qualified disability expenses will not be subject to Massachusetts income tax.

State tax treatment of rollovers:

Massachusetts follows federal tax-free treatment.

Medicaid eligibility

Medicaid benefits are not impacted by money invested in an Attainable account.

Medicaid recapture provisions

The ABLE Act and proposed ABLE regulations provide that upon the death of the designated beneficiary, any state may file a claim against unexpended amounts in an Attainable Plan Account for the amount of the total medical assistance paid for the designated beneficiary under the state's Medicaid plan after the establishment of the Attainable Plan Account, less any premiums paid from the account by or on behalf of the designated beneficiary to a Medicaid Buy-In program under any State Medicaid plan.

Is there a debit card/ purchasing card available, and if so, at what cost?

Yes, A debit card is available to access funds transferred from your Attainable Account to your Fidelity Cash Management Account

Statutory protection of an account from creditors:

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Distributions & Terminations

To whom are distributions made payable:

The designated beneficiary or PSA, as applicable, may request a distribution.

Account Changes

Policy regarding participant/owner changes:

The designated beneficiary or PSA, as applicable may change the designated beneficiary of an Attainable Plan Account to a new designated beneficiary during the lifetime of the current designated beneficiary without tax consequences as long as the new designated beneficiary is a member of the family of the current designated beneficiary and an eligible individual.

Documents, Access & Reporting

Does participant have online password-protected access to account?

Yes

Can the complete enrollment process including funding be done online?

Yes

Documents and other services accessible or downloadable on the program's public Web site:

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Contact

Website:

https://www.fidelity.com/able/attainable/overview

Telephone:

844-458-2253

Email:

msavery@mefa.org

State News

Massachusetts, along with Fidelity, launches The Attainable ABLE Savings Plan (05/10/2017)