#financialcapability

By Darlene Aderoju, America Saves

It’s National Financial Literacy Month, which makes it the perfect time to learn what it takes to become a good saver. The good news is that saving for your future can be a lot simpler than you might imagine.

Use this month and every day moving forward to get yourself in a comfortable financial position. Here are three things you should know about saving as a person with a disability or as the caretaker of a person with a disability.  

1. Saving is not just about having a certain amount of money, it’s an activity

When you make the decision to save money, understand that saving is an ongoing activity that will benefit you over time. Don’t overwhelm yourself by trying to save too much, too soon. Start small, at an amount that you can afford to save regularly, and think big, so you can continue to save in the long run.  

If you’re unsure of where to start, an emergency fund is a great option. Aim to save $500 in a rainy day fund that you can access when life’s emergencies pop up, such as a broken down car or an emergency room visit. Once you reach that benchmark, set a goal of saving for three months of expenses.  

2. People with disabilities are ABLE to save

Many Americans with significant disabilities are eligible to open and save in a new type of savings account called an ABLE account, created by the Achieving a Better Life Experience Act. The accounts are tax-advantaged savings accounts where the account owner, their family or their friends can make contributions.

But here’s the best part: tens of thousands of dollars can be saved in an ABLE account without affecting eligibility to receive critical benefits like Supplemental Security Income (SSI), SNAP and Medicaid.

If you have significant disabilities that began before you turned 26-years-old and are already receiving benefits through SSI or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), you are automatically eligible to create an ABLE account.

If you do not receive SSI or SSDI, you could still be eligible to open an ABLE account. If you meet Social Security’s definition and criteria regarding significant functional limitations, and receive a letter of certification from a licensed physician, you may qualify.

You can use your ABLE account to fund any expense related to living with a disability. This includes basic living expenses, education, assistive technology, hiring personal care attendants, accessible housing, healthcare costs, transportation and more.

ABLE accounts are operated by individual states. You can create an ABLE account in any state that accepts outside residents into their program no matter where you live. Each state’s programs offer different terms, so it’s best to shop around to find out which program is best for your needs. (Learn more about ABLE accounts through National Disability Institute’s (NDI) ABLE National Resource Center)

Bonus: Your friends and family can send money to your ABLE account online as a gift contribution. You can even create a gifting page with your account so your loved ones can add money to your savings. One thing to note is that you won’t be able to use the money gifted to you until 30 business days have passed.

3. Savers with a plan are twice as likely to save effectively

Here’s our favorite trick: savers with a plan are twice as likely to save successfully. That’s it! Hack that psychology by setting your savings goal and making a plan this month. As you begin your savings journey, keep in mind that your decision to save should be a lifelong one.

We partnered with National Disability Institute to offer you the America Saves pledge with a goal of saving for disability-related expenses. When you take the America Saves pledge, you make a commitment to yourself to save money. Tell us how much money you want to save and how long you want to do it, and we’ll keep you motivated to reach your goal. We’ll send you helpful emails and reminder text messages to keep your savings momentum going.

There are a lot of self-help books and online articles out there which talk about the law of attraction. Yep, I’ve read them, and from them I did gain the habit of gratitude and still say ‘thank you’ to green traffic lights (sometimes out loud, which I then have to explain to confused looking passengers. I also once thanked a cash machine out loud, but that’s another story), but I’m not that convinced about the advice on behaving like I’ve already achieved my dream.

This particularly worries me when it comes to money. Maybe because I’m a Student Money Adviser, or maybe because of my own money personality. If you want to be a rock star… ok, bad example as that’s my dream and may sound a bit 80s, and a bit strange considering I haven’t played a musical instrument since the recorder in Primary School... If you want a celebrity lifestyle, and most of us know about this lifestyle as it’s on our news and social media feeds, should we live like it and go out and get a £500 pair of shoes and £1,000 handbag (I have no idea how much they cost, my shoes cost £14.99)? I’m sure these articles aren’t implying that we do this, but I think it could be interpreted that way. Because apparently, if you get what you want now, you’ll then come up with a way to pay it off. You’ll manifest the money! If that isn’t an advert for a vicious cycle of debt then I don’t know what is. But before I become the dream dasher I think we can look at this from another point of view ,a more positive point of view, literally, looking at the way we think about money and seeing it in a more positive light.

We can associate money with greed and evil. We don’t always feel in control of it. It frightens us. But actually being afraid of money and avoiding it can be harmful, as well as being care-free with it. For money to work for us, we need to respect it, and understand it. Go get your dreams! You deserve it! And if you don’t need money to achieve your dreams then great, but if you do, make it work for you. Concentrate on your goal, do your research, plan ahead and measure and minimise risk. 

If your goal is to start a business, research thoroughly to make your money work for you, look for any business/entrepreneur grants. If your goal is education, contact the University’s money advice team for information on funding. If your goal is to have £1000 handbag, this could be part of a long-term goal, to save up and treat yourself once you’ve landed your dream job. (Pay those bills first!)

Since my goal is to become the UKs first Recorder playing Rock Star, I’m going to look for a cheap recorder (I just Googled it and there is such a thing as an Electric Recorder!)

Rach :)