New law is giving more Americans with disabilities access to state-run accounts that allow them to save money without risking their federal disability benefits.

People with disabilities who get need-based public help like Medicaid typically can’t have more than $2,000 to their name and remain eligible for those programs. But ABLE accounts — short for Achieving a Better Life Experience — allow people to save beyond that for disability-related expenses and still qualify for benefits.

Before the new law, only those whose disability developed before age 26 were eligible for ABLE accounts. The ABLE Age Adjustment Act — passed in December — raises that “disability onset” age to 46, allowing more than 6 million more people to qualify beginning in 2026.

Key takeaway: ABLE accounts can let people with disabilities independently save and even crowdfund without losing their public benefits. If your disability began before age 26, you may already qualify. If it began between 26 and 46, you could possibly qualify starting in 2026.  

How ABLE accounts help people with disabilities

The Catch-22 of public disability benefits is that putting some money away to build some financial security could mean losing those benefits, which can be crucial for basic needs and assistive devices.

With an ABLE account, you can …

• Deposit $17,000 per year (or more if the account holder has a job) without losing benefits. You can save up to $100,000 without affecting Supplemental Security Income, or SSI. But you can save into the hundreds of thousands of dollars over time without affecting other kinds of benefits.
• Spend independently on what you need. Qualified expenses can be anything from food, housing and transportation to healthcare, personal support and other things that help quality of life. Some ABLE accounts come with a debit card, or you can use a prepaid card (ABLE Visa Card).
• Crowdfund. Friends, relatives, employers — anyone, including yourself — can contribute to your ABLE account.
• Invest. Some ABLE programs offer a range of optional investment options, much like 529 college savings plans.
• Get tax advantages. Money taken out of an ABLE account is tax-free if used for qualified expenses.

Who can qualify for an ABLE account?

You’ll automatically qualify for an ABLE account if your disability began before age 26 (46 starting in 2026) and you’re already receiving SSI or Social Security Disability Insurance.

Other ABLE eligibility facts

• You don’t have to be an SSI or SSDI recipient. If you meet the disability-age requirement, Social Security’s criteria for certified functional limitations and other conditions, you could qualify for an ABLE account.
• You don’t need to contribute a lot of money. State requirements can vary, but generally the initial deposit can be as little as $25 to $50.

How to get an ABLE account

The ABLE National Resource Center offers a lot of guidance on its site, including FAQs on ABLE accounts and advice on how to get started. You can open and manage most ABLE accounts online. 

Basics to know about signing up

• State residency — Most ABLE plans allow you to enroll no matter what state you live in. This ABLE account state comparison tool can help you identify and compare potential providers.
• ABLE account features vary — It’s a good idea to get familiar with the different types of ABLE account offerings and use the comparison tool and map tool to shop.
• More to know — The ABLE National Resource Center’s ABLE facts and myths page is a great place to start learning more about things like balance limits and how ABLE accounts differ from Special Needs Trusts or Pooled Income Trusts.

To vote in a U.S. election, the basic requirements are simple.

You have to be …

• A United States citizen
• At least 18 years old on or before Election Day
• Registered to vote by your state’s voter registration deadline

But the processes and restrictions around registering to vote and casting a ballot vary by state. Let’s go over some common questions about requirements to vote so you can be prepared — and have your say in the next election.

• Do I have to be a U.S. citizen to vote?
• Can I vote if I’ll be 18 by Election Day?
• What voter registration deadline do I have to meet?
• Can I vote if I have a felony conviction?
• Other voting requirements and restrictions

Do I have to be a U.S. citizen to vote?

Yes. The first thing to know about voter eligibility is that you must be a citizen of the United States to vote in federal, state or local elections. Non-citizens — even permanent legal residents — may not vote.

Can I vote if I’m a U.S. citizen living in another country?

In most cases, where you live doesn’t matter. If you’re a U.S. citizen but live in another country, you can still vote, even if you don’t maintain residency or own property in the U.S. (To vote in state or local elections, you typically need to maintain residency status in your last state of residence.)

Even if you’ve never lived in the U.S., you may still be able vote (it depends on your state) as long as you’re a U.S. citizen. In that case, you’d likely provide your parents’ last address in the U.S. when you register to vote.

But if you live in a U.S. territory — Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the North Mariana Islands or the U.S. Virgin Islands — you can’t vote in general presidential elections. You can only vote in presidential primaries. This is despite the fact that most people born in U.S. territories, with the exception of American Samoa, are U.S. citizens. Voter-rights advocates have taken legal action to try to change this.

Can I vote if I’ll be 18 by Election Day?

While the legal voting age in the U.S. is 18, voter registration and pre-registration rules and ages can be different depending on the state. In almost every state, you can register to vote before your 18th birthday as long as you’ll be 18 by Election Day.

In some states (California, Colorado, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Washington, D.C.) you can pre-register by age 16 or 17.

Some states also allow you to vote in a primary election at age 17 if you’ll be 18 by the next general election.

You can find the voter registration and pre-registration age requirements for each state here. 

What voter registration deadline do I have to meet?

All states except North Dakota require you to register to vote. Depending on your state, the registration deadline could be between seven and 30 days before an election. Some states also allow same-day registration, either during early voting periods or on Election Day. With same-day registration, you can register to vote and cast your ballot on the same day.

Note that a state’s voter registration deadlines may differ for in-person, online and mail-in registration. Check out VoteAmerica for a breakdown of every state’s voter registration deadlines.

Can I vote if I have a felony conviction?

In some states, people who have felony convictions may be ineligible to vote. Laws vary by state and fall into four categories.

• In Maine and Vermont, those convicted of a felony never lose their right to vote.
• In 16 states and Washington, D.C., felons lose their ability to vote only while incarcerated.
• In 21 states, felons lose voting rights throughout their sentence and for a period of time afterward — usually while on parole or probation.
• And in 11 other states, felons lose their voting rights for an indefinite period of time and may need a governor’s pardon to get their voting rights restored, may have to wait a certain time period after parole or probation, or may need to take other actions to be able to vote again.

The National Conference of State Legislatures has two charts that detail which states fall into the above categories, plus state policies for restoring voting rights for convicted felons.

Other voting requirements and restrictions

There are a few other voting requirements and restrictions to keep in mind.

Can I vote if I’m homeless?

If you’re homeless, you can still register and vote in all 50 states — but you may face some obstacles.

The good news is that the federal voter registration form and many state voter registration forms provide a space for people to give nontraditional home addresses, like shelters or even specific street corners or parks.

The organization Nonprofit Vote recommends that homeless registrants list a shelter address where they can receive mail as their voting address.

Things can get a little trickier depending on your state’s “duration of residency” and personal identification requirements.

Most states require that you live in the state or county for a minimum number of days before you can vote. This period can last up to 30 days. The nonprofit National Coalition for the Homeless outlines states’ duration of residency requirements in this 2009-10 chart. You can also contact your local elections officials to learn more about duration of residency requirements.

Can people with mental challenges vote?

In 39 states and Washington, D.C., laws allow courts to declare people mentally incompetent to vote — but there is no uniformity or set standard for how judges gauge whether someone has the mental capacity to vote.

To learn more about the laws — if any — in your state, check out this 2016 table of state laws affecting voting rights for the mentally disabled, prepared by the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law.

States that do not have these laws include …

• Colorado
• Idaho
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Kansas
• Maine
• Michigan
• New Hampshire
• North Carolina
• Pennsylvania
• Vermont

Next steps

If you’re still unsure if you’re eligible to vote in the upcoming election, contact your state or local election office. You can also go VoteAmerica and click on your state for a rundown of info, including voter registration deadlines, polling places and many of the eligibility issues we’ve covered here.

You can check your voter registration status online on the VoteAmerica site. To find your record, you’ll need to enter some personal information, including …

• Name
• Address
• Date of birth
• Email address
• Cellphone number

And if you have questions on Election Day about your ability to vote, you can call the Election Protection Hotline to get help in a number of languages.

• English: 1-866-OUR-VOTE (1-866-687-8683)
• Spanish: 1-888-VE-Y-VOTA (1-888-839-8682)
• Arabic: 1-844-YALLA-US  (1-844-925-5287)
• For Bengali, Cantonese, Hindi, Urdu, Korean, Mandarin, Tagalog or Vietnamese: 1-888-274-8683