These Government Rules Trap Millions Of Americans In Poverty

August 2, 2016 • Page 3 of 3

Doing so is “a drastic mistake,” said Henry Klosowski, a trusts and estates lawyer at Moritt Hock & Hamroff, in Garden City, N.Y. Recipients can lose eligibility for benefits, and their entire inheritance can be swallowed up by health-care, or even basic, expenses.

Still, ABLE makes it much easier for relatives to give money and to start saving when disabled kids are young.

Jacob Gehringer is ready to move on from his parents' home in Papillion, Neb., a suburb of Omaha. The 20-year-old, who has Down syndrome, graduated from high school and is training to work as a preschool aide. He and his parents recently opened an ABLE account. His goal: save for a place of his own, with a backyard where his black Labrador retriever, Miller, can play.

“I plan to be an independent man,” he said. “I want to take care of myself—and my dog, too.”

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Schretter 7 years ago

The Social Security Administration does not monitor the bank account. It monitors 1099 and w2 income. To receive Social Security early, a person must be deemed to be totally disabled, unable to perform any employment. The other social assistance programs put limits on income, available assets, and even monitor gifts (to limit). If Social Security was designed like a corporate pension, you would qualify for a vested pension benefit without further restrictions based on past earnings history and minimum years of service. The current system is unjust and difficult to navigate. A private Family Disability Trust can protect inheritance and gifts from supplanting SSI and other benefits, but those are not easy to setup in advance. ABLE is a feeble attempt by the government to do something, but they could have done a lot more. My father ended his career at 55 due to a disability and died at 67. He could not work because of Social Security limits. All Social security is doing is giving people back the money that they themselves and their employers paid in on their behalf. It is equivalent to going to a bank to pull money out of your savings account and being told you can't because your healthy enough to reach the counter or have ability to earn the money instead It is an attempt to keep the money in government coffers. Especially sad when shorter life spans are expected. Restrictions not needed on SDI. Also, teh Feds need to allow taxes on lump sum pensions to be paid out over years, not taxed as if you earned $500K in one year because you have only 3 years to live and pensions woudl then be lost. That causes financial problems.

These Government Rules Trap Millions Of Americans In Poverty

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