Direct answer
SSI and ABLE accounts
Yes — ABLE account balances up to $100,000 are excluded from SSI's $2,000 resource limit, and qualified withdrawals for disability-related expenses do not count as income.
ABLE accounts (created by the ABLE Act of 2014) let people whose disability began before age 26 (rising to age 46 for tax years 2026+) save without losing SSI or Medicaid. Contributions are limited to the annual IRS gift-tax exclusion/year in 2026, plus additional 'ABLE to Work' contributions.
Sourced from ssa.gov — see citations below.
Direct answer: Yes — ABLE account balances up to $100,000 are excluded from SSI's $2,000 resource limit, and qualified withdrawals for disability-related expenses do not count as income.
Can I have an ABLE account and still get SSI?
ABLE accounts (created by the ABLE Act of 2014) let people whose disability began before age 26 (rising to age 46 for tax years 2026+) save without losing SSI or Medicaid. Contributions are limited to the annual contribution limit set each year (equal to the IRS gift-tax exclusion)/year in 2026, plus additional 'ABLE to Work' contributions.
Where does this rule live in SSA's regulations?
SSA publishes the SSI eligibility rules in the SSI Eligibility page on ssa.gov and the annual 2026 SSI figures at ssa.gov/oact/cola/SSI.html. When SSA's public page and this article differ, ssa.gov controls.
What if I'm not sure I qualify?
Apply anyway. SSA determines eligibility on the facts of your case, and application itself protects the earliest possible filing date. There is no penalty for applying and being denied.
Topics
- ssi
- SSI vs SSDI
- eligibility
Sources
Every figure and rule on this page is drawn from official SSA publications. Verify at the links below.
- SSA — Understanding SSI Eligibility (ssa.gov)
- SSA — 2026 SSI Federal Payment Amounts (ssa.gov)
- SSA — SSI Spotlights (ssa.gov)