Like many parents, Michel Ann Kaiser worries about what her son Dalton's future will look like.
"When there is so much uncertainty, when you have a child with a disability, you lay awake at night and think are they going to be able to support themselves, are they going to be able to live independently," said Kaiser. "The biggest question is what will happen to them when we are gone? You don't want to put that burden on a sibling or other family members."
But unlike most parents, her worries extend beyond Dalton's childhood.
READ: 5 Things to Know about ABLE Accounts
"When my son was diagnosed with autism when he was four years old, he is 16 now," she said, "one of the shocking things that we found out was that we could not save more than $1,000 for him in his name."
That's because Dalton receives disability benefits. While his parents support him now, having too much money to his name could mean losing his benefits as an adult. But that's all changed due to the Missouri Achieving a Better Life Experience - or MO ABLE program - that Treasurer Eric Schimitt announced this week.
Schmitt's 12-year-old son Stephen has disabilities. The treasurer's spokesman Garrett Poorman said Stephen will be the first to open a savings account. Missouri is the 20th state to enact the ABLE program.
"These MO ABLE accounts really are a game changer," explained Schmitt. "They really empower individuals to take greater control of their financial futures. They are still eligible for federal benefits. But they can accumulate savings for all of those expenses that they will have along the way whether it's assistive technology, retrofitting their homes, services they may need, rent - there's a lot of things that fall into the category of allowing someone to achieve a better life experience."
The accounts allow people with disabilities to save up to $100,000 in tax-free money.
The accounts -- which function a lot like a college savings plan -- allow any individual to contribute up to $8,000 a year to the MO ABLE account.
The treasurer did mention he'd like Congress to pass legislation that would make MO ABLE and college savings account money transferable so parents aren't financially penalized should their children be diagnosed with disabilities after a college fund is already set up.
