#Florida 's ABLE and Ready - Are You? #DisabilitySavings #ABLEUnited

The following blog post is sponsored by ABLE United through a Bloggin' Mamas campaign.

Y como siempre, as always, opinions stated belong to BB.

La Princesa will be able to save for her future now without penalty.
Babushka not want to be part of that?
JU SO FONII!!!

HolaHolaHola Beautifuls!

BB is so excited to tell you about the newest way we can help our loved ones. As of July 1 of this year, residents of Florida who have been disabled at 26 years or younger now can apply for “The Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act, which authorizes states to create tax-free savings accounts for individuals with disabilities.

The ABLE Act
The Stephen Beck, Jr. Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act, a federal law enacted in December 2014, authorizes each state to establish a program that offers tax-free savings and investment options to encourage individuals with a disability and their families to save private funds to support health, independence, and quality of life.

Money contributed to an account in one of these programs is generally disregarded when determining eligibility for federal benefit programs, such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicaid.

Save up to $14,000 per year – individually or with help from family and friends.”

So what does this mean Beautifuls?  It means children like my granddaughter La Princesa can have a better chance for her future.  Part of the burdens parents of disabled children face is worrying about their child’s mañana, especially when they become adults and are on their own.  The ABLE Act can help alleviate this.  A savings account that can be contributed to by various people (como abuelas) that aren’t held against their current disability income y ayuda.  How wonderful is that?  AND, YA ERA HORA!!!

So who is eligible?

• Florida Residents
• Have a qualifying disability with onset before age 26

Qualifying Disabilities-

The Internal Revenue Service categorizes eligible disabilities as follows:

Developmental Disorders: Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Asperger’s Disorder, Developmental delays and learning disabilities

Intellectual Disability: May be reported as mild, moderate, or severe intellectual disability

Psychiatric Disorders: Schizophrenia, Major depressive disorder, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Anorexia Nervosa, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD), Bipolar Disorder
Nervous Disorders: Blindness, Deafness, Cerebral Palsy, Muscular Dystrophy, Spina Bifida, Juvenile-onset Huntington’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Severe sensorineural hearing loss,

Congenital cataracts


Congenital Anomalies: Chromosomal abnormalities, including Down Syndrome; Osteogenesis Imperfecta, Xeroderma Pigmentosum, Spinal muscular atrophy, Fragile X Syndrome, Edwards Syndrome

Respiratory Disorders: Cystic Fibrosis

Other: Includes Tetralogy of Fallot, Hypoplastic left heart syndrome, End-stage liver disease, Juvenile-onset rheumatoid arthritis, Sickle cell disease, Hemophilia, and any other disability not listed.

Come pueden ver,, it’s quite a comprehensive list and there are going to be many happy families, starting with Babushka’s!

If you or someone you know could use this program please share it.  

The main site: http://www.ableunited.com/

Feibu: https://www.facebook.com/ABLEUnited/

BB2U


P.S.  Babushka had the distinct pleasure of attending the press conference in the state capitol building in Tallahassee.  Video is posted on my Feibu pagina.  

BB's ABLE United Mama'bassador FB Album

#StartingIsBelieving Twit­ter Chat TWEETY FIESTA!! 2/4/2016 at 9pm EST

Promo

HolaHolaHola Beautifuls!

Honestamente, is there anything more beautiful than our children believing they can do and be anything?  We can help them accomplish many of those dreams, especially the ones needing a college education.  Please join Babushka and some Bloggin' Mamas as we share with you some very special ways to give your niños el apoyo they will be forever thankful for.

#StartingIsBelieving Twit­ter Chat

Join Blog­gin Mamas & Florida Prepaid as we host the next edition of the #StartingIsBelieving Twit­ter Chat on Thursday, 2/4/16 at 9p EST! Join us as we discuss saving for your child's future using Florida Prepaid College Savings Plans, as well as the open enrollment period that is ending this month. There will be some prizes, like an iPad Mini 2!

Want to learn more about what Florida Prepaid offers before the chat? Visit www.myfloridaprepaid.com today! If you decide to enroll, use code BLOG1516 with your purchase and you will receive a free gift! The open enrollment period ends February 29th, so be sure to check it out soon!

Date: Thursday, February 4th, 2016

Time: 9:00–10:00pm EST / 6:00–7:00pm PST

Hash­tag: #StartingIsBelieving

Spon­sored By: @FloridaPrepaid

Pre­sented by: @BlogginMamas

Mod­er­a­tors: Eng­lish– @HeLoEnterprises Span­ish– @BBabushka

Co-hosts: @MamasMission, @ConservamomE, @workingmomof2, @workingmommagic, and @SunnySweetDays

Syn­op­sis:

1. We will be focusing on the importance of savings for college. Florida Prepaid Open Enrollment is now open and ends on 2/29/16.
2. There are different options in higher education – colleges, universities, technical degrees and Florida Prepaid has 5 different plan options to cover any route. We will share them with you during the chat.

Prizes:

Dur­ing the Twit­ter Chat there will be a chance to win one of the fol­low­ing prizes by answer­ing var­i­ous ques­tions. Win­ners will be selected at ran­dom from all eli­gi­ble entries.

Grand Prize

1- iPad Mini 2 (ARV $269)

Prizes

4- Florida Prepaid Prize Packs including a backpack, car window cling and water bottle

RSVP Prize

1– Florida Prepaid Prize Packs including a backpack, car window cling and water bottle

Tweet­share:

Join us for the @FloridaPrepaid #StartingIsBelieving Chat on 2/4 @ 9p ET & win an iPad Mini https://t.co/ncEvGeknIK pic.twitter.com/f3AXYQqeEm

— Bloggin' Mamas (@blogginmamas) February 1, 2016

US Res­i­dents age 18 and over are eli­gi­ble to enter.

RSVP Below!!

Terms and Conditions

NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT NECESSARY. A PURCHASE WILL NOT IMPROVE YOUR CHANCE OF WINNING.

By RSVP’ing to this event and uti­liz­ing the #StartingIsBelieving hash­tag, the atten­dees acknowl­edge hav­ing read and agreed to these terms and conditions.

Twit­ter Party Prize Give­away begins February 4th, 2016 at 9:00 pm ET and ends no later than February 4th, 2016 at 10:30pmET (the “Twit­ter Party Entry Period”). Entrants enter via fol­low­ing @FloridaPrepaid and @BlogginMamas, and post­ing a tweet with the #StartingIsBelieving hash­tag dur­ing the Twit­ter Party Entry Period. Five (5) Win­ners will be drawn ran­domly by random.org at approx­i­mately 12 minute inter­vals dur­ing the Twit­ter Party Entry Period. One (1) Win­ner will be drawn ran­domly via random.org from the event RSVP’s on the Mr. Linky widget.

Prizes include:

One (1) iPad Mini 2. Total approx­i­mate retail value (“ARV”) $269, for one (1) winner.

One (1) Florida Prepaid Prize Packs including a backpack, car window cling and water bottle. Total approx­i­mate retail value (“ARV”) $35, for each of five (5) winners.

One (1) Florida Prepaid Prize Packs including a backpack, car window cling and water bottle. Total approx­i­mate retail value (“ARV”) $35, awarded to one (1) win­ner who RSVP’s via the Mr. Linky widget.

Each win­ner receives one (1) prize pack. Entrants who fail to com­plete said actions will be dis­qual­i­fied and an alter­nate win­ner will be selected from all entrants who entered dur­ing the Twit­ter Party Entry Period. Win­ners will be noti­fied via DM (Direct Mes­sage) on Twit­ter with a request for an email address to send prize claim infor­ma­tion. Win­ners will have 48 hours to reply to the DM with a valid email address. Win­ners will have an addi­tional 48 hours from when prize claim infor­ma­tion is sent, to claim their prize and pro­vide ship­ping info, or a an alter­nate win­ner will be selected from amongst all entries received dur­ing the Twit­ter Party Entry Period. All prizes will be awarded pro­vided they are validly claimed by February 10th at 11:59AM EST.

Entrants agree to release and hold harm­less the Blog­gin’ Mamas, Heather Lopez Enter­prises, LLC, Florida Prepaid, Moore Communications, Twit­ter, and any other orga­ni­za­tions respon­si­ble for spon­sor­ing, ful­fill­ing, admin­is­ter­ing, adver­tis­ing or pro­mot­ing this give­away, and their respec­tive par­ent, sub­sidiaries, and affil­i­ates and each of their respec­tive offi­cers, direc­tors, mem­bers, employ­ees, agents and sub­con­trac­tors (col­lec­tively the “Released Par­ties”) from and against any and all claims, expenses, and lia­bil­ity, includ­ing but not lim­ited to neg­li­gence and dam­ages of any kind to per­sons and prop­erty, includ­ing but not lim­ited to inva­sion of pri­vacy (under appro­pri­a­tion, intru­sion, pub­lic dis­clo­sure of pri­vate facts, false light in the pub­lic eye or other legal the­ory), defama­tion, slan­der, libel, vio­la­tion of right of pub­lic­ity, infringe­ment of trade­mark, copy­right or other intel­lec­tual prop­erty rights, prop­erty dam­age, or death or per­sonal injury aris­ing out of or relat­ing to a participant’s entry, cre­ation of an entry or sub­mis­sion of an entry, par­tic­i­pa­tion in this give­away, accep­tance or use or mis­use of prize. Entrant agrees to indem­nify, defend and hold harm­less the Released Par­ties from and against any and all claims, expenses, and lia­bil­i­ties (includ­ing rea­son­able attorney’s fees) aris­ing out of or relat­ing to an entrant’s par­tic­i­pa­tion in this give­away and/or entrant’s accep­tance, use or mis­use of prize, includ­ing, with­out lim­i­ta­tion, lia­bil­ity for per­sonal injury, dam­age, or loss.

The Released Par­ties make no war­ranties, and hereby dis­claims any and all war­ranties, express or implied, con­cern­ing any prize fur­nished in con­nec­tion with the give­away. WITHOUT LIMITING THE GENERALITY OF THE FOREGOING, SUCH PRIZESAREPROVIDED“AS IS”WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AND THE RELEASED PARTIES HEREBY DISCLAIMALLSUCH WARRANTIES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANT ABILITY, FITNESS FOR APARTICULAR PURPOSE AND/OR NON-INFRINGEMENT.

Dis­clo­sure: I am being compensated as a Florida Prepaid Mama'Bassador by Bloggin' Mamas. All prize ful­fill­ment is the respon­si­bil­ity of the sponsor, Florida Prepaid. All opinions expressed are my own.

RSVP Below!!!

Nos vemos alli Beautifuls, See You There!!

BB2U

National 529 Day - Florida 529 Savings Plan,BB Could've Used You!!!

This post is sponsored by Florida College Prepaid and Bloggin' Mamas, with personal experiences and views being 100% all Babushka.

Thanks to the Florida College Prepaid Plan, My Eldest was able to receive her Bachelor’s at Florida State University.

HolaHolaHola My Beautifuls!

Today is 5/29 and we’re going to be talking about the 529 Savings Plan. Clever of la gente del Florida 529 Savings Plan verdad? Also clever is the actual plan itself. A little history and info: “529 savings plans are named after section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code 26 U.S.C. § 529 and are designed to encourage saving for future higher education expenses of a designated beneficiary.” Future education expenses...

As parents, we all want our children to have wonderful lives with marvelous careers.  Even before their birth, we’re already thinking about their future and how we can help them be successful. Babushka was no different. When The Trio were little, the Florida College Prepaid Plan was enacted and thankfully Babushka was able to pay the plan for them. As you saw, My Eldest used the plan to get her Bachelors of Arts, and My Little One just received her AA and is going onto her Bachelors thanks to the plan.  My son MAC went into the Marines and is a Master Electrician, thus he didn’t need his plan and is transferring it to his youngest son.

Back in the day the Florida College 529 wasn’t available, otherwise BB DEFINITELY would have started one. With only $25 Babushka could have opened an account and continued to contribute whenever/whatever was possible. Oh how that would have helped when all the incidentals like lab fees, parking fees, equipment fees, etc. had to be paid! Because I had the Prepaid it was for incidentals, but if you have the 529 Savings plan you could use the plan for so much more. “Money from a 529 plan can be used for tuition, fees, books, supplies and equipment required for study at any accredited college, university or vocational school in the United States and at some foreign universities. The money can also be used for room and board, as long as the fund beneficiary is at least a half-time student. Off-campus housing costs are covered up to the allowance for room and board that the college includes in its cost of attendance for federal financial-aid purposes.

And the flexibility! YOU choose the investment option, then put in as much and as often as you can. “Even if you can’t save for your child’s entire college education, starting something is always better than doing nothing.”  They ain’t just whistln La Guantanamera with that one My Beautifuls!! There are 11 investment options, and as the years and fortunas siguen, you can change how much you contribute and how they’re allocated at any momento.

Another benefit of the 529 Savings Plan? With the 529 plan you’re not limited to enrollment dates and can open it at anytime. That extra dinerito in your birthday card from Tia ? Abre la cuenta. The unexpected bonus del trabajo? Open the account. Use your blessings of today to help with your children’s blessing of mañana.

BB's Blessing of Mañana

Not have them covered w/ Florida College Prepaid & 529 Savings Plan?

JU SO FONII!!!

BB2U

P.S. Florida Residency is not required.  Anyone 18 yrs and older who's a US Citizen or Resident alien may open a 529 Savings for a child or adult,regardless of age, who is a US Citizen or Resident alien.  So my fellow Abuelitas- A ABRIR LAS CUENTAS!!!

El website and FAQ for mas detalles.

http://www.myfloridaprepaid.com/what-we-offer/529-savings-plan/