Donations

As It currently stands, I am funding Menace Acre Farm and Advocacy completely out of my own pocket. While I intend to one day have two separate entities, Menace Acre Farm the for profit farm that sells farm goods and does farm things, and Menace Acre Advocacy, a non-profit organization that will be able to accept donations, apply for grants, and make real tangible change. Everyone needs to start small though and this is my start. While Menace Acre Farm is my home and ultimately my responsibility, this website and my google workspace are currently out of pocket expenses. I plan to have full financial transparency on a separate financial transparency page but for now I’ll just have this donations page with some simple instructions on how to make a donation to my ABLE account as that distribution is still tax deductible, supports me and my goals, and will support me on this journey as I build up from this small website into a full formal business and non-profit. If you are unfamiliar with ABLE accounts, this will be a wonderful introduction to all the great things you can learn here at Menace Acre Advocacy.

What’s an ABLE Account?

An ABLE account (Achieving a Better Life Experience account, authorized under Section 529A of the Internal Revenue Code) is a tax-advantaged savings and investment account designed for individuals with disabilities.

Its primary function is to allow eligible individuals to save money without jeopardizing their eligibility for means-tested federal and state benefits, such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicaid.

Key Features of ABLE Accounts

  • Benefit Protection: In traditional accounts, individuals receiving means-tested benefits typically cannot hold more than $2,000 in countable liquid assets. In contrast, funds in an ABLE account are excluded from resource limits for most programs. For SSI, the first $100,000 is completely disregarded, though amounts exceeding $100,000 may temporarily suspend monthly cash payments, Medicaid eligibility remains protected.

  • Tax Advantages: Contributions are made with post-tax dollars, earnings grow tax-free, and withdrawals are entirely tax-free at the federal level as long as they are used for qualified disability expenses.

  • Qualified Disability Expenses (QDE): Funds can be used broadly for expenses related to maintaining or improving the beneficiary's health, independence, or quality of life. Common examples include housing, transportation, education, personal assistance services, assistive technology, healthcare, and financial management.

  • Eligibility Criteria: An individual must have developed a significant, qualifying disability before a specified age. Under the original legislation, the age of onset had to be prior to age 26 but now, following statutory updates under the SECURE 2.0 Act, the age threshold expanded to onset before age 46, significantly broadening access.

  • Contribution Limits: Contributions can be made by the beneficiary, family, friends, or organizations, subject to the annual gift tax exclusion limit, with potential additional allowance under the ABLE to Work Act for employed beneficiaries who do not participate in an employer-sponsored retirement plan.

For more information on ABLE accounts visit https://www.ssa.gov/ssi/spotlights/spot-able.html

UgiftABLE

Each state has their own ABLE program, I live in Michigan so my state’s ABLE program is called MiABLE and I can create my account by visiting my state website which has a dedicated section for ABLE accounts https://www.michigan.gov/miable similar to other states. I may create a list of ABLE links for each state in the future. There is only one website for donations, it is called UgiftABLE.com and each person receives their own gifting code. Mine is G55-B9J. Typing in the gift code for the person you would like to donate to brings you to a page where you can make a tax deductible donation that does not impact the recipient’s benefits.

You can also use Cash App so long as donations remain under $100.