It is my pleasure to announce that the California Achieving A Better Life Experience (CalABLE) Act Board voted to approve TIAA-CREF Tuition Financing, Inc. (TFI) as its program manager at its August Board Meeting. This approval represents a significant step forward for the CalABLE program. The program manager is responsible for critical functions including managing the program’s investment options, as well as keeping records for CalABLE enrollees.

TFI is a national leader in providing program management services for college savings plans, and currently serves as the manager for California’s ScholarShare 529 program.  TFI currently has more than $46 billion in total assets under management. Additionally, TFI will partner with Intuition ABLE Solutions (IAS), the nation’s leading provider of record keeping services for ABLE programs. IAS currently oversees more than $15 billion in assets under management in both college savings (529) and ABLE (529A). TFI received the highest score of responses to CalABLE’s open procurement request for proposals (RFP) in which responders were scored in five categories: Firm background, organization and compliance; Investment structure and experience; Administration, recordkeeping, banking and customer service; Education and outreach; and Costs.

Ultimately, TFI received the highest points total based on their proposal’s commitment to key issues raised by the CalABLE Act Board and our stakeholders. TFI’s proposal came in at the lowest cost to enrollees, and with a proposed investment portfolio that offers ample choices for enrollees with clear preferences, while also being simple enough for new investors.

The execution of a contract with TFI clears the way for a public launch of the CalABLE program, which we are striving to accomplish by the end of 2018.

CalABLE is the California version of the federal ABLE Act, which are tax-advantaged savings and investment programs that benefit people with disabilities. With ABLE, individuals with disability can save money without fear of losing government benefits like SSI or SSDI. Under these program’s guidelines, savings for individuals receiving a cash benefit are limited to $2,000. Once a beneficiary is determined to have more than this limit in savings, their benefits may be suspended until savings fall below the limit. With CalABLE, an individual can save up to $100,000 in an ABLE account without any interruption in their SSI benefits. That money can be withdrawn at any time without tax penalties as long as it used for a broad range of disability related expenses.

Sincerely,

Dante Allen, Executive Director