ABLE Program Performance (2016 – 2024)

Update Jan 2025 – During 2024 we saw a couple of ABLE programs modify their investment choices making their most aggressive category have higher return results (improving performance). The Louisiana state ABLE program, which now offers the Vanguard Growth Index Inst. (VIGIX) fund easily outpaces all other state ABLE programs for performance, however, that state ABLE program is only available to residents of Louisiana. The California ABLE program, which also updated its aggressive fund option to be more aggressive in 2024, edges out Colorado for the 2nd best in performance.

We summarize each ABLE program’s performance at the start of a new year. The market was up again last year (using the S&P500 as the standard) so ABLE accounts are growing as well since they reflect the market but with a slightly more conservative result because most of them include some mixture of international stock and/or bonds in their fund choices.

The Leading ABLE Programs from Past Performance (2016 – 2024)

Included in this summary table are past performance results for the 9 unique ABLE programs that are offered to out-of-state residents. See below for a complete chart of comparison of all 49 ABLE programs. Included in both charts are entries for returns for the S&P500 index and a simple 60% stock and 40% bond portfolio, over the same time period.

Top ABLE Program Returns (2016-2024 Aggressive Option) for the unique 9 ABLE Programs that are offered to Out of State Residents

How Each ABLE Program’s Performance is Evaluated

See “How to Select a State ABLE Program (Part 2) – Top 5 Deciding Features” if you want to know why I focus on each ABLE program’s performance. I believe that the ABLE program’s performance of its underlying investment funds is the most important feature of an ABLE program (coupled with the opportunity to get a state income tax credit/deduction – if your state offers it).

The most significant difference between state ABLE programs is how fast the ABLE account can grow from the invested funds and if a state tax deduction/credit is offered by the state in which you live when contributing to an ABLE account. The state tax deduction/credit would need to be significant enough to make it worthwhile to stay enrolled in your home state’s ABLE program versus enrolling in another state’s ABLE fund that offered superior investment performance.

Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. All investments are subject to investment risk, including possible loss of principle. Individuals should seriously consider if an investment is suitable for them by referencing their own financial position investment objectives and risk profile before making any investment decision.

A secondary reason we put funds into an ABLE account for our child is to invest them for the long term. See “The #1 Reason to Have an ABLE Account” for why someone needs an ABLE account.

To evaluate each ABLE program’s investment performance, I extracted from each ABLE program’s disclosure document the funds that they offer for their most aggressive investment option within the ABLE account. Each ABLE program usually invests a percentage of several funds within their aggressive type of investment. The ticker from each of these funds, along with their percentages are evaluated by Portfolio Visualizer to see what the reported return would be for an initial investment of $10,000 in January 2016 through to the end of 2024. Portfolio Visualizer returns the value of what that initial $10,000 investment would grow to and the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) would be over that time. Other settings within Portfolio Visualizer include that dividends are getting reinvested in these ABLE accounts and that the funds are rebalanced at least annually.

The results may not be exact, because of some additional ABLE account fees that are in each state’s ABLE program, but the results should be close enough to make a valid comparison between the performance of the underlying investment choices within each ABLE program. A quarterly fee of $11.25, within an ABLE account from one ABLE program, will not have a significant effect on annual returns when compared with other ABLE programs that may not have an account maintenance fee – at least for an example balance of $10,000.

Some ABLE programs have chosen mutual funds with higher than expected expense ratios – which are fees that are within the investment funds. These higher expense ratios, however, should be included in the overall performance that is reported by Portfolio Visualizer.

Every ABLE Program’s most Aggressive Investment Fund(s) Performance Return (2016 – 2024)

Click on each column header to sort the table by that column’s attributes. For example, click on “Final Value” to sort all rows by the largest or smallest final balance of each ABLE program.

Included in this summary table, are returns for the S&P500 index and a simple 60% stock and 40% bond portfolio.

The first 9 state ABLE programs listed are the unique programs available to all US residents. They are sorted in alphabetical order in the table.

The North Carolina plan was picked to represent the “National ABLE Alliance“.
Ohio represents “STABLE “. The other states that use the STABLE program are called “Partner States”. The partner states do not accept non-residents into their programs, but Ohio does.
Oregon represents the “Collaboration” states, which is a group of 6 states that somehow are together but most of them use slightly different investment choices that do not have much of an effect on overall performance when compared with other ABLE programs.

If you click on the “Group” column you will see which state programs are associated with each other or if the program is a stand-alone program. Various footnotes below the table address some of the ABLE programs.

ABLE Program Aggressive Return (2016-2024)

(A) California changed funds again in 2024 and still has a 100% stock option, 65% Domestic/35% International
(B) Louisiana changed funds again in 2024 and now offers the Vanguard Growth Index Inst. (VIGIX) fund
(C) Maine has no investment choices. They only offer a checking account
(D) Tennessee offers the Total Stock Market Fund (VITSX)
(E) Virginia ABLEAmerica is sold by financial planners and may have front-end loaded funds – offered by Capital Group
(F) Colorado changed funds in 2023 to a 90/10 Stocks/bonds mix
(G) Massachusetts (Fidelity) is an 87/13 Stocks/bonds

According to Portfolio Visualizer the Louisiana ABLE program’s most aggressive fund choice is the highest performance over the last number of years (2016-2024) if one would have been invested in those types of funds. They barely inched ahead of Tennessee, which offers a similar investment option (a total stock market fund), followed by California, then New York (which just opened their ABLE program to non-residents), then Colorado (which broke off from the National ABLE Alliance and created their state ABLE program).

The most aggressive investment options offered by most other ABLE state programs include some percentage of bonds, which reduces risk when compared with investing in 100% stock but may also reduce potential growth. There is risk in choosing any type of investing.

The Louisiana ABLE program is only available to Louisiana residents, while the California plan is open to a resident of any state.

As a reminder, you will want to see if your home state offers a tax deduction/credit from your state income taxes if you contribute to an ABLE account inside or outside your home state. You can also evaluate how the deduction/credit compares with the increased performance you can get by investing with one of the leading programs (California, New York, Colorado).

What do you think of these performance numbers? How does your ABLE account performance compare with these calculated results? Are you invested in the most aggressive funds or do you have a less risky approach to investing because you may have more short-term goals you are trying to meet? Comment below.