“People with disabilities can’t invest in their futures, given their limited income,” represents one of those irritating statements I’ve regularly heard over the years when presenting at various conferences. My response is always the same, “Not with that sort of attitude!” The truth of the matter is attitude does play a crucial role in saving for the future. Over the last several years, the area of savings and investment seemed to have fallen out of favor with Americans in general. Just a few years ago, the national personal savings rate in the United States dropped below 0, yes, a negative savings rate of -3%, while simultaneously, borrowing had increased, home equity fueled unsustainable lifestyles, and the debt cycle continued unabated.

Fast forward to the third quarter of 2010: interest rates are at historic lows, the country is struggling with the worst economic condition in eighty years, warnings of a double dip recession abound, and obviously, the personal savings rate has declined further. Yes? Well, not actually! Even with plummeting interest rates, the personal savings rate in the United States has been increasing dramatically even as the economy continues to sputter. According to the latest data, the personal savings rate in the United States has reached 6.2% despite well publicized economic news of national and international mêlées. This means that within three years, the savings rate has moved from -3% to more than 6%, and this during an economic crisis.

Perhaps even more surprising, Americans are currently saving more than our Canadian neighbors who only save a current 2.8% according to the most recent data. These numbers and accompanying behavior reverses forty years of national personal savings trends between the two countries. What’s going on?  The data would tend to indicate that when Americans need to tighten their collective belts and save for an unknown future, they are up to the task. Such frugality in the face of fiscal uncertainty is not an anathema within the disability community. The ability to budget and squeeze the most out of a dollar is something at which the disability community has long excelled. Not necessarily because people with disabilities are born to be good money managers, but rather because people with disabilities have learned to stretch that dollar. This kind of skill needs to be acknowledged, nurtured and leveraged into a culture of investment and ownership.

Last month’s National Organization on Disability report announced that people with disabilities are more than half as likely as people without disabilities to say that they live in households that earn more than $50,000 annually (18% versus 38%). While this is certainly a statistic which conveys alarm and requires on-going policy and programmatic attention, what seems to remain unspoken is that 18% of the disability population, nearly 10 million people, do live in households earning over $50,000 per year. These folks certainly do not represent the financial elite but may represent a burgeoning middle class of people with disabilities who are working and collectively earning over five billion dollars per year. This growing slice of the disability population will further be bolstered by the Obama administration's recent announcement, committing to hire one hundred thousand people with disabilities within the federal ranks. According to AT&T, people with disabilities represent a demographic with more disposal income than the teen market.

This emerging market remains largely underserved by the mainstream financial services industry. For many people with disabilities, the question is not necessarily about SSI, SSDI or Medicaid but could involve sophisticated financial questions of paying down debt, establishing an emergency reserve, buying a first home and retirement planning. These critical areas of investment are completely absent from the current discussion within the disability movement and represent a community's failure of expectation and hope. For many people with disabilities, the expectation of financial success has simply been absent from their experience. “It never occurred to me, that as a woman with a disability, I could ever own my own house or have a retirement account,” is a remark I frequently quote to illustrate this point. Changing this expectation will require a joint effort between the disability and asset building communites as well as participation by forward thinking financial institutions with the foresight to recognize a new market in its nascent stage.

The disability community is more than ready to embrace the idea of savings, investment and ownership. At presentations across the country, Access to Assets demonstrates how anyone, with or without a disability, can take control of their financial life and build a more secure future. Areas such as paying down debt, saving for a first home and long-term retirement savings all deeply resonate with audiences, many of whom have never been told that they have the right and obligation to plan their employment, benefit and financial futures. People in the best position to improve their financial lives are not those who make the most money but those who are the most disciplined with access to quality planning information. It is therefore critical that quality planning information be made widely available to people with disabilities, not only for those who currently receive benefits, but for those who could represent an emerging disability middle class.

These are people with disabilities with stable employment who could be building home equity and retirement savings with a bit of guidance and encouragement; people who have never before seen the absolute magic of compounding returns: how $85 per month over a forty year work life at 8.5% can result in a nest egg of $325,000, or by increasing that $85 monthly savings by only 5% per year, they will be on track to save over one million dollars in their life time; people who can eliminate their $2,000 credit card debt six times faster by doubling the minimum monthly payment; people who can build a better stable financial future for themselves and their families: a future with promise, opportunity and autonomy; people with disabilities, who own their own homes, put their children through college, fund a retirement account, complain about taxes and serve as role models for the next generation, a generation who grow up with expectations: expectations for employment, expectations for economic opportunity and expectations for life!