How Much Money Can You Make and Still Get SSI? What You Need To Know

What is Countable Income?

Under SSI, not all money or in-kind items you receive will form part of your income. Only your “countable income” will be included in your SSI income computation.

According to the SSA, countable income is the net amount after eliminating non-income items and deducting all appropriate exclusions thereafter. These EXCLUSIONS include:

• the first $20 of your biggest income received in a month;
• the first $65 of earnings and half of your earnings over $65 received in a month;
• the value of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamps) received;
• income tax refunds;
• home energy assistance;
• assistance based on need funded by a State or local government, or an Indian tribe;
• small amounts of income received irregularly or infrequently;
• interest or dividends earned on countable resources or resources excluded under other federal laws;
• grants, scholarships, fellowships, or gifts used for tuition and educational expenses;
• food or shelter based on need provided by nonprofit agencies;
• loans (cash or in-kind) that you have to repay;
• money someone else spends to pay your expenses for items other than food or shelter (for example, someone pays your telephone or medical bills);
• income set aside under a Plan to Achieve Self-Support (PASS);
• earnings up to $2,220 per month to a maximum of $8,950 per year (effective January 2023) for a student under age 22;
• the cost of impairment-related work expenses for items or services that a disabled person needs in order to work;
• the cost of work expenses that a blind person incurs in order to work;
• disaster assistance;
• the first $2,000 of compensation received per calendar year for participating in certain clinical trials;
• refundable federal and advanced tax credits received on or after January 1, 2010;
• certain exclusions on Indian trust fund payments paid to American Indians who are members of a federally recognized tribe

Your total countable income will be deducted from the maximum federal benefit rate to determine your SSI benefit amount.

To give you a demonstration, let’s say that for this month, you received the following:

• wages = $500
• disability benefits = $300
• food stamps= $300

With this, your gross income is $1,100 ($500 + $300, + $300). To compute:

Gross income: $1,100

Less: first $20 of your biggest income: ($20)

Less: first $65 of your earnings: ($65)

Less: half of your earnings over $65 ($500-$65/2): ($217.50)

SSI income: $797.50

If you are unmarried, the maximum federal benefit rate for 2023 is $914. Taking from the example above:

Maximum SSI federal benefit rate: $914

Countable income: (797.50)

SSI Benefit Amount: $116.50

What Counts as “Resources”?

Aside from your income, the SSA will gauge your resources too. The maximum countable resources to qualify for SSI is $2,000 for individuals and $3,000 for couples.

Countable resources, in SSI, refer to the things you own. This includes:

• cash
• land
• the money in your bank account
• personal property
• vehicles
• life insurance
• stocks, mutual funds, and US savings bonds
• anything you own that can be exchanged for food and shelter
• deemed resources (the portion of a spouse, parent, or sponsor’s resources deemed to belong to the person applying for SSI)

What Happens If You Earn More than the Limit?

SSI income and resources are calculated on a monthly basis. So if your income goes over the limit this month, your SSI benefits will temporarily stop. It will resume once you’re earning below the SSI limit once again.

If your SSI payments still haven’t resumed despite having a low income, you may want to check it with the SSA. It could be a technical error or a miscalculation on their part.

But if you believe that your SSI benefits have been unfairly stopped, you can consult an experienced social security disability lawyer like Victor Malca. He has been helping SSI beneficiaries get the benefits they rightfully deserve. He can help you get yours too. Call us now for a free consultation.