My key takeaways:
* SSI is run by the Social Security Administration (SSA), and it is a basic income of sorts given to some people who have little or no other income
* While SSI and its asset cap are obviously not taxes —the government is paying out money, not taking it in —there’s a similar property to many tax systems: as you make more money and become more self-sufficient, you lose some of those gains to government policy
* You really do have to play “hot potato” with your money, never saving more than three months of income (assuming you get the usual benefit) at a time, unless you can divert your money into a category that’s excluded from the SSA’s definition of resources
* So to manage life as a disabled SSI recipient, you might need to carefully separate out your different types of spending between your ABLE account and your ordinary checking account —which still can’t get above $2,000
* “It's making all disabled people into accountants, because you have to be one to follow these rules."
* That $2,000 limit is not indexed for inflation and has not been updated since 1989
* SSI is run by the Social Security Administration (SSA), and it is a basic income of sorts given to some people who have little or no other income
* While SSI and its asset cap are obviously not taxes —the government is paying out money, not taking it in —there’s a similar property to many tax systems: as you make more money and become more self-sufficient, you lose some of those gains to government policy
* You really do have to play “hot potato” with your money, never saving more than three months of income (assuming you get the usual benefit) at a time, unless you can divert your money into a category that’s excluded from the SSA’s definition of resources
* So to manage life as a disabled SSI recipient, you might need to carefully separate out your different types of spending between your ABLE account and your ordinary checking account —which still can’t get above $2,000
* “It's making all disabled people into accountants, because you have to be one to follow these rules."
* That $2,000 limit is not indexed for inflation and has not been updated since 1989