Picture a Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipient with $1,900 in the bank who gets a bigger check next year. The maximum federal payment is rising, but the amount that person can keep without risking the benefit isn’t.<\/p>\n
According to the Social Security Administration (SSA), the federal SSI payment will increase from $994 to $1,029 a month for an individual in 2027, and from $1,491 to $1,544 for a couple. The resource limit stays at $2,000 for an individual and $3,000 for a couple. We explain what counts toward that limit, what doesn’t and how to protect your payment.<\/p>\n
SSI is a needs-based program, so the SSA looks at what you own as well as what you earn. Resources are things you own that could be turned into cash and used for food or shelter. The SSA’s list<\/a> includes:<\/p>\n Timing matters. If your countable resources are over the limit at the beginning of a month, you can’t receive SSI for that month.<\/p>\n Many of the things people worry about are excluded. The SSA generally doesn’t count:<\/p>\n If you’re blind or have a qualifying disability, you can also shelter money in other ways. Funds set aside under a Plan to Achieve Self-Support don’t count, and neither does up to $100,000 in an ABLE account<\/a>.<\/p>\n Some money doesn’t count right away, which gives you time to spend it. Federal tax refunds and Earned Income Tax Credit payments aren’t counted for 12 months. Retroactive SSI or Social Security benefits aren’t counted for nine months after you receive them.<\/p>\n This matters if you get a lump sum of back pay. Track the date it arrives and plan how to use it before the window closes.<\/p>\n Going over doesn’t always end your benefits for good. If you sell the excess resources for what they’re worth, you may receive SSI again beginning the month after the sale. You may even receive “conditional benefits” while you try to sell property, though you must sign an agreement and pay those benefits back when the sale goes through.<\/p>\n Giving things away isn’t a shortcut. If you, your spouse or a co-owner gives away a resource or sells it for less than it’s worth, you may be ineligible for up to 36 months, depending on its value.<\/p>\n\n
What doesn’t count?<\/h2>\n
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Which payments get a grace period?<\/h2>\n
What happens if you go over the limit?<\/h2>\n