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SSI Disability & Working

The Social Security Administration (SSA) provides Supplementary Security Income (SSI) to low-income, elderly or disabled individuals who do not qualify for full disability or retirement benefits. Individuals may work while receiving SSI, but depending on their amount of monthly income, they may have SSI reduced or discontinued. You should learn all you can about SSI rules prior to working to minimize the risk of losing SSI.

  1. Excluded Income

    • The first $85 earned per month as of June 2010 does not affect SSI in any way. This rule applies for every month, regardless of the number of months that earned income is received.

    Impairment-Related Work Expenses

    • Certain impairment-related expenses are deducted from the amount of monthly employment earnings that count towards SSI, as long as these expenses are necessary for work. Examples include medications, assistive devices, diabetic shoes and other expenses.

    Trial Work Period

    • You may exceed the gainful employment amount for up to nine months in a 36-month period without losing SSI. Gainful employment is typically considered work with earnings of more than an average of $1,000 per month or for more than 20 hours per week.

    Extended Period of Eligibility

    • If you have used up all of your trial work months but lose your job within 36 months due to problems related to your disability, your SSI may be immediately reinstated. This is called the extended period of eligibility.

    Property Essential to Self-Support

    • SSI recipients must meet resource limits, including $2,000 for individuals and $3,000 for couples as of June 2010. Resources include cash, bank accounts, vehicles (other than one that is excluded), houses (other than one that is excluded), IRAs, stocks, bonds and other cash-value resources. Work-related resources, such as property for a trade or business, may be excluded from the resource limit if necessary for work.

    Ticket to Work

    • SSA's Ticket to Work program pays for supported employment services for disabled individuals. Supported employment services may be provided by an SSA approved employment network or to a state Vocational Rehabilitation program for disbursement to other approved employment services. Supported employment services include job coaching, groups for learning employment skills, assistance with locating employment, sheltered workshops and supervised work experiences.

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