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FAQs

What are Resources?

Resources are items that people own and can use to meet the costs of food, housing, and clothing. However, not all resources count against the SSI resource limit. The trick is to understand what resources count and what resources do not count.

Why are they Important?

SSI is a means-tested program intended for people with disabilities who have little income and few resources. Because of this, income and resources affect whether individuals are eligible, and how much in SSI payment they are due.

  • Income is what people receive in a month. Income an eligible individual receives, is counted for SSI purposes in the month it is received. and
  • Resources are cash and items a person owns that can be converted to cash. If it is relevant, it counts as a resource as of the following month.

For example, someone winning the lottery would have income the month payoff is received. If the individual hadn’t spent the money by the next month, the lottery money would then be considered a resource.

What are the Limits?

To be eligible for SSI, an individual’s countable resources must not exceed $2,000 as of the first moment of a given month. If an eligible couple (two SSI recipients married to each other or presenting themselves to the community as married and living together) receives the SSI, eligible couple’s countable resources must not exceed $3,000. If countable resources are above the limit as of the first of the month, the individual is not due an SSI payment for that month. If an individual has excess resources for more than twelve consecutive months, he or she would have to file a new SSI claim in order to receive SSI and provide evidence that resources have dropped below the limit.

In some cases, the resources that a family member has might make an individual ineligible for SSI. If a person who is eligible for SSI is married to someone who is not, the ineligible spouse’s resources are assumed to belong to the eligible spouse. If a child under age 18 lives with his/her parent(s), part of the parents’ resources may be counted when determining the child’s eligibility. This is called “deeming” of resources.

Resources:

VCU Briefing Papers:

Introduction and Overview of Deeming, Vol. 3.1, April 2002 - Deeming-PDF | Deeming-Word | Deeming-Text

Parent to Child Deeming, Vol. 3.2, April 2002 - Parent to Child Deeming-PDF | Parent to Child Deeming-Word | Parent to Child Deeming-Text

POMS Resources:

FAQ Disclaimer: The VCU-BARC FAQ Pages are general information provided as a public service. The contents do not necessarily represent the policy, interpretations or opinion of the Social Security Administration (SSA). The information contained here is intended to inform readers of issues that may affect Social Security and/or other public assistance benefits. Because individual circumstances differ, the reader should not rely on any information here as being specifically applicable to an individual's situation.