Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a Federal earnings supplement program funded by basic tax incomes.

Both adults and children can be eligible for this federal program if they meet the definition of disabled and have limited income and resources. It is designed to help aged, blind, and disabled individuals with little or no income. It offers cash to satisfy essential requirements for food, clothes, and shelter.

Child Definition

Under Social Security definition, a child is counted handicapped if the child’s physical or psychological problems(s) is so extreme that it leads to significant and severe functional limitations. The disability(s) must last or be expected to last for at least 12 months or lead to the child’s death.

To qualify you likewise must have little or no income and few resources. This suggests that the worth of the things you own must be less than $2,000 if you are single or less than $3,000 if you are married. This doesn’t include the value of your house if you live in it. Usually, the cost of your automobile is not included also. And the value of other specific resources, such as a burial plot, might not count either. To receive SSI, you likewise need to apply for any other cash benefits you may be eligible for. You must live in the United States or the Northern Mariana Islands to be eligible for SSI. If you are not a U.S. person but are lawfully residing in the United States, you still can be eligible for SSI. For more details, request Supplemental Security Income (SSI) For Noncitizens (Publication No. 05-11051). The New York State includes money to the federal payment. To determine how much to supplement your SSI payments the New York State may also consider the county or borough where you reside. Furthermore, to determine how much to supplement your SSI payments the New York State may also consider the county or borough where you live in congregate care, also known as group house or adult foster care. The single amount you get at the beginning of every month consists of both the federal SSI payment and your supplement from New York.

There is no online SSI Application.

Contact.

Contact the Social Security Administration (SSA) by phone: 1-800-772-1213 Monday-Friday 7:00 AM-7:00 PM.

If you are deaf or hard of hearing, you can call SSA at TTY 1-800-325-0778.

SSI amounts for 2020.

The maximum amounts per month or 2020 are $ 783 for a qualified individual, $1,175 for a qualified person with an eligible spouse, and $392 for an essential person.

If you receive SSI, you can get medical help (Medicaid) by default. You will get a separate letter of approval and Medicaid ID card from the NYS. If you have any questions in regards to the Medicaid, call your local department of social services.

If you receive SSI, you can be eligible to get help through SNAP, formerly referred to as food stamps. SNAP can assist you in buying more food without spending more money. Nevertheless, Social Security does not decide if you eligible for SNAP. If you live in a home where everyone is using or receiving SSI, you can apply for SNAP at a Social Security office. If not, you need to apply at your local department of social services.

Keep in mind.

* Supplemental Security Income benefits are paid from general U.S. Treasury funds, not from Social Security taxes. To qualify for it you need not have worked a specific amount, or paid FICA taxes.

* 46 states and the District of Columbia have SSI payments. The following states don’t have it: Arizona, Mississippi, North Dakota, and West Virginia. States that offer additional payments might have their own guidelines relating to income and eligibility.

* SSI is not available to Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and Guam residents. Citizens of the Northern Mariana Islands can receive SSI, however, the territory does not supplement federal payments.

Can I get SSI and SSDI at the same time?

In some scenarios, you can receive both Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) advantages at the same time. This is usually described as “concurrent benefits». To be eligible for concurrent benefits, you must be approved for SSDI, however, get low payments through the program on a monthly basis.

Numerous aspects trigger a low monthly SSDI benefit:

* You have worked little or not at all in the last ten years.

* You had minimal work history at the time you became disabled.

* You became disabled at a young age before getting a considerable work history.

* You made relatively low earnings throughout your work history.

All of these factors can influence the number of SSDI benefits because payments are based on minimum health eligibility requirements, and having sufficient “work credits” developed throughout your employment history.

SSI program is based on income and financial needs. All income from “countable sources” are reviewed to determine whether you qualify for the SSI program.

Countable income consists of earned income and some types of “unearned earnings». SSDI payments are considered to be “unearned income». Simply put, any income you make can not go beyond set minimums under the SSI program.

Usually SSI unearned earnings limitations are set at $710 per month, however, in some states this limit is higher.

Eligibility for the SSI program is relatively complex. Both earned and unearned income is considered when determining financial need, so, are other funds or assets.

As there is a monthly income limit to be eligible for SSI, there is a limit for total available assets. Asset limitations are set at $2,000 for a single person, and $3,000 for married couples.

Even if your income and assets exceed to qualify for SSI benefits, you may still eligible for SSDI. Also, even if you don’t have the work history/credits to receive SSDI, you still can get SSI. However, if you meet the financial and medical requirements, there are cases when you can qualify to receive both SSI and SSDI at the same time.

It’s necessary to keep in mind that coverage for either SSI or SSDI is not guaranteed under Medicare and Medicaid. It’s important to have consultation with Social Security for more information about eligibility.

The United States Social Security Administration (SSA) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that administers Social Security, a social insurance program consisting of retirement, disability, and survivors benefits. Social Security is financed through a dedicated payroll tax. Employers and workers each pay 6.2% of wages up to the assessable limit of $137,700 (in 2020), while the independently employed people pay 12.4 %. You are contributing to the Social Security fund over a lifetime of work. 

You receive “credits” toward your Social Security while you work and pay Social Security taxes. 

The amount of credits that you need to receive retirement benefits depends on your birth date. 

If you were born in 1929 or later, 40 credits (10 years of employment) are required. The credits will stay on the Social Security record if you quit working before you have enough credits to apply for benefits. If you go back to work later, you can add more credits to your credentials. Social Security won’t be able to pay any pension benefits until you have the number of credits needed.

Social Security is more than retirement. Most people see Social Security as a system for retirement. Most individuals who get Social Security Benefits are elderly, but some are benefitting because they are: 

• Disabled.
• A spouse or child of someone getting benefits. 
• A divorced spouse of someone getting or eligible for Social Security. 
• A spouse or child of a worker who died. 
• A divorced spouse of a worker who died. 
• A dependent parent of a worker who died.

You can be eligible for Social Security at any age, depending on your circumstances. Social Security currently provides the children more compensations than any other government program.

Social security benefits replace only some of your earnings when you retire, become disabled, or die. Social Security base the compensation payment on how much you made while employed. Higher earnings over a lifetime result in more significant benefits. If you did not work for a few years or had low incomes, your compensation amount may be smaller than if you were working consistently.

One of the most important choices you will make in your life is choosing when to retire. If you decide to retire when you reach your full retirement age, you will earn the total amount of the payout. When you retire before reaching full retirement age, Social Security will reduce your benefit sum.

IMPORTANT:  Although the full retirement age is keep rising, you should still apply for Medicare benefits three months before your 65th birthday. If you wait longer, it can cost you more money to get your Medicare medical benefits (Part B) and prescription drug coverage (Part D).

Related post: Medicare when you are turning 65, where to start?

Collecting Social Security Benefits at 62.

You can begin receiving payments as early as 62 years old. They will reduce your benefits if you start early by around half a percent for every month you begin to collect benefits before your full retirement age. For example, if your full retirement age is 66 and 8 months, and you sign up for Social Security when you are 62, then you would get just around 71.7 percent of your full payout.

Delayed Retirement.

Doing what you can to increase your income from social security is a good move if you are worried that you could run out of funds when you retire. 

You can decide to keep working past your full retirement age. If you do, you may increase your social security benefits check. Your payout will rise to a certain amount from the time you hit full retirement age, until you begin collecting benefits, or until you turn 70 years old. The percentage varies according to the year you were born.

The maximum monthly Social Security benefit a person may earn per month in 2020 is $3,790 for someone who claims benefits at age 70. The maximum amount is $3,011 for someone at full retirement age and $2,265 for someone at age 62.

How to apply for Social Security?

•  You can apply online at www.socialsecurity.gov for retirement benefits.
•  You can call toll-free number, 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778). 
•  You can make an appointment and apply in person.

Who is NOT eligible for Social Security Benefits?

Relatively rare, U.S. citizens who worked in the country won’t qualify for Social Security retirement payments. Yet if you’re one of them, you need to know so that you can make sure you have other income streams. Here are some examples:

• People with too few Social Security Credits. (lower than 40)
• Some divorcees.

Occasionally divorced persons can be entitled to half of the Social Security benefits of an ex-spouse. Usually, full-time homemakers or stay-at-home mothers or fathers who weren’t working and therefore didn’t earn profits themselves. Such partners would be at a loss if the marriage lasted less than ten years because they are not entitled to receive Social security payments from the earnings record of their former partner. Only those divorced persons who have been married for more than a decade can claim the benefits of the ex-spouse if they are single, 62 years of age or older, and they will earn fewer smaller amounts based on their records of employment.

• People who die before they reached age 62. 
• People who decided to retire abroad.

Generally, you will obtain compensation from the Social Security Administration if you retire in another country. However, some countries are exempt from payments abroad. Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.

• Some Government Employees

If a Federal Government hired you before 1984, you might be grandfathered into the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS). They provide retirement, survivor benefits, and disability. If you one of them, you did not have Social Security taxes withheld from your paycheck. This type of employee may still qualify on other grounds, but the benefit check from Social Security will be reduced. 

• Self-employed people who did not file their taxes.
• Some Immigrants over 65.

Retired people who immigrated to the United States won’t have the 40 U.S. credits or ten years of work. They won’t be eligible for Social Security checks. One way to resolve this issue is to gain six job credits in the U.S. and receive prorated U.S. benefits combined with prorated benefits under a totalization agreement from your original country.

I want to add something from my experience with Medicare Beneficiaries in New York.

At First Manhattan Financial, we do a lot of Medicare Planning. We help people apply for Medicare, pick the right Medicare Plan, and guide them through there Medicare journey. 

When the Medicare-eligible person does not work and does not collect Social Security Benefits and eligible for it, they must apply for it. When you on the SSA web site filling out the application for Medicare, it does not let you proceed without applying for retirement benefits. 

It is important to NOTE that some people may be eligible for SSI. We will cover this topic in another blog.

If you have any questions about your Medicare or retirement, we will be happy to assist. Our dedicated and experienced team can meet with you one on one, conduct phone interviews, or web meeting for your convenience. 

1-800-252-7047