SSI Asset Limits
To be eligible for SSI benefits based on a disability, an applicant who is single cannot have more than $2,000 in assets. However, we will go through what assets are actually counted and what assets are not counted.
If an SSI applicant is married the asset limit is $3,000.
Similarly, if a child under age 18 lives with one parent, the SSA deems the resources of a parent or parent's spouse. The SSA will disregard the first $2,000 of the parent's total countable resources, or, if the child lives with 2 parents, $3,000. Any assets above that amount will be counted toward the child's $2,000 resource limit.
So What Assets Count Toward the SSI Asset Limit?
SSA calls assets "resources." The SSA counts the following as resources:
cash
money in a checking or savings account
life insurance policies with cash value over $1,500
stocks and bonds
household goods and personal effects that are worth over $2,000
motor vehices (however you can have 1 car), and
real estate (however this does not include the home in which you live in).
So What Resources Don't Count Toward the SSI Resource Limit?
Your home or residence. Your house must be your principal residence. The exclusion includes your home, the land it's built on, and any adjacent buildings.
Your car. You may have one car excluded from the asset limit. The value of your car will be excluded from the limit up to $4,500
Wedding rings. A wedding ring and engagement ring (no matter the value) will be excluded from the resource limit.
ABLE accounts. Up to $100,000 that is kept in an ABLE account, for those disabled before 26 years of age, doesn't count as an asset.
PASS savings. Income set aside for an SSI "plan for achieving self-support" (PASS) is not counted as a resource.
IDA savings. Money saved in an individual development account (IDA) is not counted. IDAs are special accounts designed to allow those receiving TANF funds to save specifically for school, the purchase of a home, or to start a business without affecting their SSI benefits.
Burial savings. Burial funds up to $1,500 in value are not counted.
Support payments. Some support payments can be held for up to 9 months before they count toward your resource limit They include:
state or local relocation assistance payments
crime victim's assistance
earned income tax credit payments
grants, scholarships, fellowships or gifts used for tuition and educational expenses, and
child tax credit payments.