Overview of Social Security Disability Programs and Work Incentives - slide 7
SSI calculation:
Gross Earned Income $700
General Income Exclusion - 20
Remainder 680
Earned Income Exclusion - 65
Remainder 615
Divided by 2 307.50
Total Countable Income 307.50
Federal Benefit Rate $674
Total Countable Income -307.50
SSI Payment $366.50
Let’s look at an example of how a check is reduced when an individual goes to work. Remember, we are looking at someone who is over 18, lives independently, and meets all of the eligibility requirements. And for the purpose of this activity, we are going to say that this person is only on SSI. John has no unearned income, such as SSDI, and receives $700 a month from his job. You take his gross earned income and subtract $20. This is called the General income exclusion. SSA excludes this amount before looking at determining an individual’s SSI cash benefit. Then you subtract $65, this is known as the Earned income exclusion. SSA does not look at the first $65 an individual makes when they are working, so you get to exclude this amount from the calculation. This leaves you with $615, which you divide by 2 to leave you with a Total countable earned income of $307.50.
You take this amount and subtract it from the current year’s Federal benefit rate, which is $674 in 2010. This leaves John with an SSI cash payment of $366.50.
Now I know what you must be thinking…this is confusing…I don’t understand. That is okay. Remember the point of this lesson is not to leave the class knowing how to determine cash payments; rather we want you to get the general concept of how things work. There are far too many rules and regulations and quirks to the system for you to be able to master this subject over night. So bear with me as we continue to talk and at the end of the lecture we will give you some community resources where you can refer customers to get all of the answers to these difficult questions. But we think it is important for you to know what is available through the Social Security Administration so that you can assist your customers in finding assistance when they need it.