Supplemental Security Income (SSI)

What you need to know when you get Supplemental Security Income (SSI).

This article explains some of your rights and responsibilities when you receive Supplemental Security Income benefits.

If you get Social Security retirement or survivors benefits, you should also read, What You Need to Know When You Get Retirement or Survivors Benefits (Publication No. 05-10077).  If you get Social Security disability benefits, you should read, What You Need to Know When You Get Disability Benefits (Publication No. 05-10153).

About your payments

Before the government begins paying you SSI, they will send you a letter telling you when your payments start and how much you will get.

Your first SSI payment will be made for the first full month after you applied or became eligible for SSI.  The amount may not be the same every month. The amount depends on your other income and living arrangements.  The government will tell you in advance whenever they change the amount of your payment.

Your first, second and third monthly amounts will be based on your first month’s income. Sometimes a type of income in the first month is not received in the second month.  They call this “nonrecurring income.”  When this happens, the SSI benefit for the second and third month is based on the countable income from the first months, minus the nonrecurring income.

After that, your SSI amount usually is based on your income from two months before.  For example, a woman living in California gets a $500 Social Security widow’s payment and a $270 SSI Payment.  In June, she buys a lottery scratch off card and wins $200 and reports that to the Social Security office.  That means in August, her SSI payment will be reduced to $70. In this example, her SSI payment will go back to $270 in September.

Your federal SSI payment will increase each year to keep up with the cost of living.  These increases usually will be in your January payment, which you will receive at the end of December.

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The information in this article was obtained from the Social Security Administration (SSA Publication No. 05-11011)

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