Assets or Resources

• Qualification for SSI benefits includes a review of resources or assets. The applicant may have a home and lot, a car, burial plots and life insurance that do not count as resources. Countable resources must total less than $2,000. This includes cash, bank accounts, stocks, bonds and similar valuables. An applicant who has excess resources may sell the resources at market value with the approval of the Social Security Administration, the organization that administers SSI funds.
  
  

Earned and Unearned Income

• Four kinds of income -- arned income, unearned income, in-kind income and deemed income -- count in SSI calculations. Where the regulations allow $2,000 in exempt assets, only $65 of earned income and $20 in unearned income are exempt each month. If the SSI recipient earns more than $65 in any month, additional amounts offset SSI benefits at 50 percent. For example, $205 in earned income for the month would have $65 subtracted, leaving $140. Multiply $140 by 50 percent for a $70 offset. Subtract $70 from the $674 monthly amount and the payment for the month is $604. Subtract unearned income, such as Social Security payment,s at 100 percent after the $20 exemption. $200 in Social Security would result in $180 subtracted from the $674 base figure, leaving the recipient with $494 in SSI and $200 in Social Security.
  
  

In-Kind and Deemed Income

• In-kind income and deemed income often apply if the SSI recipient lives with someone who does not receive SSI. In-kind income is the trading of services for food or shelter. Deemed income applies if the recipient benefits from the income of another. Social Security attributes some of the income to the SSI recipient. Living arrangements may also affect SSI benefits, and can reduce the SSI benefit by as much as a third if the recipient does not pay a fair share for the home and utilities.
  
  

Monthly Reporting

• SSI expects monthly reporting for changes in circumstances or income or assets. The recipient has 10 days from the end of the month in which the change occurs to report to Social Security. The offset is not immediate, but affects benefits two months forward. The recipient's reporting in June shows up on the September check. Social Security fines or penalizes SSI recipients for failure to report changes in income, resources or circumstances.