401ks and Texas SNAP Participation

• To qualify for Texas's food stamp program, SNAP, applicants must hold less than $2,000 in liquid assets -- $3,000 for households with a member older than 60 -- to qualify for benefits. However, since 2008, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has excluded most retirement account balances, including 401k and Simple 401k plans, in the resource tests it outlines for states to administer. Other retirement accounts, such as IRAs, Roth IRAs and Federal Thrift Savings plans, are also exempt from resource requirements.
  
  

Resource Reporting

• The Texas Health and Human Service Department requires applicants to report all their liquid assets and stock holdings when applying for SNAP assistance. Liquid assets, or cash holdings, are usually held in traditional checking and savings accounts, and applicants must report balances for each type of account when applying. The value of stock holdings should also be declared alongside liquid assets. If the combined value of these holdings exceeds $2,000 or $3,000 for households where someone is older than 60, applicants don't qualify for food stamps in Texas.
  
  

Other Resources

• Although the resource test excludes 401k savings from its eligibility measurements, it also considers other assets in the measure. Applicants must also report the value of their car, less the amount they still owe on any automotive loans, although vehicles used principally for business purposes are exempt from the test. Applicants must also declare the value of prepaid burial or funeral plans worth more than $7,500. Assets such as land, livestock and mineral rights are exempt from resource tests. Applicants must hold less than $5,000 in combined assets -- liquid, vehicle and other qualifying assets -- to receive SNAP funds.
  
  

Income Eligibility

• If applicants meet resource-test guidelines, they must also qualify using gross and net income resources. Applicants' household income must be below 130 percent of the federal poverty level and net income must be below the poverty level. For a single-person household, net income must be below $903 as of October 2010, while a family of four's net income must be under $1,838 to qualify. Households with members older than 60 years old do not need to meet gross-income requirements to qualify for SNAP benefits.