About SSI Resource Meetings?


What’s a resource meeting?

After you receive a favorable decision on your application for Supplemental Security Income benefits (SSI), the Social Security Administration (SSA) will contact you to schedule a “resource meeting.” This is the time when SSA interviews you to make sure that you meet the financial qualifications for SSI. Be sure to go to this meeting!

The value of your “resources” is one of the factors that determines whether you are eligible for SSI benefits, along with the decision on whether you are medically disabled.

What is the limit on resources?

The limit for resources is $2,000 for an individual and $3,000 for a couple. However, not all resources “count”.

What are counted as “resources”?

Let’s start by what’s NOT counted. The following items are NOT counted when SSA computes your resources 1 :

  • Any back benefits you will receive as a result of your favorable decision;
  • The home you live in and the land it is on, if it’s your primary residence;
  • Your household goods and personal effects;
  • One vehicle, regardless of its value, if it is used as transportation;
  • Grants, scholarships, fellowships, or gifts set aside to pay educational expenses, for a limited period of time after receipt;
  • Burial spaces and burial funds, up to a certain limit;
  • Life insurance policies, up to a certain limit;
  • Property that’s essential to supporting yourself (examples: property you own in a business, such as a farm; personal property that you use for work, such as tools; government permits that relate to your work, such as a commercial fishing permit);

What does count:

  • Cash
  • Bank accounts, stocks, U.S. Savings Bonds
  • Land, other than the land your home is on
  • Life insurance over the limit
  • Additional vehicles

 

1 There are additional items that are NOT counted; these are the most common.