SSI and money restriction?

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A big reason I feel other than to get help with SSI is the money. But my mom was talking about there being a restriction on the amount of cash you can make in a month to get that money benefit. I plan on being a writer and hope to make lots of money but if I do make tons of money then are the cash benefits still there. Also what are the benefits of ssi and negatives. And what do you think of it especially if you are part of ssi.

There are income caps, by the logic that if you can make "lots of money" you're clearly able to support yourself without SSI money. You may still need help in other areas but most of those shouldn't have an income cap, or if you're really successful you can just hire the help you need :p

Your SSI goes down by just a little less than the amount you receive per month.

So, let's say you get a benefit of $650 per month, which is about what most people get on SSI.

Let's say you sell a magazine article that month, and earn $150. Your SSI goes down by about $50 less than what you earned, so your total income that month would be $550 from your SSI and $150 from your magazine article, for a total of $700. Next month, you go back to $650.

So then you sell another magazine article; but this time you're paid $700 for your work (yeah, I know, unrealistic). This time, you lose your entire SSI benefit, and your total income is $700 for that month. Next month, you go back to $650.

But let's say you get a steady job writing for a newspaper. The job pays $20000 a year. Now you're over the income limit; so you stop receiving SSI, and your total income remains at $20000 a year. For a while, you remain eligible for SSI; so if you lose the job, you start getting SSI again. You remain eligible for Medicaid for several years; after that, you begin to rely on whatever health insurance you can buy. If you lose your job after you have become ineligible for SSI, which I think takes about six months to a year of steady employment, you have to re-apply.

The amounts aren't exact, and they vary by state, but this is basically how it works. You may only be allowed to keep a very small part of income if it is considered "unearned income"--i.e., life insurance money, gifts, pensions, etc.--generally about $10-$20.

In some areas, when you earn the money, you are allowed to keep a percentage of that income rather than having all but $50 deducted; in this case, with your $150 magazine article, you might be allowed to keep 50%. So, that month, your SSI would decrease by $75, so you'd get $575 from your SSI, $150 from your magazine article, for a total of $725; with your $700 magazine article, you might keep half, so your SSI goes down by $350, giving you $300 from SSI, $700 from your magazine article, and $1000 total.

The resource limit on SSI is $2000. This is the total amout of money you can save in the form of cash, savings, stocks, real estate, etc. (with the exception of your own car and house). If you have more than that, your SSI goes down once again.

Anyway, yeah, if you can make money writing, you shouldn't be on SSI because you wouldn't need it.

One thing too many people don't realize is that SSI comes from social security and social security is a PONZI SCHEME! That means it was SUPPOSED TO BE, and is PASSED OF AS BEING, a situation where money I pay in is supposed to be saved for ME! What it REALLY is is that MY money is squandered on everyone ELSE and, if it is still around, OTHERS have to pay for me when I retire.

And THIS is the ONE time in history when there are enough people to obscure the fraud in this whole thing. I am one of the youngest in the generation paying for this, which means I will be one of the most likely to see the full brunt of the collapse. BTW people that arre 10-35 or so now will be the ones that get to pay for MY generation. AGAIN, if there is even enough money to make it semi-viable.

SO, be HAPPY with what you get. Other people are paying for it EVEN as THEIR chances for a decent retirement are being squandered away.