Having a Bank Account

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Is the reason why the SSI can look at your bank account cuz of your social security number? Is there a private bank that will be for my eyes only? My social worker can look at my bank too.

I suspect that any account in an American bank is open to whoever the government decides should have access to the details.

You would probably need to look at some country with very strong privacy laws, but they feel that having Americans as customers are more trouble than they are worth.

One remote possibility might be a non-bank bank. I have no idea how much they are regulated.

A non-bank bank is, according to my understanding, a financial institution that does not both accept deposits and make loans. That's probably a little simplistic, though.

Whether or not your privacy would be protected is a big question.

I doubt it tbh. The UK government is bringing in new laws that allow them to access bank accounts and I think it's the same in the US.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) can access your bank account if you are applying for or receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) because SSI eligibility is based on your financial resources, and they need to verify that you meet the criteria to receive benefits by checking your bank account balances to ensure you are not exceeding the allowed asset limits; this is considered a necessary step to prevent fraud and overpayments.

• Legal requirement: To receive SSI, you must give the SSA permission to contact your financial institutions and access your bank account information.
• Verification process: This process, called "Access to Financial Institutions (AFI)," allows the SSA to automatically check your bank account balances to verify your financial situation.
• Reason for monitoring: Since SSI is designed to help individuals with limited income and resources, the SSA needs to monitor your bank accounts to ensure you are not exceeding the asset limits that would disqualify you from receiving benefits.


You can try to hide money from them, but the government is very good at invading our privacy so it usually doesn't work very well. The only real way to keep finances private is to never use financial institutions, which is almost impossible in today's world.

The feds will be able to see any bank account you have at any bank in America to make sure you dont go over the 2,000 dollar asset limit.Why do you want to hide your bank account?

$2000 is nuts, it's £16,000 in the UK.

I'm beginning to understand why old people used to hide all their money under the floor and in secret hiding places

I was just going to say that but you've beaten me to the punch, dammit.

Given that banks don't pay interest on current accounts these days, and sometimes even charge to borrow your money (how they justify that morally I don't know), there aren't many reasons left for using a bank. I suppose in theory it's a bit safer, but if you're careful I don't think the difference is all that great. It's worth having a bank account for the convenience when you're doing transactions, but I can see many situations where it would be wise to keep the balance reasonably low. I'd be stashing my money under the floorboards, but my balance is already reasonably low so there's no point.

I couldn't do without my bank accounts. I use them to pay my bills on direct debit and online grocery shopping and my debit card in shops and for online shopping.

I guess some lack of privacy is the price you pay for the convenience of online banking..

When I've done jobs for a few hundred quid cash in hand I've always hidden the money around the flat but that was years ago

What worries me is that if all the ATMs and stuff go down like they did a few years ago then you need cash so I suppose it's always a good idea to have a few quid about your person...just for emergency shopping and stuff like that

Yea, I normally keep a couple of hundred quid in my wallet for emergencies.

Good idea

Oh yes, always wise to have a wad of cash around in case the electronic system fails, and for - ahem - private transactions. Don't get it nicked though, and watch out - they sometimes change the style of banknotes and eventually make the old notes hard to spend. I've never known it happen in the USA, but they changed from paper to plastic money in the UK and it caused me a bit of work. I wish they'd leave things alone. If the USA can use paper money, why can't the UK?

You can also overpay your energy bills to keep a portion of your real savings hidden from prying eyes. Or lend it to trusted family members. Or buy antiques. Could put it into bitcoin, but that might get devalued.

Having more than 2,000 dollars in antiques and/or bitcoin or any other assets would cause the OP to lose their SSI.

I agree.

I would suggest getting a small safe, to keep a little emergency cash in. Or maybe just hiding it somewhere discreet like one of the other members mentioned.