How Do Living Arrangements Impact SSI Benefits?

When the federal government calculates how much Supplemental Security Income (SSI) you will receive, it considers your living arrangements.

Here’s the basic math. If you live in a house or apartment that you own and pay your own food and shelter costs, you will get the full SSI benefit. Buying a home will not cause you to lose your SSI. If you live in a place owned by someone else, you’ll still get the maximum amount as long as you pay your own food and shelter costs.

Your SSI benefits may be reduced if your shelter and food costs are paid by someone else who is not a spouse. If you live in another person’s home but pay for shelter and food, your benefits will not be reduced. Depending on how much you pay for shelter and food, none or a portion of your SSI benefits could be reduced by a maximum of one-third.

Some other circumstances can impact your SSI benefits, though. In this article, we’ll take a deeper look.

Understanding Living Arrangements and SSI Benefits

In general, your living expenses do not affect the amount of SSI benefit that you receive. Your SSI benefit is based on your income, not on your expenses.

However, in some cases, your payment may be reduced:

• If others in your household pay for all of your meals and housing expenses
• Others outside of or inside your household pay your shelter expenses

Payments are not reduced if:

• Others pay for your food and provide meals
• Your spouse pays for your food and shelter, and lives with you
• If you’re a minor, your parents provide you with food and shelter

If someone buys you items that are neither food nor shelter, such as kitchen appliances or clothes, they don’t count toward your total income.

Limitations

The Social Security Administration (SSA) will count only one-third of the maximum federal SSI amount payable monthly, plus $20. They can only reduce your SSI by this amount as well.

The ABLE National Resource Center (NRC) team also points out another potential benefit of ABLE (Achieving a Better Life Experience) accounts when it comes to your living expenses: When family or friends deposit funds into an ABLE account owned by someone who receives SSI, the funds may be used to help pay for housing, utilities, and food without jeopardizing the SSI benefit.

SSI Benefits If You Live in an Institution

If you live in an institution, even temporarily, it will also affect your SSI benefits. Generally, if you live in a hospital, nursing home, prison, or jail, you will either lose your eligibility for SSI or it will be limited to $30 a month. There are some exceptions, though, and some states supplement this $30 benefit.

This also applies if you are in the hospital or another medical facility for a month or more. If more than half the costs of your medical treatment in the hospital are covered by Medicaid, your benefit will be capped at $30 (plus any additional state payments) if you are in the hospital for the entire month. If you do have additional income during this month, your benefit could be reduced even more.

SSI Benefits If You Are Homeless

You don’t need to have a home to receive SSI benefits. You may receive up to the maximum SSI amount payable in your state if you are homeless. In addition, if you are receiving SSI benefits, then you may be able to receive subsidized housing.

If you live in a public shelter, you can still receive SSI benefits. These can be paid for up to six out of any nine months that you live in the shelter. You also don’t need an address to get SSI benefits—the SSA will make arrangements to pay you once you apply for SSI.

The Bottom Line

Your living arrangements can have a big impact on your SSI benefits. If you live with someone and they pay more than their fair share of food and shelter costs, you may find your SSI reduced.

There are limitations to this rule. If you live with a spouse and they pay for living or food expenses for you, this doesn’t affect your SSI benefit. Similarly, parents can provide this for their children without it affecting their child’s SSI benefits. If you live in an institution, you might also see your SSI reduced.