Can I Have A Savings Account If I Am Receiving SSD Benefits?
If you are in the process of applying for Social Security Disability benefits (SSD benefits), or if you are currently receiving SSD payments, you may know that receiving money through earned income can complicate your eligibility for benefits and can, in many cases, disqualify you from receiving SSD benefits altogether. Yet it is possible to earn a limited income while you are receiving benefits. Whether you are working a limited number of hours while receiving benefits through the Social Security Disability Insurance program or you have recently received a gift or an inheritance, you might be wondering: can I open a savings account and begin saving money even if I am receiving disability benefits?
In short, the answer is yes. Our national disability benefits lawyers want to provide you with more information about the ability to earn and to receive money while you are on disability, and to say more about the ability to create a tax-free savings account through the ABLE Act.
You Can Save the Money You Receive through an Inheritance or a Gift Without Impacting Your SSD Benefit Payments
First, it is important to be clear about the source of money and how it may or may not affect your SSD benefits. If you want to open a savings account to house money that you received through an inheritance, or from interest on investments or assets, you do not need to report that money to the Social Security Administration (SSA) in order to get permission to have that income while still receiving Social Security Disability benefits. As such, you can open a savings account, and you can deposit any inherited money, as well as any interest you earned on investments or money you earned from selling assets, into that account.
You can also share a saving’s account with your spouse, and your spouse’s earned income will not prevent you from continuing to receive SSD benefits. In addition, while you will need to report earnings to the SSA in order to earn a limited amount of income and to continue receiving SSD benefits, you can generally earn up to $1,260 per month as a disabled, nonblind person. Yet to be clear, if you are earning income from work, you do need to report it to the SSA.
Opening a Tax-Free Savings Account as a Disabled Person Receiving SSD Benefits
If you have questions about opening a savings account while you are receiving SSD benefits, you might also be wondering about whether there are specific savings options for disabled persons. Here is where the “Stephen Beck, Jr. Achieving a Better Life Experience” (ABLE) Act may be beneficial for you. The ABLE Act was signed into law in December 2014, and it allows eligible people who currently have disabilities to open both tax-free savings and investment accounts even while they are receiving benefits.
One of the great benefits of the ABLE Act is that it allows disabled people, especially as they are reaching older age, to save money while remaining eligible for programs that they might need, such as Medicaid. To be clear, even though you might not have been approaching eligibility for Medicaid or any income-based benefit while you were working given your salary, many older adults, even those who were firmly middle-class earners prior to retirement, rely on Medicaid in older adulthood. You can maintain the money in an ABLE account while still being eligible for those income-based benefits, and you can use the money in an ABLE account to pay for qualified disability expenses.
Contact Our National Disability Benefits Lawyers
If you have questions about earning income and receive SSD benefits, one of our Social Security disability attorneys is here to help. Contact the Law Offices of Stephen Barszcz for more information.
Resource:
ablenrc.org/what-is-able/history-of-the-able-act/
