SSI lets you keep $2,000 in countable assets, or $3,000 as a couple, and the limit hasn't changed since 1989. Your home, one car and your belongings don't count. Bank balances, investments and your own retirement account do. Here's what counts, how the first-of-the-month test works, and the legal ways to stay under, including ABLE accounts, which far more people qualify for since January 2026.
$2,000 for one person and $3,000 for a married couple. SSA calls these "countable resources," and the test is simple: if what you own that counts is over the limit at the first moment of a month, you get no SSI for that month. There's no partial check for being $50 over.
The limit isn't adjusted for inflation. Congress set it in steps during the 1980s and it hasn't moved since January 1989:
| Year | Individual | Couple | Maximum SSI payment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before 1985 | $1,500 | $2,250 | |
| 1985 | $1,600 | $2,400 | $325 |
| 1986 | $1,700 | $2,550 | $336 |
| 1987 | $1,800 | $2,700 | $340 |
| 1988 | $1,900 | $2,850 | $354 |
| 1989 to today | $2,000 | $3,000 | $368 in 1989, $994 in 2026 |
Over the same years the SSI payment went from $368 to $994 a month. Had the limit kept pace, it would be about $5,402 today.
Anything you own that could be turned into cash and used for food or shelter, unless a specific rule excludes it. SSA treats something as liquid if it can be converted within 20 days. Here's how the common items fall:
| Item | Counts? | How it's valued |
|---|---|---|
| Cash, checking and savings accounts | Counts | Balance at the first moment of the month, minus that month's income |
| Stocks, bonds, mutual funds, crypto | Counts | At current value |
| Your own IRA or 401(k) | Counts | What you'd get if you cashed it out, after penalties |
| A second car, boat or RV | Counts | Your equity in it |
| Land or a second home | Counts | Your equity |
| Whole life insurance over $1,500 face value | Counts | Cash surrender value |
| The home you live in | Excluded | Any value |
| One car used for transportation | Excluded | Any value |
| Furniture, appliances, clothes, rings | Excluded | Unless held as an investment |
| Burial fund | Excluded up to $1,500 each | Must be kept separate and labeled |
| ABLE account | Excluded up to $100,000 | Disability must have started before 46 |
| Back pay from SSA (SSDI or SSI) | Excluded for 9 months | If kept separate and identifiable |
| Federal tax refunds, EITC, child tax credit | Excluded for 12 months | Then counts if unspent |
Two surprises: your own retirement account counts, even though you'd pay a penalty to reach it (only an ineligible spouse's IRA or pension is ignored), and crypto or money in digital wallets counts like a bank balance.
The big exclusions are your home, as long as you live there, one vehicle used for getting around, and your belongings, all at any value. A $40,000 car and a paid-off house don't affect SSI at all, while $2,100 in savings does. The smaller exclusions in the table, like a $1,500 burial fund in its own labeled account, are the legal ways to hold a little extra. Jewelry you wear is excluded, but coins or collectibles held as an investment count.
SSA looks at what you have at 12:00 a.m. on the 1st. Money you receive during a month is income in that month, not a resource. Whatever is left at the start of the next month becomes a resource.
So if your checking account sits at $1,700 on the 1st, your SSDI of $600 arrives on the 3rd, and you spend $500 during the month, you start next month at $1,800. That's under the limit. A month where you don't spend the check pushes you to $2,300, and you lose that month's SSI even though nothing about your life changed. People on concurrent SSDI and SSI run into this more than anyone, because their income lands on different days.
The fix is timing. Pay rent or a big purchase before the 1st, and if you go over by accident, spending down below $2,000 before the next 1st restores eligibility for that month.
An ABLE account is a tax-advantaged savings account for people whose disability began before age 46. That age limit was 26 until January 1, 2026, which is why far more people qualify this year. SSI ignores the first $100,000 in it.
In 2026, total contributions from everyone (you, family, friends) are capped at $20,000 a year. If you work and nobody's putting money into a workplace retirement plan for you, you can add up to $15,960 more from your own earnings in the continental US (or your pay for the year, if that's less). Withdrawals for qualified disability expenses (housing, transportation, health care, education and basic living costs among them) don't count as income.
One catch: housing money you withdraw and still hold at the start of the next month counts as a resource, so take rent out in the month you pay it. Above $100,000, SSA suspends SSI rather than ending it, and Medicaid continues.
Don't. Giving away a resource, or selling it for less than it's worth, triggers a period of ineligibility of up to 36 months. SSA divides the uncompensated value by the monthly SSI rate (plus any state supplement it administers), rounds down, and that's how many months you lose, starting the month after the transfer. At the 2026 rate of $994:
| Amount given away | Divided by $994 | Months without SSI |
|---|---|---|
| $900 | 0.91 | 0 (less than one month) |
| $2,500 | 2.52 | 2 months |
| $5,000 | 5.03 | 5 months |
| $10,000 | 10.06 | 10 months |
| $25,000 | 25.15 | 25 months |
| $40,000 | 40.24 | 36 months (the cap) |
Gifts within the 36-month look-back are added together, and if the money comes back to you the penalty shrinks or ends. Selling at fair market value isn't a transfer.
Spending on yourself at fair prices is always allowed: paying down debt, prepaying bills, household goods, a computer, repairs to your home or your one car, a burial fund or plot, or moving savings into an ABLE account.
If property you can't sell quickly puts you over, ask about conditional benefits: you sign an agreement to sell and get SSI while you try (9 months for real estate, 3 for personal property), then repay it from the proceeds.
To see where you stand, list everything in the net worth calculator and take out the excluded items. On concurrent benefits, the SSDI benefits calculator shows what lands in your account each month, and SSDI vs SSI explains how the two combine. Back pay is where most people go over, so run the SSDI back pay calculator before a lump sum arrives.
$2,000 for an individual and $3,000 for a couple. It has been the same since 1989 and isn't adjusted for inflation. Only countable resources are included, so your home and one car don't count.
Yes, if it's yours. SSA counts what you could withdraw after any early-withdrawal penalty. An ineligible spouse's IRA or work pension is excluded when SSA deems the spouse's resources to you.
Yes. SSI ignores the first $100,000 in an ABLE account. Your disability must have started before age 46, and in 2026 total contributions are limited to $20,000 a year, plus up to $15,960 of your own earnings if you work.
You're ineligible for SSI for any month where countable resources are over the limit at the first moment of the month. SSA may treat the payment as an overpayment. Spend down to under $2,000 before the next 1st and you're eligible again that month.
Not right away. Unspent retroactive SSDI or SSI payments are excluded for 9 months after the month you receive them, as long as you can identify them separately. After that, whatever is left counts.