There are two basic types of income, earned and unearned. You need to understand them both to successfully manage your benefits while working.

Earned income is any money you get for doing physical or mental work. This includes salaries, hourly wages, tips, or fees for work you do as a self-employed independent contractor. Basically, if you are paid to do something, it is considered earned income.

Unearned income is money you get without having to work for it. This includes Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), veterans benefits, unemployment insurance, and workers’ compensation. It also includes child support payments, alimony, money you get as a gift, income from a trust or investment, or any other money you get that is not from work.

Stay Organized

When you get benefits, you need to keep your benefits information and records organized. And when you get a job, you also need to keep track of your work records.

Keep copies of these records for up to five years:

• Pay stubs (or tax records if you are self-employed)

• Work incentive documents, such as receipts for your Impairment Related Work Expenses (IRWEs) or Blind Work Expenses (BWEs)

• Receipts for out-of-pocket health care expenses

• Notes of phone conversations you’ve had with your benefits program

• Letters you get from Social Security or your county human services agency

• Fax confirmation sheets and receipts if you give something in person to Social Security

One way to organize your benefits records and information is to buy a three-ring binder, a three-hole punch, plastic sheet protectors for binders, and a three-hole spiral notebook that you can put inside your binder. Use the hole-punch to put your documents in the binder, placing smaller items in the plastic sheet protectors. Use the notebook to write down anything you do that’s related to your benefits, such as when you mailed in a copy of your pay stub or talked to somebody at an agency (be sure to include the date and the name of the person you talked to). Take your binder with you whenever you meet with a case manager, Benefits Planner, or Social Security claims representative.

You can also keep all of your information digitally on your smartphone, tablet, laptop, or computer. Scan the documents and then save them into an organized Benefits and Work folder that has subfolders for things like letters, pay stubs, and notes. This way, you can look at your documents on your screen, print out copies when needed, or email or text information to people.

You can scan your documents using the camera on your smartphone or tablet. For good quality results, use an app like Google Drive, Scannable, or CamScanner. Many computer printers come with a built-in scanner, and prices for stand-alone computer scanners start at about $50 – $60. You can also use a scanner at an office supply or copy store for a small fee, or use one for free at some organizations, such as a Michigan Works! One Stop Service Center.

If you have a disability and want to work, you may worry that working will hurt your benefits.

To successfully balance work and benefits, you need to know how your benefits programs count your income and resources, and the rules that help you as you go from living only on benefits to earning your own money.

How Earned Income Impacts Your Benefits

When the Social Security Administration (SSA) figures out your Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits, they count your income using a special countable income calculation. This calculation counts less than half of your earned income. If you get SSI and start working, the combined amount you get from work and SSI will always be higher than your SSI benefits alone. Learn more about how SSI counts earned income in DB101’s SSI article.

If you get Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), a Trial Work Period (TWP) lets you try work for up to nine months while still getting your full SSDI benefits, no matter how much you earn. Each month you earn more than the Trial Work Level ($1,110 in 2024) is called a Trial Work Month, and your full SSDI benefits continue if you still meet all the other requirements. You can have up to nine Trial Work Months within a five-year (60 months) period.

After your Trial Work Period ends, a three-year Extended Period of Eligibility (EPE) lets you work and get SSDI benefits for every month your earnings are below the Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) level ($1,550 in 2016; $2,590 if you’re blind). And for the first five years after you stop getting benefits, Expedited Reinstatement (EXR) means that if your earned income drops below the SGA level, you can quickly get back on SSDI benefits without having to completely reapply. Learn more about SSDI’s work rules in DB101’s SSDI article.

If you have a disability and are covered by Medicaid and begin working, you may become eligible for Freedom to Work. Freedom to Work offers the exact same coverage as standard Medicaid, but you may have to pay a monthly premium based on your income level. Once Freedom to Work coverage starts, it doesn’t matter how much earned income you have; you can keep your Medicaid. Learn more about Freedom to Work in DB101’s How Health Benefits Work article. Note: You may also need to pay your own Medicare Part B if you’re enrolled in Freedom to Work.

For individual coverage, any earned income you have is counted as part of your household’s total Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI). If your income is low enough, you can get subsidies that help pay for private insurance. Learn more in DB101’s How Health Benefits Work article.

These benefits programs all have built-in work incentives. This means that some health care and disability benefits may continue after your job starts, or you become eligible for different types of benefits while working.

How Resources Impact Your Benefits

Resources (also called assets) are the things you own, like a car or a house, or stocks, bonds, or the money in your bank accounts.

If you get SSI or SSI-related Medicaid, you have to meet the resource limit for these programs ($2,000 for an individual and $3,000 for a couple). The house you live in or one car you own are not counted as resources . Note: There is no resource limit for SSDI, Medicare, and income-based Medicaid.

Because most people want to be able to save for the future, there are programs that let you build up your resources and wealth to more than the resource limit without losing your benefits.

ABLE accounts, Individual Development Accounts (IDAs), and Plans to Achieve Self-Support (PASS) are savings programs that let you put money aside without risking your SSI or Medicaid benefits.

Special Needs Trusts are another way to build up your resources without losing your benefits. And tax credits, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), can help you make the most of your income.

For more details, read DB101’s article on Building Your Assets and Wealth.

Safety Nets

Imagine you get a job you love, and do well at it. After a while you get a raise, and then another. This sounds great, but you may still worry about what will happen to your health insurance and disability benefits.

Health Insurance

The good news is that there is now a health coverage option for almost everyone.

If you have a disability and your income gets too high for you to get regular Medicaid, Freedom to Work lets you pay a monthly premium to get Medicaid coverage. Or you might be eligible for employer-sponsored coverage, which your employer or a family member’s employer helps pay for. If you don’t have access to employer-sponsored coverage, you can get individual coverage, which you pay for yourself (and government subsidies may pay for part of the cost).

For details about all the ways to get health insurance coverage, read DB101’s article on How Health Benefits Work.

SSI

If you’re on SSI, your benefits amount only goes down by 50 cents for every dollar you earn. This means each month you work, you will have more money than if you were only getting SSI.

As you succeed in your career and your income continues to go up, your benefits eventually stop. However, you can get back on SSI benefits without having to reapply if you are on the 1619(b) program and your income drops below a certain level. The 1619(b) rule also means you keep getting SSI-related Medicaid.

If you no longer qualify for SSI or 1619(b) and your benefits stop because of the money you earn at work, Expedited Reinstatement may let you quickly get SSI benefits again if your income drops back down.

SSDI

If you get SSDI, the Trial Work Period, the Extended Period of Eligibility, and Expedited Reinstatement are all designed to keep you on SSDI as you try working, and to quickly get you back on SSDI benefits without having to completely reapply.

Telling your benefits programs when you start or stop work and how much you earn is key to managing your benefits while working.You need to report to benefits programs any time your income changes, as well as any time you have changes in your living situation or marital status. You also must tell programs about any Impairment-Related Work Expenses (IRWEs) or Blind Work Expenses (BWEs) that you pay for.

It is important to keep good records and give all required documents to your benefits programs. The rules vary; learn what you need to do for each program.

Supplemental Security Income (SSI)

If you get Supplemental Security Income (SSI), you must let Social Security know when you start working or stop working. You also must report how much you earn each month during the first six days of the following month. For example, you must report how much you made in January by the sixth of February.

For SSI, you can report changes:

• In person or by phone with your local Social Security office.
• By mail to your local Social Security office. Write “Attention: SSI” on the envelope to make sure it goes to the right place.
• You can also check with Social Security if you can report earnings with:
  • The SSI Telephone Wage Reporting System at 1-866-772-0953
  • The SSI Mobile Wage Reporting Application available in the Google Play or Apple App stores, or
  • The my Social Security online wage reporting tool.

You can even sign up to get a monthly reminder text or email from SSI.

Learn more in DB101’s SSI article.

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Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)

For Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), you must tell Social Security right away if:

• You start or stop work
• You reported your work, but your duties, hours, or pay change; or
• You start paying expenses for work because of your disability.

To report changes, contact your local Social Security office and ask how and when you should report your earnings. You may be able to report:

• By phone, mail, or in person at your local Social Security office, or
• With the my Social Security online reporting tool.

Learn more in DB101’s SSDI article.

Note: If you get both SSI and SSDI, you must report your income separately to each program.

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Medicaid and Other State Benefits

If you are on Medicaid (or other state programs like FIP or the Food Assistance Program) and your income changes (including when you start or stop working), you must let your county human services agency know. You have 10 days to report the change, and you can do so in person, by phone, or by email. When you tell them about your changes, they let you know if you can keep Medicaid or if you have new health coverage options, like Freedom to Work or individual coverage with subsidies.

Individual Health Insurance

If you get a government subsidy to help pay for individual health insurance coverage, you must report any changes in your income to HealthCare.gov.

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