those with ssi or ssdi

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loved on of mine has been approved for social security. Not sure how much, but he should be getting a nice little lumpsum backpay.[somewhere between 17 and 24 grand]

I will be this persons payee [hopefully he will be capable of taking care of his own finances soon] One thing being tossed around is a down payment on a condo which he can rent out, bringing in about $250 extra a month [ our family has landlord experience, so we know the pros and cons] Since he will be living with us for quite a while, [probably as long as bobby and I live] any months that he has an empty condo or repairs, he can use his regular check.

I was hoping that if he chooses to buy a condo. If he does, and has money left over, I was hoping he would use it for special driving lessons for disabled people but at this point he is too afraid.

He could use some new clothes [ we buy his clothes, but Wal Mart is as high end as we can afford to go] When I mentioned a little vacation for him and his nephew, he said that the money should never be used on frivolous stuff, not even the game system he dreams of.

anyway, any suggestions, and how did you spend [or not] your lump sum check

I got disability for a little while, based on my diagnoses of Schizoaffective disorder and ADHD, before I inherited money from my father.. After that, I was no longer allowed to remain on disability. I have to account for everything I spend the money on now, to return to being on disability in the future, according to my worker.

But to answer you, with my lump sum, I bought a new phone and a new laptop for college, with Microsoft Office. The rest I put away. I think it now sits with the rest of my money, but more likely, by now, I've spent it on everyday things. I didn't get a lot. A vacation sounds like a wonderful idea on what to spend it on, but if he doesn't want that, I'd say maybe some new clothes? Or maybe he can be talked into a video game system? If that's something he really wants, maybe he can be convinced that it's okay to spend money on luxury items sometimes.

Geeze, if I have to edit one more time-- keep noticing mistakes!

Last edited by Minionkitty on 15 Apr 2014, 3:47 pm, edited 3 times in total.

As soon as he starts making an income they'll take it out of his checks. If you try to hide the income he could have his money revoked completely. He could easily make too much to be on SSI by renting out the condo and he will lose his payments. If this happens it'll be hard to get them back when the condo is empty because again it'll take months of petitioning.

he could buy a small house in that price range
it wont be a very pretty house but he could fix it up over time depending on his functioning
you could then help him live semi independent

Yeah. Don't advise him to do that; they'll just take the money by lowering his payments, minus some token monthly amount. Besides, if he could make a living as a landlord, don't you think he would have done that, or some related thing, already? He's on SSI because, right now, he can't work. That doesn't mean he can never work--in fact, there are some good programs for job training for people who are disabled, and he should definitely look into those--but it would be a bit odd to assume he can maintain, advertise, and rent out an apartment now just because he's going to have the money to buy one.

There are some options for putting aside money to help with job training or education. Look into something called PASS--"plan to achieve self support"--which would allow him to set aside money to spend on education or job training. If he has the potential to become employable, with training, then the lump sum payment might actually be--some way down the road--his ticket to get off SSI altogether.

Most people use the lump sum to pay off the debts they have accumulated over the time they were disabled and before they were approved--credit card balance, for example; back rent; overdue utilities. That was what I did with mine.

He will only be receiving ssi for the 5 waiting months. The money after that will be ssdi. So, if he were to buy and rent out a home it will not effect his income [ I think]

He absolutely HATES that he needs the social security [he gets ssdi based on his dead dads earnings] He hates that he is too disabled to work a real job. In school he was voted the one most likely to be CEO of a huge corporation. If he does buy a rental I am hoping that the repair,maintenence, landlord responsibilities will build his self esteem and that it will not take too long for him to aquire more.

I can only hope that he starts designing jewelry with me [ he can do that when he is able, for short period of time, during good moments] but that will have to be his choice. I am TRYING not to be a pushy mother, while at the same time pushing him because he told me that he needs to be pushed. We have a car repair shop,but that type of work is too dangerous for him right now. We do have him come in and observe and do some of the alignment readings so that when and if he gets better, he'll be ready to pursue a skilled profession.

Because of the horrendous neurological pain, he is pretty depressed. [ Often he gets extremeley angry with me for not helping him die] WHEN the physical suffering finally declines [ it already has to an extent, but not enough] I want him to already have skills, a bit of wealth, and accomplishments so that he does not feel too behind to even start.

He is on the commmittee for planning next years autHaven, and, if my husband has recovered sufficiently from heart failure and I remain in remission from cancer, he plans to help Star Ford in erecting the first buildings for Ocate Cliffs, a retreat center that is to be run by Autistics, in June [they need more volunteers] I am hoping that these will help resurrect his beliefs in himself. To him,comparatively,his autism is a non-issue.

Wow. I wasn't planning on saying all of this. I guess I just hope that receiving this money will create a domino effect in how he gauges life, that is all good.

Unfortunately even if he is on SSDI they will still subtract things like that from the money they will give him. My grandma has a friend at work with a son who's disabled and works at McDonald's. He gets SSDI and they subtract the money he makes at McDonald's from the money he receives from SSDI.

I would really advise that you not go spend that lump sum. It seems like so much money but it's really not in the long run. Even if it is allowed, this is a risky investment for someone who cn't work. He may never see that much money again.

I believe you are only allowed to make $500 a week and still receive SSDI. And if he frequently makes that much money (not sure how much rent he would bring in), I would be afraid they would deem him capable of working (supporting himself). Being a landlord has the potential to be more work than what you get out of it. I would suggest investing it in a CD except interest rates are horrible now. Would an annuity be a good idea, is that even enough money, and do you have to be at least 45 to get one or does disability qualify you...anybody know?

According to what my attorney told me once I received SSDI, you can make up to a maximum of $1014.00 per month in taxable income before SSDI is taken away.

Several years ago a friend of mine was on SSI and her grandmother left her a nice house and a large amount of money. The grandmother set the money up in a TRUST account. In order to set up a trust account I understand you will have to go before a judge in court. Once that is established you can go to a bank to set everything up.

My friend was allotted a certain amount of money from her trust every month in addition to the full amount of SSI she received.

When she sold the house the money from the sale went back into the trust account and she was able to buy something that suited her better.(no yard).


Whoever sets up the trust can determine what what the conditions are for being able to get money out of the trust. ie medical bills, clothing (reasonable), transportation, a home and a monthly allotment. Social Security cannot reduce the amount of money he receives once that money is in a Trust.

You will want to consult an attorney who handles these types of situations, (Trust)

That's the maximum you can make before you're not eligible anymore. If you make less than that, you're still eligible, but your payment decreases.

By the way, holding on to the lump sum payment is probably not possible--you'll have a resource limit, and you won't be allowed to keep more than that amount in your bank account.

I've only gotten one back-pay check so far for around 2,200, spent that one on toiletries like shampoo, soap, face wash, toothpaste and lotion which was rather expensive since I bought natural/organic type stuff. Also got a PS3, a bike seat, a sweater, phone card, bus tickets to ride the bus and ate out a couple times with family and paid my portion, also got some tinctures and teas for various things...then the rest was spent more randomly on recreational activity/enjoyment for instance, it was my brothers birthday recently and we went camping so I helped pay the fee for using the campsite.

With the SSI I am only allowed to have up to 2,000 dollars in cash/assets at once....so while I think some gift money is ok, and if I was to help a family member/friend and they wanted to compenstate me with some cash that should be fine but so long as its not a consistent amount.

Mom and I were both informed by the SSI person I cannot purchase property. I had a car but it was bought for me. I did have to use half of my money for it too (Dad said I owed it so I had to pay it) and they didn't know about it lol because it was not under my name. When i got my first SSI check, I bought my plane ticket with it for Europe, got toiletries I needed, bought gas, and I got stuff I wanted until I was below $2,000 in my bank account. I don't quite remember what I bought with it but I bought a game with it, some clothes.

I receive Federal coverage for Aspergers Syndrome (Minus the cost of meds which I have to pay for in cash). Initially I received around $11,000 in back-payment.

I was working also at the time (part-time) so I just lived on this money for a couple years.

At first it seemed like a lot of money-- but in the end, it went fast!

Now I just receive monthly payments from the Feds and I will not even disclose the paltry amount here.

My advice is to definitely budget and save back as much of the back-payment as possible.

How do you do that if you are only allowed a certain amount in your bank account? Keep lot of it stashed in your home hidden?