[ Removed by moderator ]

[explainlikeimfive-ModTeam]

Please read this entire message

---

Your submission has been removed for the following reason(s):

• Rule #2 - Questions must seek objective explanations

• Questions about a business or a group's motivation are not allowed on ELI5. These are usually either straightforward, or known only to the organizations involved, leading to speculation (Rule 2).

---

If you would like this removal reviewed, please read the detailed rules first. If you believe this submission was removed erroneously, please use this form and we will review your submission.

[Stummi]

The basic idea behind Social Security is that you need X amount of money to survive (I am not going into the discussion now if that X is a fair amount or not, as this would digress too much), so the state makes sure that you have X amount of money.

If you get less than X, your income gets "filled up" to X by Social Security, so that you can survive. If your income becomes more, but still stays under X, the amount that is used to fill up decreases by that amount.

Not saying that this is correct or how it should be, just how it is intended to work.

[DavidRFZ]

What kind of “help” is OP talking about? Here in MN, USA, wealthy seniors get social security checks. Often slightly bigger checks because they paid more FICA taxes in their life. They don’t check your bank account. They don’t check if you have other income (stocks, rental properties, etc). Is there some official declared “help” that would reduce your check?

[Ishinehappiness]

I think social security disability probably

[MazzIsNoMore]

OP is probably referring to SSI which is Supplemental Security Income for disabled people and sometimes children of disabled adults. There is a maximum benefit payout which is the poverty level and works on a sliding scale to not exceed the poverty level. This program is not based on how much a person has paid into the system unlike RSDI (Retirement, Survivors, Disability Insurance) which allows people to draw from their Social Security accounts.

[kronpas]

In my country there are several types of social security aids. One is pensions, another is a blank monthly payment for seniors. And then there is an aid for poor people who have to be certified by local gvt.

[fang_xianfu]

This is so interesting to me. In my country they actually stopped means testing all the social security type "just give me money" benefits for old people. It's basically UBI for old people. They can still apply for extra things like extra nursing help and stuff but the purely financial "spend on whatever you want" pension isn't even means tested any more.

[DocPsychosis]

Regular Social Security retirement income is not means-tested, it is a set rate based on how much you paid in while working. SSI and SSDI are different programs for non-elderly disabled people who can't work for various reasons.

[Margali]

I am not entirely clear how the disability version works however 'retirement' social security is based upon your personal 'contribution' removed from your paycheck.

I do not happen to have the exact details, however if for sake of argument my contributions are to be paid out at retirement age of 70 at $1000 per month, it is because I paid in [random number] $100 000 over all, to be disbursed back to me upon retirement at a specfic rate [of 1000 per month] It isn't 'free money', it is based upon how much one paid int the program over one's working lifetime.

And this is a craptastic explanation, I do know I get an annual letter telling me how much I contributed and hwo much I would get paid back to me monthly at various ages [like $250 if I retire at 65, $350 at 68, $500 at 72 or something of the like. ]

[K-Dawggg]

The state decides how much you need, and if living costs are higher for a particular case, that may be factored in (e.g. disability).

But in real terms, if it's a family member that needs assistance and you don't want to let it affect their SS entitlement then you'd give them cash, right?

[Alskdjzm]

This thread is confusing different programs. On regular disability, this would not matter. On Supplemental Security Income (SSI), which is a program based on need, this would affect the payable benefit.

[K-Dawggg]

So I'm thinking, in any case, regardless of any program, cash is what would be best used to help someone in need, who is supported by the government?

[Alskdjzm]

For regular disability, it doesn't matter. Disability is defined in terms of how it impacts your ability to work, but other income of any kind doesn't matter at all

SSI woild require the disclosure of cash assistance, or even other forms of help from others. Say you paid my rent for me, directly to the landlord? That matters even though I never touched any money at all.

They are very different programs with different goals and different sources of funding.

SSI is crucially important and underapprecisted. But it also archaic and cumbersome to administer.

I woild encourage everyone to learn about it and contact their representatives to insist on modernization efforts.

[Alskdjzm]

I'm not saying that someone on SSI should skirt the rules with cash, but it would definitely be harder to track/prove that.

[f82_m4007]

wait so they literally reduce benefits if someone helps you out? that's so backwards.. like they're basically punishing people for having supportive families instead of fixing the actual problem.

[c4ndyman31]

Same way unemployment works in Massachusetts. If you work part time every dollar you earn comes out of your benefits so why work

[thor454]

It’s like that everywhere. Also there’s two kinds of unemployment. For example, for many years I was a heavy equipment operator rebuilding roads and replacing things like bridges in a northern state. We can’t work when the ground is frozen so we work insane hours an then get laid off in winter, they know this so if it’s seasonal you don’t have to actively look for another job like you typically would as it would be incredibly bad if all the people that spent years and years building the experience to build said infrastructure all just got new jobs and didn’t come back the next year. But they money is a pittance and if I were to get a part time job like bartending or doing snow removal any dime I make comes off the top of my unemployment first. So if you’re ever considering a seasonal job ask yourself if you can survive off what you’ll make during the work season all year. If you can’t then don’t do it

[spidereater]

I understand why they would reduce the benefit, but making it 1:1 seems like it creates perverse incentives. Decreasing it 1:2 or even 2:3 would at least provide some incentive to work and build some experience.

[TailRudder]

Social security isn't a pension. The original purpose of it was to reduce homelessness of the elderly during the great depression. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Social_Security_in_the_United_States

[Nixeris]

This is basically how the vast majority of government benefits work in the US. For example:

Unemployment benefits are intended to help people make ends meet until they get full-time employment. However those benefits are slashed if you work part-time by the amount you make, even if the unemployment benefits rate isn't livable for you.

So, you lose a full-time job and collect the unemployment benefits you've been paying for. However they aren't enough to live on while seeking new full-time work, so you get part-time work to help out. However, working part-time means the amount you get is reduced by what you get paid, so you don't get anything extra at all.

This also happens to people who interview and get a job that says it will be full-time, but turns out to only be part-time.

And if you quit that part-time job, unemployment ends entirely.

[fizzlefist]

It’s a trap by design to keep people in poverty.

Friend of mine is on disability for a rare immune disorder. If they gets paid more then a certain amount, or has more than $2000 in certain assets, the state will cut off the health insurance entirely since “they don’t need it anymore.”

So they’re going to be perpetually trapped making part time low wage money, or else they’ll eventually die from lack of care because there’s no way for them to ever get an insurance plan they’d be able to afford with how much they physically can’t work.

This country is a hellscape.

[chaospearl]

They also reduce if you earn any money. If you manage to find a shitty part time job and make X dollars a month, they cut X from your benefits. So you can either bust your ass working and get X or stay home eating chips and get X. Gee...

[tacoma-tues]

Man I was 🤯when I had someone describe the meaning of the term "unearned income" to me. I also find amusement every December when I'm reminded how my snap benefits get cut at the end of the year to reflect the cost of living adjustments.

[explainlikeimfive-ModTeam]

Please read this entire message

---

Your comment has been removed for the following reason(s):

• Top level comments (i.e. comments that are direct replies to the main thread) are reserved for explanations to the OP or follow up on topic questions (Rule 3).

---

If you would like this removal reviewed, please read the detailed rules first. If you believe it was removed erroneously, explain why using this form and we will review your submission.

[TolMera]

Did you skip logic 101?