- 1619(b)
- A work incentive in the SSI program. 1619(b) enables a person who earns enough to reduce his/her SSI payments to $0 to keep SSI eligibility if earnings stay below a relatively high threshold that differs from state to state (see https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0502302200), and if s/he continues to meet all other eligibility criteria for SSI other than earned income. In some cases, earnings can exceed the usual state threshold, especially if the person has higher-than-average Medicaid costs, receives publicly-funded attendant services, and/or pays for certain work-related expenses.
1619(b) enables the individual to keep Medicaid. If his/her earnings later fall low enough for her/him to be eligible for SSI payments again, s/he can resume SSI without having to reapply.
- ABLE account
- Investment account that enables a person with a significant disability that began before age 26 to save money without affecting his/her eligibility for means-tested public benefits like Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and others. The first $100,000 saved in an ABLE account does not count as a resource (asset) for SSI, and any amount saved does not count as a resource for Medicaid and other programs.
Banked, Unbanked, Underbanked
- Banked
- Using mainstream financial services from banks or credit unions, such as checking or savings accounts, and not using predatory financial services, such as check cashing businesses, payday loans, or auto title loans.
- Unbanked
- Not using mainstream financial services from banks or credit unions, such as checking or savings accounts. May be using predatory financial services, such as check cashing facilities, payday loans, or auto title loans.
- Underbanked
- Using some mainstream financial services from banks or credit unions, such as checking or savings accounts, but also using some predatory financial services, such as check cashing facilities, payday loans, or auto title loans.
- Bank On
- A coalition of banks, credit unions, educators, and faith-based and community organizations that works to improve access to mainstream financial services for low-income people, and to reduce the use of check cashing businesses and predatory lending. Bank On projects:
- Connect consumers with low-cost or no-cost checking and savings accounts, and
- Provide financial education.
- Benefits planning
- Personalized service that helps people who receive public benefits from Social Security or other agencies to understand the impact of earnings on their benefits, and to use “work incentives” that reduce the impact of earnings on benefits and ensure that beneficiaries are financially better off working than not.
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)
- Federal government agency that helps consumers and financial markets work by making rules more effective, by consistently and fairly enforcing those rules, and by empowering consumers to take more control over their economic lives.
- Cooperative Extension Service
- A nationwide, non-credit educational network that provides non-formal higher education and learning activities to the public, including financial education.
- Credit
- Ability of a customer to obtain goods or services before payment, based on the trust that payment will be made in the future. The degree of credit a person has is measured by a 3-digit score, often called a “FICO score,” that ranges from 300 to 850 (the higher the score, the better the person’s credit).
- Credit counseling
- Personalized service that provides guidance and support to people whose debts have become excessive compared with their financial means. Counseling helps people avoid bankruptcy, manage their finances, and negotiate with creditors to reduce the costs of debt by reducing interest rates, late fees, and debt balances.
- Credit union
- A nonprofit financial institution that is created, owned, and operated by its participants, or members. Credit unions provide many of the same services as for-profit banks, including checking and savings accounts and loans.
- Earned Income Disregard (EID)
- A work incentive that applies to certain rental assistance programs funded by the U. S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The EID phases in rent increases when an adult who is eligible for the EID goes to work. His/her earnings don’t cause the household’s payments for rent and utilities to increase for the first 12 months. During the second 12 months of work, the household’s rent and utility payments increase, but only half as much as if all earnings were counted. After the first 24 months, the EID ends, and the household’s rent and utility payments increase based on all earnings being counted in the rent calculation.
- Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)
- A credit for taxpayers who work for pay and have low to moderate incomes. The EITC reduces income tax the person owes, often providing a refund that may be greater than the taxes withheld from the person’s pay.
- Expedited Reinstatement (ExR)
- A work incentive in the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and SSI programs. If a person’s SSDI payments stop due to substantial gainful activity (SGA) after the Extended Period of Eligibility has ended, but then earnings drop below SGA within the next 5 years, then ExR enables her/him to request that SSDI be re-started more quickly and easily than through a new application. A person who loses SSI eligibility due to earnings over the 1619(b) threshold for 12 consecutive months may also be eligible for ExR. To be eligible, the person must have a disability that is the same as or related to the disability for which s/he previously received benefits, s/he must not have “medically improved”, and s/he must be considered unable to perform SGA during the month s/he requests ExR. S/he may receive up to 6 months of “provisional benefits” while s/he awaits a decision on her/his ExR request.
- Business expenses paid by the worker
- Impairment Related Work Expenses (IRWE’s)
- Unincurred business expenses (business expenses paid by another party)
- Unpaid help (the market value of free labor provided to the business)
- Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
- Cash benefit provided to people who either meet Social Security’s definition of disability, or are at least age 65, AND have income and resources (assets) below certain limits (“countable” income must usually be below the maximum benefit amount, and “countable” resources must be below $2,000 for an individual or $3,000 for a married couple). The maximum SSI cash benefit funded by the federal government is $735/month for an individual and $1,103/month for a married couple, though some states provide state funds to supplement these amounts. Other income may reduce the amount of SSI a person receives. In most states, a person who receives SSI is automatically eligible for Medicaid.
- Ticket to Work
- A Social Security program that enables individuals who receive SSDI and/or SSI to receive employment services from state VR agencies and/or other entities known as “employment networks (EN’s)”, with the goal of decreasing their dependence on SSDI or SSI. A person who assigns his/her Ticket to a state VR agency or EN and who meets certain “timely progress” criteria through earnings and/or education (see https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10062.pdf) is protected from medical reviews that might jeopardize his/her eligibility for SSDI and/or SSI.
- Trial Work Period (TWP)
- A work incentive in the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program. The TWP lets people who get SSDI try out work without losing benefits. They can earn money through work (even with full time earnings) for 9 months without their cash benefits stopping.
- Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA)
- Program that offers free tax preparation to taxpayers with household incomes under $54,000. Assistance is provided by volunteers who have been trained and certified by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
- Work Incentives Planning and Assistance (WIPA)
- Program funded by the Social Security Administration that provides free benefits planning to individuals ages 14 to 65 who receive Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits and are working or interested in employment. WIPA projects exist in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories.
