• Hemera Technologies/Photos.com/Getty Images
  
  Supplemental Security Income (SSI) provides the necessities of food, clothing and shelter to elderly or disabled children or adults who qualify based on need. Qualification for SSI requires two tests: income and resources. Income is the amount of money you make each month; resources are your assets or items you own. SSI does not count all assets to determine eligibility, but all are reportable.
  
  

Earned and Unearned Income

• Income for SSI is money you earn and money you receive from Social Security benefits or similar programs, such as pension payments. Items given to you may also be income. In-kind income includes anything you receive that is convertible to food, clothing or shelter. An SSI recipient must provide pay stubs monthly for income, and Social Security representatives may ask for pay stubs of a spouse or parents for children under age 18. SSI divides income into earned and unearned income. Unearned income is interest and dividends. The calculations are separate for earned and unearned income, but an SSI employee may need to make the determination for you.
  
  

Includable Resources

• An SSI recipient may have no more than $2,000 in includable resources, and a couple may have $3,000 total. Resources included are cash, bonds, bank accounts, stock, land, life insurance, personal property, vehicles and anything else you could convert to food or shelter. Social Security bases SSI benefits on financial need, and the recipient must qualify and continue to qualify to receive benefits by reporting financial status.
  
  

Resources Not Included

• Your home and land are not included in resources nor are household goods and personal effects, including wedding and engagement rings. Burial spaces and burial funds up to $1,500 for the applicant and spouse and life insurance with a value of $1,500 or less are not included in resources. Grants, scholarships, fellowships or gifts for educational pursuits do not count for nine months after receipt. One vehicle of any value is not included in resources. Retroactive SSI or Social Security benefits are not included until nine months after received. Many other resources are not included, such as disaster relief payments, earned income tax credit, home energy assistance and some reimbursements.
  
  

Deemed Resources

• Deemed resources apply to children whose resources may belong to the parents or to a married person whose spouse has resources. The SSI recipient or applicant is deemed to own these items for calculation of resources, and they must be reported.
  
  

Selling Resources

• If your assets are over the limit, you may be able to collect conditional benefits while converting an asset to cash. You must sign a conditional benefits agreement. Once you sell the item, repayment of conditional benefits may be required. You cannot give assets away to meet the resource maximum. Selling a resource for less than its value or giving it away may make you ineligible for SSI for up to 36 months. You must report a sale before you make it, sign a conditional benefits agreement and reduce assets as necessary to meet SSI requirements.