The Government Will Cut Your Benefits If You Have $2,001. Here’s How to Protect Yourself.
- Purple
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
If you’re on SSI and have more than $2,000 in your name, the government can cut off your benefits - even if it’s just by a few dollars. Sound unfair? It is. And it’s been that way for decades.
But there’s a way to protect yourself - and even save far more than the limit without putting your benefits at risk.
What Is the $2,000 Rule?
If you receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI), you’re subject to strict “resource limits.” That means you can’t have more than:
$2,000 in total assets if you’re single
$3,000 if you’re married
This includes checking and savings accounts, cash, investments, or anything else the Social Security Administration (SSA) considers a “countable resource.”
Go even one dollar over the limit and your benefits could be suspended or stopped entirely.
Why Does This Rule Exist?
The asset limit was created back in 1972 - and it’s never been updated for inflation. In today’s dollars, that $2,000 would be worth over $15,000.
This outdated rule keeps millions of people with disabilities in poverty. It punishes saving. And it creates a constant fear of losing access to life-saving benefits like Medicaid and SSI.
The Safe Way to Save More
There’s one big exception to the $2,000 rule: the ABLE account.
An ABLE account is a special savings account designed for people with disabilities. It allows you to:
Save up to $100,000 without impacting your SSI eligibility
Grow your money tax-free
Spend on qualified disability expenses, like housing, education, food, and transportation
The only catch? You need to qualify based on your disability, and the account must be opened through a state ABLE program.
How Purple Helps
Purple was built to solve this exact problem. With Purple, you can:
Monitor your balance in real time to avoid going over the SSI limit
Open and manage an ABLE account (coming soon)
Automatically route extra funds into savings — without risking your benefits
Receive Social Security disability benefits, which may arrive up to 4 days early¹
Get other direct deposits, like paychecks, which may arrive up to 2 days early¹
Purple is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services are provided by OMB Bank, Member FDIC. The Purple Mastercard® Debit Card is issued by OMB Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to license from Mastercard.
¹ Early access is not guaranteed, depends on payer timing, and standard processing times may apply. We generally make funds available on the day we receive the payment file, which may be up to 4 days early for government benefits like SSI or SSDI, and up to 2 days early for other deposits. Early access is available at no additional cost.