Can I Borrow Against My SSI Benefits?

The Supplemental Security Income program is designed to provide financial benefits to those who are disabled and have low incomes. With this program, you receive a monthly benefit from the Social Security Administration. If you decide that you would like access to your benefits early, you cannot borrow against the benefits.

Supplemental Security Income benefits do not carry with them a cash value as a life insurance policy would. With a life insurance policy, your policy builds value and then you can borrow against that cash value at some point in the future. With Supplemental Security Income, you simply receive payments from a fund that is created by the government through collecting tax dollars. This is not a cash value to which you are entitled. In fact, you could lose your Supplemental Security benefits in the future, and they are not guaranteed.

While you cannot borrow directly from the Supplemental Security Income program, you may be able to use the money that you receive to qualify for a traditional loan. When you apply for a loan with a traditional lender, you will need to prove that you have a regular income. Since this income comes in every month from the government, it is considered to be very steady. You will simply need to provide the lender with documentation of your income.

While you could use your SSI benefits to qualify for a loan, doing so could actually affect your monthly benefit amount. When you borrow money through a loan, the money that you receive does not count as income, according to the rules of the SSI program. However, when you receive money through a loan and do not spend the amount that you receive in that month, the money will count toward your personal resource total. You can only have $2,000 in your bank account as an individual to qualify for SSI.

When you want to get a loan and use your Supplemental Security Income benefits to help you qualify, you will also need to meet credit requirements as set by your lender. The lender will want to make sure that you have a specific credit score to qualify for the loan. Your credit history will be important in determining whether you qualify so that the lender will know if you have been a responsible borrower in the past.