May
21
2010
By Guest (not verified)
Does the amount of rent I pay each month affect my benefits? For example, if my rent increases, will my benefits? On the same subject, if my rent decreases, or I find a cheaper apartment, will my benefits be reduced?
Living expenses and benefit adjustments
There is a general adjustment for cost of living increases, but I am unaware of adjustment for "specific" cases.
Each January, your benefits will increase automatically if the nationwide cost of living has gone up. For example, if the cost of living has increased by 2 percent, your benefits also will increase by 2 percent. However, if, in your particular case, your living expenses increased by 10 percent, I have never seen a "personalized" benefit adjustment.
As far as benefit adjustments, I have only seen SSI benefit adjustments if you have countable income. I have never seen a case where benefits dropped when beneficiary-specific living costs dropped.
See these links for more on how income affects SSI benefits :
http://socialsecurityhop.com/forums/ssi-supplemental-security-income/ssi...
http://socialsecurityhop.com/forums/ssi-supplemental-security-income/ssi...