Approval

• SSI requires low income and few resources. Some resources do not count, including your home, a car, furnishings, burial plots and burial and life insurance under $1,500. Resources that count are cash and bank accounts, stocks, bonds and "extra" property not used for subsistence. Once you receive approval for SSI, your income offsets your SSI benefits each month. You must report income, whether you earn it or it is unearned such as Social Security or veterans' benefits.
  
  

Post Entitlement

• Once the Social Security Administration approves you for SSI, you receive the same calculated benefit for the first three months. You may also receive past-due benefits. If your past-due benefits are greater than the equivalent of your monthly payment multiplied by 3, the Social Security Administration may choose to make three installment payments six months apart. If you earn income during the month you receive SSI benefits, you must report the income within 10 days of the end of the month as part of your post-entitlement. You must also report changes in your living arrangements and your resources. The information you report applies to your check two months forward.
  
  

Overpayments

• Overpayments are common after you start receiving SSI benefits. The Social Security Administration may overpay you as a result of your failure to report income or resources or the failure of the Social Security Administration to process your report. Your living arrangement may change and create an overpayment. If you do not contribute your fair share in rent and utilities, the Social Security Administration withholds up to one third of your monthly SSI benefit. If the Social Security Administration does not withhold correct amounts and this continues for months or years, you have an overpayment post-entitlement issue.
  
  

Reconsideration and Waiver

• You can ask for reconsideration and waiver of repayment of your overpayment. If the Social Security Administration does not grant you a reconsideration or waiver and you do not pay the overpayment in full, Social Security can take no more than 10 percent of your SSI check each month to pay back the overpaid amount. If your SSI benefits stop for medical improvement because you are no longer disabled, you receive two months more benefits that are a grace period if you qualify with income and resources. You can choose to repay overpayments with those extra checks.