$291 per month raise for SSI beneficiaries. I have all the details and what you need to know with this new announcement out of Congress. We have a lot to talk about. So let’s get into it right away. All right, now, this is actually pretty encouraging as we’re finally getting some more information out of Congress about how they’re going to start working on and reforming benefits for millions and millions of people. As a result of that, many of you right here in this community have been reaching out to me down in the comments section saying, what does this mean for our SSI benefits? Are they going to raise our benefits? Are they going to reform the SSI program? What is going on here?
Can you give us an update? These are all very good questions, which I want to talk about specifically right here on this topic, because, yes, we have been getting some new information out of Congress recently as far as what they’re going to do and how they’re going to start reforming benefits going forward. So I do want to talk you through all those details. However, before we get into it any further, I just want to make it very clear from the very start here this is specifically focused on SSI, Supplemental Security Income. I do know that there are a lot of you right here in the community that do receive Social Security benefits, whether it’s retirement or SSDI or survivors or VA or any of these other fixed income benefits.
That’s great. There’s a lot to talk about, and there are a lot of good updates out there for you as well. And, of course, I will also make dedicated topics for Social Security as well. However, I just want to make it very clear so that we’re all on the same page here. This one is specifically focused on SSI, Supplemental Security Income, which, by the way, there are about 8 million beneficiaries of SSI right here, right now that receive ongoing monthly payments from this program.
So, again, it’s a very, very important program, millions of beneficiaries. And I want to talk you through the latest details that we know as of right now in regards to the announcements out of Congress, what they’re doing here, and what is some of the talk as far as what may be coming for this very important program. But again, for Social Security beneficiaries, stay tuned. Of course, check out the upcoming topics, as well as check out any of the other topics here on the channel as well. There’s a lot of good information out there right now.
And, of course, I’m watching everything closely and keeping you updated as we do get more information. So let’s get into this a little bit further. as I’m here for you every single day, right by your side, helping you out in any way that I possibly can by keeping you updated and doing all this research to find any of these new announcements out of Congress, as well as trying to find any more money, benefits, programs, reform, stimulus checks, or anything else that may be coming up right now as a result of all of these massive changes, packages, pieces of legislation, and everything else that Congress is currently working on that impacts the low income and fixed income.
Of course, I want to be here for you breaking it down and letting you know what is actually going on right here, right now, and helping you grab as much as you possibly can. All right, So recently we did get some new information out of Congress where they’re going to start moving forward and working on the Social Security 2100.
Now, again, I’m not going to talk about that a ton on this topic, but rather, I do want to bring this up simply because anytime that they talk about anything in regards to reforming programs like Social Security, which, by the way, SSI is not technically Social Security, but it is administered by the Social Security Administration. So therefore, anytime that they talk about Social Security, as in reforming the program or bringing up new pieces of legislation, we certainly want to listen very closely because this may also translate into SSI Beneficiaries as well. So it’s all kind of under the same Social Security umbrella. Therefore, we want to watch this one closely and realistically. When it comes down to it, SSI would be a much easier program for them to reform than it would be for them to reform Social Security simply because of the way the SSI benefits are paid versus how Social Security is paid.
It’s kind of a totally different kind of game that we’re playing when it comes to Social Security versus the SSI program. So when it comes down to reform and raising benefits, it would actually be way easier for them to actually reform the SSI program and raise benefits and do a whole bunch of things to it, then it would actually be for Social Security as well. So just throwing that out there that in the event that they don’t get anything done with Social Security, they may still be able to get something done for SSI, and it may be a way easier process for them. So anyway, there’s a whole host of different reasons that I could bring up for you right now talking about why SSI would be way easier for them and they could actually get it done way more quickly. And also, the need for SSI beneficiaries is really great because the average SSI Beneficiary gets a little bit under $700 per month.
That’s the average, by the way, even though the maximum is 841 per month. So anyway, I could literally make a dedicated topic talking about all the different reasons why this program is kind of on the cusp of some pretty serious reform. But anyway, let’s quickly talk about what’s going on here and where this $291 per month raise comes from and what is the likelihood of this whole thing coming out. So here’s what it comes down to. Again, I’ve talked about this previously in other topics, but we have to bring this back because this is actually very important to watch closely because this is where a lot of this reform would actually take place from the SSI Restoration Act.
Now, again, some of you might be thinking really? Yes, seriously, this is the deal, because here’s the thing. Right now, as they’re talking about in Congress, the Social Security 2100. That is one program. However, as we’ve heard about from Congress and many people out there over the last six, seven, eight months now, we’ve been hearing them talk about this, and which is when they come forward with the Social Security 2100 to actually reform this program, there is talk that they may be bringing up at the same time simultaneously, the Social Security 2100 and alongside the SSI Restoration Act, both of these pieces of legislation working their way through Congress simultaneously, not in the same bill, but rather these two separate bills working their way through at the same time.
Because at the end of the day, like I said, they’re all fixed income benefit programs. Therefore, if they’re going to reform one, why not just do it all, do it all at the same time? You kind of get what I’m saying. So that’s the logic and kind of the theory behind what is going on here. And what some people have actually said over the last maybe six, seven, eight months or so that we’ve been watching this closely and they’ve been wanting to do it.
They wanted to do it last year, in December, before the end of the year didn’t happen. They wanted to do it this year, sometime before April, again, didn’t happen. And now there’s talk that they want to get it done before they go on their summer recess in mid August. So again, we’ll see there’s still a little bit of time to go here on this one. But the simple fact that they’re bringing this up and talking about it is a really good thing here.
All right. So let’s quickly talk about some of the major provisions out of the SSI Restoration Act that we could possibly see enacted as a result of what Congress is currently doing or if they pick and choose out of this reform package here and actually choose just some key pieces of legislation out of it or some provisions out of it to actually implement as a result of the reform that they have kind of working its way through Congress right now. Again, some pretty good stuff. All right. So number one would be probably the biggest issue that many of you want to know about, which is a raise to your monthly benefits.
Yes. So this is one of the key issues in there. And this is one of the key pieces of legislation or provisions within the SSI Registration Act. And again, this is probably the biggest one and probably maybe even possibly the most important one out of them all as well, just because this one comes down to the dollars and cents at the end of the day. So as we all know, the maximum benefit right now for SSI beneficiaries in 2022 is $841 per month.
That’s the maximum. However, the reports and everything that I’ve been reading about this says that the average SSI beneficiary gets about $665 per month. That’s the average SSI beneficiary. So you can see here we’re well below the federal poverty line. However, right now, the federal poverty line on a monthly basis is $1,132 every single month.
So if we were to get a raise from 841 to 1132, as in $1,132 every single month, that would be an effective raise of $291 every single month, or about $3,500 throughout the course of the entire year in the form of a raise. That’d be amazing. Imagine that. I mean, seriously, that would be like two $700 stimulus checks. It actually be a little bit more than that But my point is, can you imagine what would an extra $3,500 do for your life right now if all of a sudden you got that spread out throughout the course of the year as your income, it’d be a pretty big deal, right? To go from 841 right now per month as a maximum for SSI up to 1132 per month. That’d be a pretty big change for a lot of people. And that’d be a pretty big change in a really good way. So that is one of the provisions out there.
And there are multiple different lawmakers who are in support of this because they continue to come back to the federal poverty line, just like we talked about here on the channel all the time, which is this is the key metric that many programs look at when it comes down to it, as far as determining your eligibility for enrolling in many different programs. Again, there’s so many different programs. I could literally make a dedicated topic talking about 30 different programs or possibly even more of where the federal poverty line comes into effect when it comes down to your eligibility for these programs. And not only that, let me throw this out there as well, because I like to quote the President every so often simply because this is something he said. And unfortunately, we’re still living with this reality right here Right now. The President has said no older adults or people with disabilities should ever need To live in poverty in America Well, by definition, if somebody’s annual income Is below the federal poverty line, guess what’s happening? They’re living in poverty. And that’s what’s happening with SSI beneficiaries as well. So that’s one of the main reasons why they want to raise these SSI benefits up to the federal poverty line Is number one, to lift immediately 8 million people out of poverty. Number two is because of the statement out of the President, nobody should be living in poverty in America. And number three, the SSI Restoration Act Or sorry, the SSI program, Supplemental Security Income program has not been reformed since the 80s.
That was the last time that it took on any kind of major reform was in the late 80s. So, I mean, we’re talking a long, Long time ago, right? So anyway, we’re talking 30 plus years Ago was the last time the SSI was reformed in any major way. So you can see it’s about time here. It’s certainly due for them to come in and make some reform on this very important program. So anyway, for the most part, the SSI program has not changed since the Inception of this program 50 years ago. So you can kind of see here We’Re certainly due for some major reform So that is one of the biggest Provisions within the plan. Next is also the removal of the marriage penalty Again, this is another one that a lot of lawmakers are also showing their Support on as well, because they’re simply Saying why should somebody be penalized if they find the person that they want to spend their life with, they want to get married and things like this, but yet they look at their situation. And say, if we get married, we’re going to immediately see a permanent reduction in our monthly benefits. In fact, I know that some of you right here in the community are currently dealing with this right now because I’ve seen your comments down below, and I’ve had private conversation with some of You here on the channel talking about Your situation and the reduction to your benefit as a result of being married Not a good situation. You know exactly what I’m talking about if this does pertain to you So this is also another big one that they want to remove as a Result of the SSI Restoration Act is to remove the marriage penalty, which impacts A lot of people that receive these benefits And unfortunately, there’s a lot of other people out there who this is impacting because maybe they want to get married, but they’re holding off because they’re saying It’S not worth it. If we get married, that means that all of a sudden we’re going to Lose a huge portion of our benefit. Our income will immediately be dropped. Do you want to do that?
Well, unfortunately, a lot of people are choosing let’s not get married, but rather let’s just hold off. And again, it shouldn’t be the case. Right? So that’s why a lot of lawmakers are coming up right now and saying we got to remove this. This is also something that’s very important So one more thing. And again, I know this one probably doesn’t pertain to that many people or that you probably don’t care about quite as much, but it is something that’s important that we certainly need to pay Attention to, as well as this is Another one of the big provisions within the SSI Restoration Act, which is again Raising the asset levels. Now, we actually did see an introduction For this out of a couple of Lawmakers, a couple of senators, a bipartisan group that’s actually just two senators.
Sorry, Rob Portman and Sharon Brown out of the state of Ohio brought this up maybe a month and a half, maybe two months ago or so Now they brought this up and they want to actually raise the asset levels In this own standalone bill. Sorry, from $2,000 as an individual to $10,000 and from $3,000 as a married couple to $20,000 as a married couple. You can see here, the asset levels would also be increased as well And again, I know that one probably Isn’T quite as exciting as all the Others here, but at the end of the day, it is something that they want to do, and it is something that they introduced as an independent bill All by itself, a standalone bill just To do that, one provision alone So another thing we need to take Into consideration as well is that any of these provisions could also be passed Through or could also be plucked out Cherry-picked out, we could say, and sent through as its own standalone bill. Which again, would also be totally fine with us as long as it pertains to removal of the marriage penalty and a raise to those monthly benefits. I think all of us would be feeling just fine with that Right Whatever they decide to do, provided it impacts and it actually is actually like A positive change for us Beneficiaries, then, yeah, it would be a great thing. Right So anyway, these are a few things That are out there right now, And like I said, the new announcements And the information coming out of Congress Right now is that they’re currently working On and working their way through Congress, the Social Security 2100. And from what we’ve heard about from Lawmakers over the last six, seven, eight months or so now, we’ve been hearing them say a few times at least that they want to move these packages Through simultaneously or at least any of The provisions within simultaneously. Again, pretty good. That’s exciting, because if they’re working on one, that means that they may also be working on the other So as I do get more information. Of course, I’ll be right back here for you breaking it all down But this is where that raise could Potentially be coming from, And again, this may be the opportunity to get that done right here, right now, before things may change in Congress.
Or before too much time slips by here. This is a very important time that we’re in right here, right now with these changes and potential reform to these very important programs. So, again, for those of you asking down in the comment section, I hope This gives you a little bit more Clarity on what is going on right now, what is happening with these announcements, what’s happening with the reform, and where We currently stand with all this. But again, we’re kind of in an encouraging place right now as Congress is finally taking some action. So good stuff, as I do get more details, of course, I’ll be right Back here for you breaking it all Down, helping you out in any way That I possibly can. And of course, answering your questions for You that I see down in the comment section. Share this topic with your friends, family, and social media
Enjoy your day until next time, stay safe, enjoy and I’ll catch you later.