Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) 2014

Important Changes in Social Security for 2014

·Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA). The 2014 SGA guideline is $1800 for persons who are blind and $1070 for persons with disabilities other than blindness. In 2013, SGA for persons who are blind was $1740 and  $1040 for persons with disabilities other than blindness.

· Trial Work Period (TWP) Months. The earnings amount to determine if the month is counted as a TWP month went from $750 in 2013 to $770 per month in 2014.

· Federal Benefit Rate (FBR).  The highest SSI payment amount an individual could receive per month in 2013 was $710. This changed to $721 in 2014. For eligible couples, this amount was $1066 in 2013 and was raised to $1082 for 2014.

· Student Earned-Income Exclusion (SEIE).  To qualify for SEIE, an SSI recipient must be under the age of 22, regularly attending school, and working. The amount of earnings that may be excluded in 2014 is $7060 per year or $1750 per month.

· The earnings needed to earn one Social Security Credit (quarter of coverage) is $1200 in 2014.

· Information about Medicare changes for 2014 is available at www.Medicare.gov.

· A complete listing of all 2014 Social Security changes can be found at www.socialsecurity.gov/pressoffice/factsheets/colafacts2014.html.

Student Earned Income Exclusion (SEIE)

The Student Earned Income Exclusion (SEIE) is a work incentive that allows certain Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients to have a specified amount of their earnings excluded from their gross income when their SSI benefits are calculated. In many cases, the SEIE allows students to test their ability to work and earn income without experiencing any reduction in their SSI checks at all!

To qualify for the SEIE an SSI recipient must be:

• under the age of 22 years;
• regularly attending school, college, or training to prepare for a paying job; and
• working.

Maximum amounts for SEIE

In applying the SEIE for 2008, the Social Security Administration (SSA) excludes up to $1,550 per month of gross earned income in figuring the amount of the student’s SSI benefit for the particular month. The total amount of earned income excluded this calendar year may not exceed $6,240.

Work during vacation from school

The earnings that an individual receives from working during his/her vacation from school may be excluded up to the maximum provided under the SEIE if the individual tells SSA that he/she intends to again take classes regularly when school restarts or actually does resume attending classes regularly when school reopens.

Example

Jim is a student who becomes employed during summer vacation and earns $1,600 a month in June, July, and August of 2008. In September, he returns to school and continues working part time. He earns $800 a month in September through December 2008.

Using the SEIE, Jim can exclude $1,550 of his earnings in June, July, and August, and can exclude all of his $800 earnings in September. Through September, Jim will use up $5,450 of his $6,240 yearly limit. Excluding $790 from his October earnings will use up his yearly limit. However, even after deducting the monthly and yearly limits for SEIE, Jim still has available the other income exclusions, including the earned income exclusion of $65 per month and one-half of the remaining earned income. By applying SEIE and these other exclusions, Jim’s SSI checks were not reduced at all for the months June through October of 2008.


Any questions may be directed to: rsi5@srt.com