How to Tell When SSDI or SSI Could Bring You Financial Relief
When you can’t work because of bad health and you’re looking into Social Security Disability benefits to ease your financial stress, you have two options for benefits programs you can apply for.
People often mix up the two programs:
Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)
Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
The biggest difference between SSI and SSDI is in the work and financial background required to qualify for benefits.
SSDI benefits are a form of insurance. You pay for coverage with the Social Security taxes taken out of your paychecks. It’s not a handout. To be eligible, you must have worked and paid a qualifying amount into the system over the years.
SSI is economic assistance if you have few financial resources. It doesn’t require a particular work history. It requires you to have a disability and have a strictly limited amount of money in savings or investments.
What’s the same about both programs is that you must be unable to work right now to qualify for either one, and the reason you can’t work must be serious medical conditions.
You might apply for just SSDI, or SSI or both. Knowing the right approach for your situation can get complicated. To maximize the benefits you receive, talk to an experienced Social Security Disability lawyer.
SSDI often pays higher monthly benefits than SSI. But SSDI payments are calculated using your past income. If your income was low enough, SSI might pay more than SSDI.
Sometimes SSI benefits can fill in gaps prior to receiving SSDI benefits, or the other way around.
Navigate your options with help from the Arizona Social Security Disability lawyers at Slepian Ellexson, who have helped thousands of people through this process before.
SSDI vs. SSI: The Differences in Financial Eligibility
This is what makes you eligible for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) when you have to stop working because of health problems:
You’ve earned 40 work credits, which you get by making a basic amount of money every year.
At least 20 of your work credits are from the last 10 years before you got sick and couldn’t work anymore.
Younger people with fewer years in the workforce may be able to qualify with fewer credits.
You’re not currently working and earning more than $1,620 a month (as of 2025), or $2,700 if you are blind. This is called “substantial gainful activity,” SGA for short.
You can have any amount in savings, investments or property and still get SSDI. SSDI focuses on whether you can work, not on whether you have other financial resources.
To be eligible for Supplemental Security Income (SSI), you must be unable to work because of your health problems and fit within these rules:
You have less than $2,000 in resources counted by Social Security (for individuals).
You have less than $3,000 (for couples.)
Resources that count include cash, savings, investments and real estate.
Some resources aren’t included in your limit, such as the value of your primary home, one car and some personal belongings.
You earn less than SGA by working.
You can still qualify for SSI with some income not from working, such as from other government benefits programs. But those benefits may reduce the amount you receive in SSI.
Figuring out which program to apply for, or how to apply for both programs to determine which is the most beneficial to you, is confusing.
Your Slepian Ellexson disability lawyer can make it clear.
You pay nothing up front to get help from a disability lawyer on your claim. Your lawyer’s fee comes out of back benefits only after you win.
You can also talk to us to get started on your disability case for no charge.
Get a FREE SSDI or SSI evaluation.
What Is the Difference Between SSDI and SSI in the Benefits You Get?
When you receive SSI or SSDI benefits, the monthly payments you receive are calculated differently, and the amounts you receive are different.
For SSDI:
Your benefit checks are calculated using an average of your past earnings.
Everyone’s amount is different.
The amount is subject to limits.
It won’t be as much as you made from working.
It typically increases with a cost-of-living adjustment each year.
The average check as of 2025 was $1,580 per month.
Getting Social Security Disability Insurance benefits also gives you access to Medicare health insurance coverage, so you can take care of your medical needs, after a waiting period but long before you would normally qualify for Medicare as a person of retirement age.
For SSI:
Without any past work history to consider for each applicant, the government sets a standard monthly amount for everyone receiving SSI.
It’s often less than what SSDI would pay, but not always, depending on your situation.
The amount you receive could be lowered if you get other forms of assistance.
The SSI monthly payment usually goes up each year with cost-of-living adjustments.
As of 2025, the maximum SSI payment (if you have nothing deducted because of other income sources, was $967 for an individual and $1,450 for a couple.
Qualifying for Supplemental Security Income also gets you into Medicaid for your health care. Unlike with SSDI and Medicare, there’s no waiting period for health coverage once you’re approved for disability benefits. Your Medicaid access starts immediately.
It’s hard to decide what to do when your health has taken a turn for the worse, you can’t work, and you’re running out of money. Disability benefits are an important part of giving you a stable foundation.
Your Slepian Ellexson Social Security Disability lawyer in Arizona helps you decide which benefits to apply for and how to apply for them. We’ll help you cut the confusion and move forward.
