Do the benefits of trust count against your ssa retirement benefits?

Factual Questions
1

OK my aunt’s relatives had some sort of trust fund set up for the kids of the family by a relative when she passed … she had money (she leased her farmland out to a commercial vegetable concern ) and a permanent medical condition and always though shed not make it to middle age … well thanks to a new med or two over the decades she made it to 98

Now the “kids” are retirement age and my aunt gets SSA retirement benefits is getting this money going to affect her ? it seems it will be a one-time payout all i can find on the web is ssi/disability info which she doesn’t get … can anyone help ?

2

If I understand your question, the answer is no. There is no means testing for Social Security retirement benefits.

3

ok thanks …i know it counts as income aka a “resource” against the ssi income limit which is why she was wanting to know …

4

Yes, SSI is for lower income people. It’s different.

Social Security Requirement pays you even if you’re Bill Gates.

5

The retirement part of SS, as said above, is NOT reduced by any trust or investment income.

But …
Simplifying mightily …

The amount of basic retirement benefit one receives is based on lifetime wage earnings. Someone who worked for wages very little of their life and/or for only low wages will have very little benefit. There is a threshold test of the equivalent of 10 years-worth of work for wages to get anything.

Said another way, Bill Gates gets SS because he worked for wages for a bunch of years. Really huge trust fund babies who just live off the investment income may never work for wages and never get SS retirement benefits.

All the above is further complicated by benefits possibly available because of being a spouse, ex-spouse, or a widow(er) of somebody who did work for wages and does have SS benefits.

And all the above says nothing about SSI or SSDI. Which each have completely different rules.

6

Additional income can increase the percentage of SSA benefits that are subject to federal income tax. Up to 85% of SSA can be subject to federal income tax. If additional income is very large, you may also be subject to a surcharge on on your Medicare payments. Google IRMAA for more information. Most people are not affected by IRMAA.