People keep mixing up SSI and SDI benefits

I see it all the time in here and on other forums. SSI is for people with very low income and assets, it's federal money for basic needs. SDI is California's state program that pays you when you can't work because of illness or injury, it comes from your own paycheck deductions. A guy in my building last year tried to apply for SSI after a car accident and got denied because he owned a car worth over $2000. He should have been on SDI instead but he didn't know the difference. The forms look similar and the names are one letter apart. Anyone else get frustrated explaining this over and over?

2 comments

2 Comments

rosek443mo ago

Brought this up with my buddy Dave last week. He was laid up for three months after falling off a ladder and kept talking about "getting his SSI check" coming. I had to sit him down and explain for the tenth time that's not what he was getting, it was SDI from all those years of California payroll deductions. He got real quiet and finally admitted he had no idea there was even a difference. Then he asked me if he could still get SSI too, and I had to break it to him that his savings from flipping houses disqualified him right away.

diana_black223mo ago

Wait, is your buddy Dave one of those people who just assumes any money from the government is the same thing? I see this all the time with older folks in my neighborhood too. They hear "Social Security" and think it covers everything from disability to retirement to that one time they sprained their ankle. The thing about SSI being needs-based is what really trips people up. If you've got a decent savings account or any real assets from side gigs like flipping houses, you'd get cut off faster than you can say "application denied". In my experience, most people don't realize SSI is basically welfare for the elderly and disabled with almost no money or stuff to their name. California's SDI is a whole different animal since you paid into it like an insurance policy. Your buddy's reaction sounds pretty typical honestly. A lot of folks just hear the word "disability" and assume it's all the same pot of money. Take this with a grain of salt, but I've had to explain this exact thing to three different coworkers over the years. They all thought their state disability was the same as federal SSI too.