A safety net’s poverty trap

Explain It to Me

Vox Media Podcast Network

Education, Politics, News, Society & Culture

4.4 • 7.9K Ratings

🗓️ 27 March 2024

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What if you weren’t allowed to have more than $2,000 at any given time? Could you make it work? For people who receive Supplemental Security Income, this isn’t a what-if — it’s reality. SSI beneficiaries are subject to strict requirements and risk losing their benefits if they have more than $2,000 in financial assets, even if they exceed that by just a dollar. Why is the limit so low, and is anything being done to fix it? That’s today on The Weeds. Read More: Tyler (@tylerlimaroope) | TikTok The Case for Updating SSI Asset Limits | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Submit your policy questions! We want to know what you’re curious about. Credits: Jonquilyn Hill, host Sofi LaLonde, producer Cristian Ayala, engineer A.M. Hall, editorial director of talk podcasts Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a donation to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for this show comes from Krakan.
0:03.0	Krypto is like the financial system, but different.
0:07.0	It doesn't care where you come from, what you look like, your credit score,
0:11.0	or your outrageous food delivery habits.
0:13.7	crypto is finance for everyone everywhere all the time.
0:18.4	Krakhan, see what crypto can be.
0:21.3	Don't invest unless you're prepared to lose all the money you invest.
0:25.0	This is a high-risk investment and you should not expect to be protected if something goes wrong.
0:30.6	Wouldn't it be nice if your kitchen could cook for you and grocery shop for you and
0:34.3	clean up for you afterwards and all you had to do was sit on the couch and wait for
0:37.9	everything to be ready? That is the smart kitchen we've been dreaming of for
0:41.5	decades and all the reasons we're not there decades and all the reasons we might
0:44.7	someday get there that's what we're covering on the vergecast this month
0:47.7	anywhere you get podcasts.
1:02.0	It's the weeds. I'm John Glyn Hill. And it's no secret that financial stuff is just kind of hard. Saving for emergency, special occasions, and retirement, it's a lot.
1:07.0	In fact, almost half of Americans don't have three months worth of expenses saved.
1:12.0	And for some Americans, they're not allowed to. What if you weren't
1:17.0	allowed to have more than $2,000 at any given time? Could you make it work? Okay, let's pull a TLC from behind the music and try to do the math.
1:27.0	Imagine you have to stop working for whatever reason and you have the $2,000 you're allowed to save.
1:33.2	There are lots of numbers out there for the average cost of rent,
1:35.7	but let's go with one of the lower numbers.
1:38.3	$1,327.
	...

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