PASS: Plan for Achieving Self Support

PASS It on for Success!

September may be the official end of summer, but this month brings us the beginning of not only the beautiful fall season but also FOOTBALL! The start of a new season can seem so promising. That anticipation and hope that this will be “the year” is thrilling. 

Okay, here’s the fantasy football hand-off: You’re the quarterback. You have the opportunity to PASS! Using an incredible Social Security work incentive, you send this beautiful spiral to your job seeker who makes a tremendous in-air catch with their vocational goals and gloriously lands in the end zone. And the crowd roars!

That flawless PASS you threw is the Plan for Achieving Self Support (PASS). It’s a self-directed, self-funded Social Security work incentive that allows an individual to write their own playbook toward their personal vision of success!

PASS Without Pain

With a PASS, individuals with disabilities can set aside income and/or resources for a specified period of time. During that time, they can obtain items or services they need to reach their employment goal—whether that’s a new career or self-employment.  (More on those items or services later.)

Here’s how it works: When Social Security determines the amount of a beneficiary’s monthly check, they usually adjust the amount of earnings they count for a variety of different supports that the beneficiary may be relying on. That’s a good thing. It allows the worker or beneficiary to keep more of their benefit. 

If there’s a PASS plan in place, Social Security won’t count the money set aside in the plan as income, which means they’ll allow the beneficiary to keep a higher amount of their Supplemental Security Income (SSI) each month. Essentially, Social Security is helping PASS plan users save money without feeling the financial burden of the loss of expendable cash!

For example, Ava wants to be a hair stylist but doesn’t have the money to save for school, which will cost her $2,000. She works at a beauty supply store and sets up a PASS with Social Security to save $200 a month. The money goes in the bank, but Social Security won’t consider it as income, so she’ll continue to receive the same amount of benefit in her SSI check. After 10 months she will have saved for her goal, and she didn’t even feel the financial pain of having $200 less in her monthly income.

Who’s Eligible to Play?

Although PASS is a work incentive primarily used by SSI recipients, it can also be a viable option for those individuals who receive both SSI and SSDI benefits (also known as ‘concurrent beneficiaries’). PASS may be an option for some people who receive a lower SSDI check and could live on the Federal Benefit Rate for SSI ($771 for an individual in 2019).

To be eligible for PASS, a person must have income or assets other than their SSI check that they can use for savings. They also must have a feasible vocational goal and a need for items or resources to get them to that specific goal.  Participants must also want to decrease or eliminate their dependence on benefits through the completion of a PASS; like the name states, PASS is a Plan for Achieving SELF-SUPPORT!

Using PASS Savings

Money or resources set aside in a PASS are not counted for most benefits! This is a great way to be able to save in order to get ahead without those savings impacting eligibility for essential benefits, such as SSI, Medicaid, and SNAP. Maintaining access to benefits can be critical for those who want to try to work towards being less dependent, but who still need these supports in order to get to their long-term goals!


PASS funds can be used in various ways, such as:

• Saving for education or training
• Starting a business
• Purchasing medical equipment, assistive technology, or adaptive equipment needed for work
• Tools and equipment for a trade
• Funding for more job coaching or employment supports
• Child care or attendant care
• Purchasing a vehicle if needed for a vocational goal

And so many other services or items, as long as the end result is a job that makes the individual more self-sufficient!

If you know of a beneficiary who is willing to work toward a vocational goal, they may be the perfect candidate for a PASS. They can fill out a PASS application online (see the link below). Social Security even provides specially trained PASS specialists or “cadres” to help individuals complete the PASS. (Find a PASS specialist in your area.) 

Just as in football, this game isn’t played alone. A person can obtain assistance through their Social Security office, benefits counselor, employment consultant or even their Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor, if working with VR. 

Once a PASS is approved, participants can save their funds until they reach their goal. Social Security can then PASS it on and…TOUCHDOWN!

PASS Resources

PASS Application
Plan for Achieving Self-Support: 2019 Fact Sheet
Working While Disabled--A Guide to Plan for Achieving Self-Support
PASS Online: Resource for the Plan for Self-Support (Cornell University)
2019 Social Security Red Book (see pages 26 and 27)