I'm 32 years old and have been on ssdi since my mid 20s. I've never worked a day in my life. I'm not able to work because I have epilepsy and $800 a month is very hard to live on. I've had epilepsy since I was in 7th grade. I want to make more money, but I don't want to jeopardize losing my SSDI. There's no way I could afford the hospital bills and my medications. Is it true that I can invest or buy cryptocurrency without risking my ssdi? Thanks alot for your time and any input is much appreciated.

Hi. You couldn't be drawing Social Security disability (SSDI) benefits if you've never worked. SSDI has an insured status requirement, and you would have to have worked and paid into Social Security long enough to be insured to be drawing SSDI. So, I assume you must be drawing either Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or disabled adult child (DAC) benefits on the account of a parent.

If you're receiving DAC benefits, then there's no limit on any type of investments you might make. Only earned income, specifically wages or self-employment income, could affect your eligibility for DAC benefits. By the way, that would also be true if you were receiving SSDI.

However, SSI is a needs based benefit with limits on income and assets. Therefore, if you're receiving SSI benefits and if you own assets like cryptocurrency valued at more than $2000 you would likely no longer qualify for SSI.

Best, Jerry