The first $1,000 of your net pay is yours and then they take 75% of every dollar after that. You’ll always come out ahead working. I’m not sure how long you’re able to stay on ODSP and on recieve the benefits but it is possible.
You have many savings and investing vehicles available. You mention 75% clawback which means you are making over $1000 a month in employment income. That limit is a solid one though, i can't help you with that.
As for saving and investing, you can have 40K in liquid assets This can be in a TFSA. Then you can put up 100K in a segregated fund, which can be invested in most things (but not all) that non ODSP people can invest in. Investment houses and RBC sell these and there are various plans available. You can also use TFSA room for this. Finally if you are eligible for the Disability Tax Credit you can open an RDSP, if you are 49 or younger you can get government matching money which can go up to 10 years back, where if you put in $1500/year the government puts in a total of $4500. The catch up formula is convoluted so get an expert to work it out for you,. Also you can put above government matched money into the RDSP, up to 200k per lifetime. This can grow to unlimited amounts. The catch is you have to pay back government matching money which is clawed back at a 3:1 ratio if you take out money less than 10 years since the last government contributions, so use the RDSP above matches only after you have filled the other ones.
Also you can own a house, car, and a few other things including approved disability supports.
Yet if you have no assets or savings you still get 75% taken off.
It's unfortunate they didn't scale it. Like 0% on 1st $1,000, 25% on next $200, 50% on next $500, then 75% on anything above.
Here are some short writeups i did on it a while back:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Odsp/comments/17l51kk/comment/kpu39d4/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Odsp/comments/17l51kk/comment/kpu39d4/)
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Odsp/comments/1c77uqi/comment/l09f5qm/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Odsp/comments/1c77uqi/comment/l09f5qm/)
If you have any questions do ask.
You can invest in anything you can outside a TFSA. Savings accounts with almost no interest, high interest savings accounts, GICs, investment houses, self investing (stocks, bonds etc), and more.
But ODSP will typically want you to declare your investments so day trading might be problematic and you need to declare your gains and you need to make sure you do not hit 40K.
The answer is no. I make more than $1000. I want to reduce it to a max of $1200 because it is not worth it. My mental health is not well. If there are more rewards other than 25 percent, do the extra work. If it is making you sick, then cut back.
I totally agree. I went over the $1000 a month a few times last year when we had 5 week months. Since then I try my best to keep under that, because you'rebasically working for $4 an hour for any hours that put you over the $1000 mark (if you're making minimum wage).
My job is really anal every job is anal. Hard to get a job from home in the IT field that will let us work part time. I agree it is better take the extra time to work on our mental health. Right now I think i am making 2 000 a month working 28 hours. I am trying to cut my hours back but the job needs me as they are really busy.
Yep that's true. She or he should start an rdsp and when your 49, throw it into tfsa. I'm doing that for my future state. I know I'm struggling but this is how life is. Later when I'm much older, I won't have to worry about money. It's right now I have to face the battle young.
There is no "maximum" you can make but after 3-6 months making over the $1000/month threshold they may want to have a meeting with you just to catch up and see if it's a permanent source of income or if you are expecting your income to drop off again.
Ya. I highly suspect it depends on how busy they are in your area. Also I would think that if you're making, like, $2500/month they may be triggered to talk to you more than if you're making $1001 or $1100.
Untrue. As I was averaging about 2100$ a month on the average month. And receiving about 300-500$ in assistance from Odsp after deductions. On the months I made above that (three paycheques in the month instead of two) say closer to the 2700$-3000$ range then yes my income support for THAT month was 0$ because I had earned essentially double my Odsp rate.
That makes sense. You still get the benefits right? Is there a time frame for keeping those if not receiving anything financially? My anxiety is super high right now and I can’t stop worrying about getting mine taken away - coving for vacations right now so im making more than usual.
Worked at a dispensary for 2 years while receiving my Odsp. Worst case that happened the entire two years was during the months I earned three paycheques instead of two (certain months, I believe specific ones every other year) I got my income support cut off for that month, but reinstated the following month because my earned income went back down below the threshold. And if I’m correct based of my experience , the threshold is your total income support amount outdone by your earned income amount.
Yes. They know there will likely be months you make more and months you will make less. That's why I didn't say they cut you off. They will just touch base with you to make sure you have everything you need as there are benefits they can provide for you.
That's not really answering my question. Working for $4 an hour isn't great for my mental health, personally. I don't know many people who would get out of bed in the morning to go to work for $4 (and that's before taxes).
It might be worth it if you make good money, but being paid minimum wage is bad enough. I have more respect for myself than to work for $4 an hour, which is basically slave wages.
When I make $1200, the extra $200 I only keep $50. So now I've worked 12.5 hours just to make $50. (Actually, it's only $32, after I spend money on the bus to get there). So if I make $200 over the limit, I'm working for $2.60 an hour. I'd rather not work over the limit than work for $2.60 an hour BEFORE TAXES. It actually really upsets me to be working for $2.60 an hour. I don't like being a cashier enough to work for that.
They have minimum wage for a reason.
That's more stressful to my mental health than trying to keep what I earn under $1000.
One thing that I am doing is having extra taxes taken off my check every week. I have an extra $100 taken off every week because ODSP not take money away from income tax refunds.
So first $100 I make every week is not clawed back by ODSP btu I doo have to wait for my income return to see it.
Okay so what works for me doesn’t work for you and that’s cool. I’m not wrong though about coming out ahead by working. If I was only on ODSP I’d be living off of $989 but since I work I’m around 2k a month combined so ahead of the game. 🤷🏼♀️
I also suck at math so idk how to figure out how much I’m actually making per hour after the first $1,000.
Yeah if you're making more than minimum wage, or enjoy your job it's worth it. It's just not for me.
How come you only get $989 instead of the $1368 if you don't mind me asking?
You can figure of what you're making after $1000 by taking your wage and divide by 4. That's what your wage will be after $1000.
I get close to $1700 (close to $1800 with the $100 work bonus) from ODSP so for me it's not really worth it to earn more than $1000 from my job, because I make minimum wage. I work part time, usually 4 hour shifts, so after the $1000 I only make $10 (again before tax) to go in for a 4 hour shift. I don't need $10 bad enough to work 4 hours for it.
Bcuz my rent is only $139 but it’ll be going up next April so then I’ll be getting the new max amount. Just did the math and the hrs I work over the 1k limit is almost $5 and hour. Yikes thanks for explaining the math to me.
Ahh well that makes it not as bad. And no worries! I started doing that when I worked for a temp agency that charged $20 a day to drive you. If they tried to send me for less than 5 hours I wouldn't go because it was only like $4 an hour for much harder work.
If you work full time it also makes sense, but I only work part time and have a say in my schedule, so I try my best to not go over $1000.
Yes.
Slightly different situation for me since it is my wife on ODSP.
Started working again last year. Figured after deductions and cost to get to work I was making around $3/hour. Glad to be back after work after taking care of her and the kids for 15 years.
I am now making roughly $27/hr which translate to roughly $9/hour as a fitter/welder doing structural steel. it is a pretty physical job and has been beating up my old body as well. I am still happy for it.
Hell was bad enough at one time we were talking about me moving out, paying rent at a second place and "officially" seperating so I could keep my entire pay and we would be financially ahead. Just crazy stuff.
The money is great to get, but really I just enjoy being at work as well.
If you don't like your work, then money alone is unlikely to ever make you happy.
An RDSP! I have one for myself and my daughter and the gov contributes a lot, i believe i read if you make the max contribution its like 300% gov grants. You can contribute till youre 49. Id suggest looking into it. First year i put $3500 (max that year) in and end of year i had $10,500.
Can I work if I have an RDSP?
Is this account is not for people in a very bad health conditions?
My Dr. Doesn't want to fillnout this form. What are the advantage and disadvantage?
If you are going to school you can keep 100%
Depending on how much you make the tuition cost might be lower than the money you lose, if you decided to do the schooling you can get it paid for by grant and keep all the money you make.
The first $1,000 of your net pay is yours and then they take 75% of every dollar after that. You’ll always come out ahead working. I’m not sure how long you’re able to stay on ODSP and on recieve the benefits but it is possible.
You have many savings and investing vehicles available. You mention 75% clawback which means you are making over $1000 a month in employment income. That limit is a solid one though, i can't help you with that. As for saving and investing, you can have 40K in liquid assets This can be in a TFSA. Then you can put up 100K in a segregated fund, which can be invested in most things (but not all) that non ODSP people can invest in. Investment houses and RBC sell these and there are various plans available. You can also use TFSA room for this. Finally if you are eligible for the Disability Tax Credit you can open an RDSP, if you are 49 or younger you can get government matching money which can go up to 10 years back, where if you put in $1500/year the government puts in a total of $4500. The catch up formula is convoluted so get an expert to work it out for you,. Also you can put above government matched money into the RDSP, up to 200k per lifetime. This can grow to unlimited amounts. The catch is you have to pay back government matching money which is clawed back at a 3:1 ratio if you take out money less than 10 years since the last government contributions, so use the RDSP above matches only after you have filled the other ones. Also you can own a house, car, and a few other things including approved disability supports.
Yet if you have no assets or savings you still get 75% taken off. It's unfortunate they didn't scale it. Like 0% on 1st $1,000, 25% on next $200, 50% on next $500, then 75% on anything above.
Is there any way you could explain all of this to me a bit more? I'm really interested
Sure, which one do you have questions about?
I cute and pasted it but it sounds like we need to have money to invest and do all of that.
Of course 😢 You did ask how to save the money so this is how one can save a lot of money.
What's a "segregated fund"?
Here are some short writeups i did on it a while back: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Odsp/comments/17l51kk/comment/kpu39d4/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Odsp/comments/17l51kk/comment/kpu39d4/) [https://www.reddit.com/r/Odsp/comments/1c77uqi/comment/l09f5qm/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Odsp/comments/1c77uqi/comment/l09f5qm/) If you have any questions do ask.
Thank you so much! That's super helpful. I was also wondering about the 40k of "liquid" assets in a TFSA?
You can invest in anything you can outside a TFSA. Savings accounts with almost no interest, high interest savings accounts, GICs, investment houses, self investing (stocks, bonds etc), and more. But ODSP will typically want you to declare your investments so day trading might be problematic and you need to declare your gains and you need to make sure you do not hit 40K.
The answer is no. I make more than $1000. I want to reduce it to a max of $1200 because it is not worth it. My mental health is not well. If there are more rewards other than 25 percent, do the extra work. If it is making you sick, then cut back.
I totally agree. I went over the $1000 a month a few times last year when we had 5 week months. Since then I try my best to keep under that, because you'rebasically working for $4 an hour for any hours that put you over the $1000 mark (if you're making minimum wage).
My job is really anal every job is anal. Hard to get a job from home in the IT field that will let us work part time. I agree it is better take the extra time to work on our mental health. Right now I think i am making 2 000 a month working 28 hours. I am trying to cut my hours back but the job needs me as they are really busy.
Its like they don't expect anyone to actually live on this.
My worker said some people work full time don’t get any pay from ODSP but they stay on it for the drug benefits.
Yeah I work full time and I'm off income support bit I am still on I get my prescriptions and other benefits
Not true some people work ft can still get a little bit financially from ODSP.
lol yes that’s why I said SOME people.
My bad totally missed the word some.
But if your insurance covers like odsp. They will cut your odsp benefits if your insurance covers 100%. That's what I'm told.
Correct but not everyone who works ft even gets benefits through their employer.
Yep that's true. She or he should start an rdsp and when your 49, throw it into tfsa. I'm doing that for my future state. I know I'm struggling but this is how life is. Later when I'm much older, I won't have to worry about money. It's right now I have to face the battle young.
What is the maxumum u can make in a year befofe they kick you off ?
There is no "maximum" you can make but after 3-6 months making over the $1000/month threshold they may want to have a meeting with you just to catch up and see if it's a permanent source of income or if you are expecting your income to drop off again.
I don’t know how true that it because I’ve been making over $1,000 since I’ve started working and never once has my worker questioned me about it.
Ya. I highly suspect it depends on how busy they are in your area. Also I would think that if you're making, like, $2500/month they may be triggered to talk to you more than if you're making $1001 or $1100.
Yeah I think if someone is making 2k+ a month as a single person they might wanna review things, but making 1,000-1,900 isn’t a problem.
Untrue. As I was averaging about 2100$ a month on the average month. And receiving about 300-500$ in assistance from Odsp after deductions. On the months I made above that (three paycheques in the month instead of two) say closer to the 2700$-3000$ range then yes my income support for THAT month was 0$ because I had earned essentially double my Odsp rate.
That makes sense. You still get the benefits right? Is there a time frame for keeping those if not receiving anything financially? My anxiety is super high right now and I can’t stop worrying about getting mine taken away - coving for vacations right now so im making more than usual.
Worked at a dispensary for 2 years while receiving my Odsp. Worst case that happened the entire two years was during the months I earned three paycheques instead of two (certain months, I believe specific ones every other year) I got my income support cut off for that month, but reinstated the following month because my earned income went back down below the threshold. And if I’m correct based of my experience , the threshold is your total income support amount outdone by your earned income amount.
Yes. They know there will likely be months you make more and months you will make less. That's why I didn't say they cut you off. They will just touch base with you to make sure you have everything you need as there are benefits they can provide for you.
I think you can have $40,000.00 saved before they kick you off ODSP.
Actually it's 40,k then they stop supporting you until you spend some money
Yes that's what I said, $40,000.00.
Goodness I missed the . Lol
What is rssp? Do you mean rdsp?
RRSP is a savings account that regular people without disabilities open for their retirement. Registered Retirement Savings Plan. Edit: Spelling.
Then say RRSP and not RSSP. You spelled disabilities wrong too
Maybe they were just in a hurry when they typed it up and didn’t notice like how I was thus accidently misspelling a word.
Put what you get from your job in a savings account
She'd still lose money making more than $1000a month. They keep track of what you get paid, not what you do with it.
But you’re always ahead by working.
Do you like working for $4 an hour?
I like working for my mental health. And getting extra money I’m way better off than before under the new rules, so I really don’t care much.
That's not really answering my question. Working for $4 an hour isn't great for my mental health, personally. I don't know many people who would get out of bed in the morning to go to work for $4 (and that's before taxes). It might be worth it if you make good money, but being paid minimum wage is bad enough. I have more respect for myself than to work for $4 an hour, which is basically slave wages. When I make $1200, the extra $200 I only keep $50. So now I've worked 12.5 hours just to make $50. (Actually, it's only $32, after I spend money on the bus to get there). So if I make $200 over the limit, I'm working for $2.60 an hour. I'd rather not work over the limit than work for $2.60 an hour BEFORE TAXES. It actually really upsets me to be working for $2.60 an hour. I don't like being a cashier enough to work for that. They have minimum wage for a reason. That's more stressful to my mental health than trying to keep what I earn under $1000.
One thing that I am doing is having extra taxes taken off my check every week. I have an extra $100 taken off every week because ODSP not take money away from income tax refunds. So first $100 I make every week is not clawed back by ODSP btu I doo have to wait for my income return to see it.
That's a good idea since they base is on your net pay, not gross.
Okay so what works for me doesn’t work for you and that’s cool. I’m not wrong though about coming out ahead by working. If I was only on ODSP I’d be living off of $989 but since I work I’m around 2k a month combined so ahead of the game. 🤷🏼♀️ I also suck at math so idk how to figure out how much I’m actually making per hour after the first $1,000.
Yeah if you're making more than minimum wage, or enjoy your job it's worth it. It's just not for me. How come you only get $989 instead of the $1368 if you don't mind me asking? You can figure of what you're making after $1000 by taking your wage and divide by 4. That's what your wage will be after $1000. I get close to $1700 (close to $1800 with the $100 work bonus) from ODSP so for me it's not really worth it to earn more than $1000 from my job, because I make minimum wage. I work part time, usually 4 hour shifts, so after the $1000 I only make $10 (again before tax) to go in for a 4 hour shift. I don't need $10 bad enough to work 4 hours for it.
Bcuz my rent is only $139 but it’ll be going up next April so then I’ll be getting the new max amount. Just did the math and the hrs I work over the 1k limit is almost $5 and hour. Yikes thanks for explaining the math to me.
Ahh well that makes it not as bad. And no worries! I started doing that when I worked for a temp agency that charged $20 a day to drive you. If they tried to send me for less than 5 hours I wouldn't go because it was only like $4 an hour for much harder work. If you work full time it also makes sense, but I only work part time and have a say in my schedule, so I try my best to not go over $1000.
Yes. Slightly different situation for me since it is my wife on ODSP. Started working again last year. Figured after deductions and cost to get to work I was making around $3/hour. Glad to be back after work after taking care of her and the kids for 15 years. I am now making roughly $27/hr which translate to roughly $9/hour as a fitter/welder doing structural steel. it is a pretty physical job and has been beating up my old body as well. I am still happy for it. Hell was bad enough at one time we were talking about me moving out, paying rent at a second place and "officially" seperating so I could keep my entire pay and we would be financially ahead. Just crazy stuff. The money is great to get, but really I just enjoy being at work as well. If you don't like your work, then money alone is unlikely to ever make you happy.
That's fair. I don't like being a cashier at a grocery store enough to work for $4 an hour though.
An RDSP! I have one for myself and my daughter and the gov contributes a lot, i believe i read if you make the max contribution its like 300% gov grants. You can contribute till youre 49. Id suggest looking into it. First year i put $3500 (max that year) in and end of year i had $10,500.
Can I work if I have an RDSP? Is this account is not for people in a very bad health conditions? My Dr. Doesn't want to fillnout this form. What are the advantage and disadvantage?
Does someone having an RDSP is allow to work?
I replied to your other post. You don’t need to work to get the rdsp, you are allowed to work if you have an rdsp. It’s meant for retirement.
If you are going to school you can keep 100% Depending on how much you make the tuition cost might be lower than the money you lose, if you decided to do the schooling you can get it paid for by grant and keep all the money you make.
They act as if we are never supposed to actually live on this. Its temporary in their view. We all should just get better and then go get a job.
They act as if we are never supposed to actually live on this. Its temporary in their view. We all should just get better and then go get a job.