My Vault is a secure personal account that can make your job easier by providing tools and activities to help people set goals and plan for the future. It’s a key tool you can use to collaborate with the people you support and others on their team.
In the Planning Paths area of My Vault, there is a Benefits Planning path called “What happens to my benefits when I work?” where you'll find activities to help people understand what happens to their benefits when they work.
You can sign in to My Vault here, or use the My Vault link in the upper right corner of any page on the Hub.
My Vault’s benefits planning activities Watch the video (4 minutes) and read the information below to learn about the benefits planning activities found in My Vault.
My Vault: Benefits Planning Path
My Vault’s benefits planning activities include:
This activity includes three quick questions to help people see where they are in the benefits planning process and how they can learn more.
Why This activity helps people navigate the benefits planning path, making sure they're in the right place and have the best information to help them plan and make informed decisions.
When This activity should be used when people aren't sure why they're in the benefits planning path, what they need or what activities they should do.
This activity allows people to submit a simple request form to receive a benefits lookup worksheet from the Department of Human Services.
Why This activity helps ensure that information on file regarding a person's benefits is accurate and that the person is getting the appropriate benefits. The worksheet empowers people to take control over their own information.
When This activity should be used when people have concerns about their benefits, are considering going to work, or need to understand what would happen to their benefits if they accepted a specific job. It should also be requested when doing a Disability Benefits 101 estimator session to help plan for work.
This activity provides a picture of a person's income and expenses and how their financial picture might change when they work or adjust their expenses.
Why This activity can help people see how much money they'll have each month after expenses are paid. This information can be used to set employment or income goals. It's especially helpful for people who are unsure if or how much they should work.
When This activity should be used when people need to see what their bottom-line income and expenses will look like when they go to work. Because the quick budget calculates results based on the entered information and doesn't take into account the benefit rules, it's best to use the quick budget along with an estimator session. Use the estimator session to see the effects of work on benefits, and then use the quick budget to factor in additional expenses and see the bottom line.
This activity poses simple questions to help people think about the type of work they want to do and how to set work goals.
Why This activity helps people make informed decisions about moving forward with a work goal and then share their work goals with others, such as their Vocational Rehabilitation counselor, case manager or transition staff at school. Information from this activity can also be used in an estimator session.
When This activity should be done before completing an estimator session. If someone has a clearly defined work goal, you can help them use this activity to document the goal and share it with their team. If the person knows they want to work but isn't sure what they want to do or how much they'll earn, this activity can be used to see the options.
This activity launches a Disability Benefits 101 benefits and work estimator session directly from My Vault and prefills any information from the benefits lookup and make a work plan activities.
Why This activity helps people understand the effect of work on benefits so they can plan and set goals.
When This activity should be used when people are interested in work, have an idea of how much money they'll make (or would like to make), and want to see what would happen to their benefits if they earned that amount. This activity can also be used when someone has concerns about benefits. You can also do a generic estimator session to show an example of someone with similar benefits who has more money with work.
This activity helps people know what they need to think about and do each month to manage their benefits.
Why Public benefits have many rules. This activity helps people keep track of their benefits and prevent benefits-related problems. It can help people understand things like saving pay stubs, reading letters from benefit agencies, and when and how to report their income.
When This activity should be used when people want help understanding what they need to do to manage their benefits. It's best to do a benefits lookup first so they know exactly which benefits they're getting. In turn, this activity pulls information from the benefits lookup.
This activity helps people determine, track and communicate with the people who can support them as they plan for and continue to work.
Why This activity helps people know who's who and who does what on their team. It also provides contact information for people on the team (including name, email address and phone number). This makes it easy to share information with others and for team members to connect.
When This activity should be used whenever a new person is added to the team, such as a financial worker, vocational rehabilitation counselor or case manager. A PDF of all team members and their contact information can be shared with the team along with encouragement to connect with each other.
