All those who put on a uniform to serve our country are treated as heroes and considered warriors, deserving of our gratitude for their sacrifice and courage in protecting our freedom. Within this article we will discuss some veteran benefits that you might not be aware of.
The greeting rolls of our tongue so easily – “Thank you for Your Service.” But, a simple thank you isn’t enough for everything that veterans have done for us. They put their lives at stake for the sake of our country, which is why they deserve to be rewarded for their efforts.
Fortunately, today the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA), recognizing the efforts of veterans, offers plenty of healthcare, and education benefits to them. Many of the veterans are aware of these benefits, but several other benefits are a secret to most of them.
Today, we are going to talk about those benefits to help you take advantage of them. This is the least we can do for everything you have done for our country.
Veterans may suffer serious injuries in the line of duty that may even lead to disability. To ensure that they are properly cared for, the VA offers a support program for families taking care of their veteran family members at home. This includes a caregiver support coordinator as well as a free support line to help educate family members on military benefits and to assist them in coping with the stress of caring for their injured, disabled, or elderly veteran.
The VA has also created online workshops where people caring for veterans or the veterans who themselves are caregivers are educated. More specifically, people who are carrying for a veteran or veterans who are providing care to someone with memory problems, PTSD, a brain injury, dementia, or any other serious illness or injury are included in this program.
Veteran Benefits for VA Home Loans
Buying a home in the United States isn’t easy and it is going to get more difficult in the coming years as home prices are expected to rise. Most people have to get a loan to buy their own house. Banks or mortgage lenders make them jump through a lot of hoops to get a home loan. Qualifying for a loan isn’t easy, especially for veterans as they are likely to have credit issues.
To help veterans, the VA introduced VA home loans. Since VA home loans are guaranteed by the government, they have lax lending requirements and don’t require down payment. If you can’t qualify for a conventional home loan, VA loan is worth considering.
Another great resource and current veteran benefit centered around VA Home Loans is Chris Griffith from Debt Does Deals.
The Aid and Attendance Benefit
If you are overwhelmed with the cost of long-term elder care like paying for home care aid, assisting living facility, skilled nursing, or adult daycare, the Veterans Aid and Attendance benefit can prove to be a good solution for offsetting these rising costs. A wartime veteran or the surviving spouse of one may be eligible to receive a pension. This pension will not be connected to the service. Couples can receive up to $25,020 a year while surviving spouses can receive a maximum of $13,650.
The VA offers long-term and short-term care in their nursing home to veterans who are not sick enough to be in the hospital but are too old or disabled to care for themselves. Veterans who suffered an injury in the line of duty and became disabled due to it are given a priority over others. Although there can be large waitlists, veterans who qualify for care at veteran nursing home receive excellent long-term care.
As a veteran, you would know how hard it is to obtain traditional life insurance. Fortunately, you can rely on the VA program called the Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance (SGLI) that provides low-cost life insurance to military members. You are automatically insured under this program for up to $400,000 unless you opt-out of it. You can also make changes to the amount of the coverage and also change your beneficiary by using SGLI Online Enrollment System (SOES), available on the DMDC website. The amount of coverage can be reduced by $50,000 increments or you can choose to cancel it entirely.
SGLI also includes Traumatic Injury Protection which provides protection against damage due to traumatic injuries. It’s designed to provide financial support to veterans so that their family members can be with them while they recover from their injuries.
Veteran Benefits Tax Preparation
Veterans and their family members can take assistance in tax preparation without paying any fee through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) offices. These offices are established on military bases and employs experienced individuals who are well-versed with the military-related tax problems. VITA offers free help to veterans who make $54,000 or less, the elderly, those with disabilities, and limited English-speaking taxpayers.
If you’re wanting help for accounting and tax preparation, we would recommend fellow veteran Brandyn Cox with BMC Accounting LLC.
Final Thoughts
As a veteran, you put your life on the line for our country. You deserve the best and fortunately, VA offers several benefits that can make your life easier. We have discussed several of those benefits and more can be found on the VA’s official website. If you haven’t been taking advantage of these remarkable benefits, we suggest you start now. If you need any assistance in figuring out how these programs can help you or have any questions about them, feel free to reach out to us.
We will be more than happy to guide and help you get the compensation you deserve for what you have done for us.
1 Comment
The Barnish's
Thank you for the awesome write up and giving us the information centered around veterans and the benefits of. This is definitely, a great article!