Income Guidelines for a VA Disability Pension

The VA handles benefits and offers resources to assist military personal. Veterans are the only individuals that are eligible to receive disability benefits, although active duty military can receives assistance from the VA. Pensions are the most common benefits that veterans receive. Here are some income guidelines for a VA disability pension.

VA Disability Pension

Veterans with low countable family income are eligible for a VA disability pension. Low-income veterans over the age of are also eligible. The yearly income limit set by Congress is what determines the amount of monthly benefits that a veteran can receive. Every year the limit changes and varies depending upon the veteran’s number of dependents.

Countable Family Income

A countable family income for a veteran includes all the income that he or she receives, in addition to the income of their spouse or dependents. Disability benefits, retirement benefits, interest, dividends and any net income are also included in this amount. The disability pension benefits for a veteran are affected by the veteran's countable family income.

Net Worth

Net worth is the net value of assets that a veteran and their dependents have. Unless a veteran’s net worth is excessive, it does not affect how much a veteran can receive in disability pension benefits. Bank accounts, bonds, mutual funds, and stocks are items that would be included in a net worth.

Exclusions

A veteran’s countable family income can be reduced by some exclusions. Some things that are not included as part of countable family income would be educational expenses and public assistance. Whether you know or not if an income will be excluded you should still report all sources of income to the VA. The VA will decide based on case-by-case what is and is not excluded from countable family income.