Transcription
Today we're going to talk about the six best benefits for disabled veterans in 2026 and how to use them.
If you're new here, I'm Dave. I'm a 13-year Marine Corps vet who teaches service members and vets how to maximize their benefits and invest with real estate. I'm also a disabled veteran, which people always give me crap for, so I take my hearing aid out. Now I can't hear you. So, let's dig in.
Benefit number one is income leverage, which is arguably the most misunderstood. And that's because your VA disability income is tax-exempt, tax-free. Which means that, for example, a lender will look at it as more favorable than W2 income. Because if you bring in $5,000 a month from W2 income, it's equivalent to about the same as only $4,000 a month from VA disability due to the way that pre-tax and post-tax valuations are. Now, I don't want you to go cross-eyed with me showing you all the math, but just trust me that your VA disability is worth about 1.2 to 1.2525 times whatever you make as you go to qualify for a mortgage, which makes it very powerful for buying a home, buying real estate, etc. Obviously, that was a federal benefit. This is going to help you qualify for larger loans. This will help you be more competitive in markets and arguably the veteran is actually a very qualified buyer. Service members are arguably the most qualified buyer, and veterans close behind as far as normal qualifications for getting yourself into a house. Plus, the VA loan is incredibly powerful. But I digress.
Benefit number two here, also federal. And this is a huge expense killer, is healthcare. If you are a 100% permanent and total disabled veteran, you get healthcare covered. And honestly, at different levels, you get varying amounts of care covered throughout the disability scale. But at 100% PNT, you get full healthcare for the rest of your life, which is incredibly powerful because, as you know, healthcare is not cheap. Now, you're going to get full VA healthcare and full VA dental for being the, the veteran, the disabled veteran. And you can access Champ VA healthcare benefits for qualifying dependents, which is also very powerful and helpful. Now, healthcare is extremely expensive and over the course of your life, this could legitimately save you tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars on expenses for something that you do want. You do want to be covered for medical and dental. And this becomes even more valuable with families when you get into the Champ VA benefits and savings as well. Now, this is not free insurance. This is federally backed VA healthcare and as somebody who's had quite a few procedures both in and out of the service, I can tell you it works just fine. Now, there are always horror stories, but there are horror stories with non-VA medical as well. And I have had not a single bad experience. And that's including my appendix being removed, knee surgery, eye surgery, and a whole bunch of other smaller or different things that I've had done over the years.
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Benefit number three, this is more state-specific, but this is your property tax exemption. So, a lot of different states will use Texas and Florida, for example, will wave your property tax on your primary residence. Meaning that, especially in Texas where property taxes are very expensive, this benefit will help you pay significantly less in property taxes, which is incredibly beneficial because property taxes suck. So, if you just don't have to pay them, that's wonderful. And I'll tell you, as a disabled veteran in a state that does not cover this all the way, although will soon, uh, my personal taxes, you know, I would love to have not paid that $3,000, $4,000 this year. That's essentially an entire mortgage payment that I would be able to not pay if my state covered this. So, you know, when you're looking for a place to live, that might be a valid consideration, not having to pay property taxes depending on your disability status.
Benefit number four here is education. And there's quite a few different benefits in here, some federal, some state. So, we're going to dig through it. Make sure you look through your state and talk to your local school to see what kind of benefits are there for, you know, the state side. But on the federal side, you've got things like Chapter 35. I did a full video on Chapter 35, which I will link to right here. And this talks about all of the different benefits that you get as a disabled veteran, but also your children get, your dependents get as a disabled veteran for school. And this can be like $50,000 towards your dependent to go to school and as a grant for school or for yourself, which is incredibly valuable when you consider that the cost of education is not getting any cheaper anytime soon. This also includes a monthly stipend for dependents. And this can be just a great way to relieve stress for you and your family while they're attending school. In addition to that, a ton of different states offer, you know, free in-state tuition, grants, tuition waivers, you know, scholarships, and a whole myriad of other benefits for yourself or your dependent as a disabled veteran. So, make sure you look through those for your respective state. Now, the nice thing here is that means your kids can go to school without touching your GI Bill. So, you could still use your GI Bill or you could go to school and gift your GI. There's just a bunch of different options here to provide for the education of you and your future bloodlines. And again, exact dollar amounts and benefits are going to vary by state. So always verify locally, ideally through the veteran benefits section of your school.
Benefit number five, and this is huge. This is a federal one. 100% permanent and total veterans can discharge their student loans one time. So, if you go out and get student loans to go to school as a 100% permanent and total disabled veteran, you can get that discharged. I have friends who have done this. It works. Now, I'm personally not a huge fan of blanket forgiveness for a loan that you chose to get into. I have not used this benefit. I have friends who have. I know it works and it is legal for you to do so. So, you know, up to you whether or not you choose to partake. But this benefit does exist and it is legal. So if you are a 100% permanent and total disabled veteran, you choose to go to school, pull out student loans, you can get those forgiven, that is your prerogative. Again, not necessarily my thing, but it still makes sense depending on if education is your goal. Arguably, there's a million reasons why this is a great idea. It removes a debt immediately, which improves your cash flow, your ability to achieve financial freedom faster. Which means that the benefit you receive from that education, the income coming in from whatever job you get is exponentially more powerful because now instead of paying down your student loans, you can go right to saving and investing your way to financial freedom, which is a huge step up. Now, I know we already have a ton of educational benefits for veterans, but this one's still pretty dope.
Number six here is vehicle and miscellaneous benefit. This is state-specific. Every state is going to have various things. Some states wave your personal property tax or your vehicle registration. Some give you veteran license plates. There are some states that give toll discounts for disabled veterans or maybe beneficial parking spots. I know, whatever parking spot, but it's, you know, it's still there. It's still a benefit, right? There's also access to like state and federal parks where you have to register for it as a veteran, but you can go and get every year like a one-year access pass for state and national parks, which is pretty cool. Now, again, these little benefits and perks are not life-changing on their own, but they add in with everything else, which is just an additional benefit to allow you a better quality of life as a thank you for your service.
As a bonus, I have to talk a little bit about the VA loan. You guys know that I do this all the time. In fact, I would say if you're interested in using the VA loan, you scan this QR code. I can introduce you to agents and lenders across the nation that actually understand this and can help point you in the right direction. That said, if you are a 10% or higher rated disabled veteran, which obviously if you're 100% PNT, you fit that model, the funding fee is waived on the VA loan, which is the probably the biggest thing that I hear people gripe about with the VA loan is the funding fee. So to have that waived on top of all the other benefits makes it just that much sweeter for you. Again, with the VA loan, competitive interest rates, no down payment, your disability gets counted at a higher amount than you receive because of the tax benefits. And it is just a very powerful loan for getting yourself into a property. I definitely recommend you check out some of my content about how to use it for buying multifamily that pays for itself so you can live for free and then begin investing because that will change your freaking life. But this video is not about the VA loan, so I'm going to stop there on that.
Here's the deal. Most vets just focus on the monthly check in income for their VA disability, which don't get me wrong, that's great. But this is something you should use to set yourself up for success. If you were making a living without the disability income and then you get the disability income, don't quit your living and live on the disability income. Keep your living for a little while and reinvest the disability income for a couple of years so that you can get to a place where you can just never have to work again because that's the spot you really want to get to, that total financial and time freedom. Now, the real power of your benefits is in, you know, debt paydown, uh, debt forgiveness, expense mitigation, right? All of these other advantages and perks that allow you to take the income and actually be able to live on it by eliminating all these other expenses and complications in your life to simplify, streamline, and set yourself up personal finance-wise for investing and achieving financial freedom.
If I missed something, drop that in the comment so I could add it into future roundup posts and make sure that I educate the masses on it because I'm still, I've been at this for a long time and I am still to this day learning about additional benefits for active duty and veterans alike, whether you're disabled or not. There are so many benefits out there for us on the federal and state level. And I'm constantly learning new things. And when I do, I research them and I bring them to you. So if I miss something, comment it down below. And if you guys thought that comment was valuable, like it so I can see the ones that rise to the top as most valuable things and I'll make videos about them. All of that ramble aside, hope you guys crush 2026. Have a great freaking day.