Benefits Bank

Know What You're Owed Before You Leave.

Every payment, grant and allowance you earned in service, in one place. No jargon. No chasing forms across five websites. Just what you can claim, and how to get it.

Type above to find a specific benefit.

Employment and Transition

SkillBridge, TAP and the federal hiring routes built for veterans. Most of this is time-bound to your last year in service.

Employment and Transition

SkillBridge

Civilian work experience in your last 180 days, on full military pay.

Employment and Transition

Transition Assistance Program (TAP)

The mandatory transition process, starting no later than 365 days before you go.

Employment and Transition

USERRA

Your civilian job back — at the grade you'd have reached, not the one you left.

Employment and Transition

SkillBridge Eligibility and Command Approval

Your last 180 days plus commander approval, which is discretionary, not automatic.

Employment and Transition

Veterans' Preference in Federal Hiring

5 or 10 points on your federal application score. Not a guaranteed job.

Employment and Transition

VEOA, VRA and the 30% Disabled Authority

Three routes into federal jobs. VRA and the 30% authority are non-competitive.

Employment and Transition

Unemployment Compensation for Ex-Servicemembers (UCX)

Unemployment insurance after service, under the rules of the state where you file.

Employment and Transition

SkillBridge for Guard and Reserve

Possible on Title 10 orders. Most drilling members don't qualify.

Employment and Transition

Military Spouse Preference (MSP)

One use per PCS for DoD civilian jobs — and declining an offer burns it.

Employment and Transition

Spouse License Portability and Relicensing Reimbursement

States must now recognize your license, and your branch pays up to $1,000.

Employment and Transition

Army Career Skills Program (CSP)

Rank sets the length: 120 days for E1-E5, 90 for E6-O3, 60 for E8 and above.

Employment and Transition

TAP Capstone

The final TAP event, where your commander verifies your Career Readiness Standards.

Employment and Transition

DOL VETS, DVOP and LVER

Ask for the DVOP for one-to-one help, the LVER for local employer intelligence.

Employment and Transition

Hiring Our Heroes Fellowships

A 12-week corporate fellowship, approved as SkillBridge. Spouses too.

Employment and Transition

Onward to Opportunity (O2O)

Free certification training from Syracuse. Costs no GI Bill entitlement.

Education and Training

The GI Bills, VR&E and the training benefits that fund a new line of work. Some have deadlines, and one of them does not expire at all.

Education and Training

Post-9/11 GI Bill

36 months of tuition, housing and books. No expiration if you left after 2013.

Education and Training

Montgomery GI Bill

36 months paid monthly to you, if you paid the $1,200 buy-in. A 10-year window.

Education and Training

Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E)

Chapter 31 training and placement, from a 10% rating. Separate from your GI Bill.

Education and Training

VET TEC 2.0

High-tech training that doesn't touch your GI Bill. Capped at 4,000 places a year.

Education and Training

The 48-Month Rule (Rudisill)

Two entitlements can mean 48 months, not 36. The VA reviews old decisions automatically.

Education and Training

Combining VR&E and the GI Bill

Two separate entitlements. The order you use them in changes your total months.

Education and Training

GI Bill Transfer of Entitlement

Giving your benefit to a spouse or child. Approved by DoD, and only while you serve.

Education and Training

Yellow Ribbon Program

Covers tuition above the GI Bill cap — at schools that opted in, and places run out.

Education and Training

Montgomery GI Bill Selected Reserve (Chapter 1606)

36 months for a six-year obligation, ending when you leave the Selected Reserve.

Education and Training

Edith Nourse Rogers STEM Scholarship

Nine more months of Post-9/11, or $30,000, for a qualifying STEM program.

Education and Training

Tuition Assistance and Credentialing Assistance

$250 a semester hour, $4,500 a fiscal year, spending no GI Bill entitlement.

Education and Training

COOL: Credentialing Opportunities On-Line

Your MOS in, civilian credentials out — and what those jobs pay. Open to veterans.

Disability and Compensation

What a rating pays, how the math works, and what each threshold unlocks. There is no deadline to file, but the date you file sets your back pay.

Disability and Compensation

VA Disability Compensation

A monthly tax-free payment, from $180.42 at 10% to $3,938.58 at 100%.

Disability and Compensation

VA Combined Disability Ratings

How the VA combines ratings with the whole-person method: 50% and 30% make 65.

Disability and Compensation

Benefits by VA Disability Rating

What each rating unlocks at 10, 30, 50, 70 and 100%, beyond the payment.

Disability and Compensation

Benefits Delivery at Discharge (BDD)

File before you leave and have a decision waiting. The window is 180 to 90 days out.

Disability and Compensation

The PACT Act and Presumptive Conditions

Presumptive conditions for toxic exposure: no need to prove the service link.

Disability and Compensation

Total Disability Individual Unemployability (TDIU)

The 100% rate without a 100% rating. 60% single, or 70% combined with one at 40%.

Disability and Compensation

CRDP and CRSC

Two ways to restore retired pay lost to the VA waiver. You cannot hold both.

Disability and Compensation

Decision Reviews: Supplemental, HLR and Board Appeal

Three routes after a decision: Supplemental Claim, Higher-Level Review, Board.

Disability and Compensation

Filing a VA Disability Claim

An Intent to File protects your effective date for a year while you gather evidence.

Disability and Compensation

MEB, PEB and the IDES Process

One process, one set of ratings, four ways out. The 30% line decides which.

Disability and Compensation

Medical Retirement vs Medical Separation

Retired pay and TRICARE at 30% or above, a lump sum the VA recoups below it.

Disability and Compensation

Special Monthly Compensation (SMC)

A higher rate for specific losses or care needs. SMC-K adds $139.87 a month.

Health Care After Service

VA enrollment, TRICARE options and the windows that close when you separate. Some of them close in 60 days.

Health Care After Service

VA Health Care Priority Groups

Which group you land in sets your copays. A 50% rating puts you in Group 1.

Health Care After Service

TRICARE After Separation

Your coverage ends with your service. One replacement has a 60-day deadline.

Health Care After Service

Continued Health Care Benefit Program (CHCBP)

Premium-based coverage bridging TRICARE and civilian insurance. Apply within 60 days.

Health Care After Service

TRICARE Reserve Select

$57.88 a month, or $286.66 for a family. The FEHB exclusion rules many out.

Health Care After Service

VA Mental Health Care and Vet Centers

No enrollment needed. In a crisis, any ER is free under the COMPACT Act.

Health Care After Service

VA Community Care

VA-funded care elsewhere when VA cannot see you within 30 minutes or 20 days.

Health Care After Service

Caregiver Support (PCAFC)

A monthly stipend for the caregiver, plus CHAMPVA and 30 days of respite a year.

Health Care After Service

VA Dental Care Eligibility

Assigned by class, not given to everyone enrolled. A 180-day window after discharge.

Health Care After Service

VA Exposure Registries

The burn pit registry now includes you automatically. It is not a claim.

Pay, Retirement and Money

Retired pay, TSP, separation pay and the insurance conversion nobody warns you about. One of these deadlines cannot be reopened.

Pay, Retirement and Money

SGLI to VGLI Conversion

240 days to convert with no health questions. Coverage from $10,000 to $500,000.

Pay, Retirement and Money

Blended Retirement System (BRS)

A 2.0% multiplier instead of 2.5%, plus TSP matching worth up to 5% of basic pay.

Pay, Retirement and Money

TSP After Separation

The balance is yours to keep, roll over or withdraw. The match stops when you go.

Pay, Retirement and Money

Terminal Leave and Leave Sell-Back

Sell back up to 60 days across your career, at base pay only, or take the leave.

Pay, Retirement and Money

Separation and Disability Severance Pay

A lump sum now, recouped against your VA compensation later.

Pay, Retirement and Money

Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP)

Up to 55% of retired pay for your survivors. Declining it is irrevocable.

Pay, Retirement and Money

Social Security Credits for Military Service

Extra credits for service before 2002 — most already on your record.

Pay, Retirement and Money

Legacy High-3 Retirement

2.5% a year and no TSP match. Nothing at all if you leave before 20.

Pay, Retirement and Money

Continuation Pay

A mid-career lump sum under BRS: 2.5 to 13 times monthly basic pay, for more service.

Pay, Retirement and Money

Final Pay and Out-Processing

Final pay, sold-back leave, travel claims and debts, often landing weeks apart.

Housing and Home Buying

The VA loan, what the funding fee costs, and when it is waived entirely. Worth checking before a lender quotes you.

Housing and Home Buying

VA Home Loan

No down payment, no mortgage insurance, and no fee at all if you have a rating.

Housing and Home Buying

VA Loan Funding Fee

2.15% first time, 3.3% after — and nothing at all if you have a rating.

Housing and Home Buying

VA IRRRL (Streamline Refinance)

A streamlined refinance of an existing VA loan. Usually no appraisal, no new COE.

Housing and Home Buying

VA Loan Foreclosure Help

Six loss-mitigation options. The Partial Claim Program has replaced VASP.

Housing and Home Buying

SAH and SHA Adaptive Housing Grants

Up to $126,526 to adapt a home — and you can use it six times.

Housing and Home Buying

Native American Direct Loan (NADL)

The one VA loan where the VA lends directly. Needs a tribal MOU.

Housing and Home Buying

VA Loan Certificate of Eligibility (COE)

The document proving you qualify. Usually minutes, not weeks.

Housing and Home Buying

VA Cash-Out Refinance

Take equity out, or bring a conventional mortgage into the VA program.

Housing and Home Buying

HUD-VASH and SSVF

Two programs, two timescales. SSVF for a crisis, HUD-VASH for the long term.

Family, Spouse and Dependents

Transferred education benefits, spouse employment support and what changes for your dependents on separation day.

Family, Spouse and Dependents

SpouseWorks Scholarship (formerly MyCAA)

Up to $4,000 for a spouse's license, certification or associate degree.

Family, Spouse and Dependents

Military Spouse Employer Partnership (MSEP)

More than 1,000 employers committed to hiring military spouses, with a job board.

Family, Spouse and Dependents

SpouseWorks Career Coaching (formerly SECO)

Free one-to-one career coaching for spouses. The old SECO, renamed.

Family, Spouse and Dependents

Military OneSource After Separation

365 days of free counseling, career help and tax filing after you leave. Then it stops.

Discharge, Records and Identity

Your DD-214, your discharge character, and how to correct either. This is the paperwork that gates everything else on this page.