Ten benefits almost nobody claims

VA will fund your business

Not just college. VR&E can pay for tools, equipment, licenses, permits, insurance and starting inventory — plus a monthly allowance while you train. It does not touch your GI Bill.

WhoService-connected rating with an employment barrier. Apply on VA Form 28-1900; active duty use 28-0588.

CatchUnder 38 CFR 21.257(a) this is approved when your disabilities are so severe that self-employment is the only feasible goal. Not a free-choice track. On TDIU, ask a VSO first.

va.gov  ·  SkillBridge

The funding fee refund nobody asks for

Paid the VA funding fee, then got a rating dated before your closing? You were exempt that day. The fee comes back — paid straight to you since July 2019.

WhoAny veteran whose disability award carries an effective date earlier than the loan closing date. Purchases, cash-outs and IRRRLs alike.

CatchVA does not find these for you. Call your lender, then the VA Regional Loan Center on 877-827-3702, with your award letter and closing documents.

va.gov

VA IRRRL — the cheap refinance

Refinance an existing VA loan with no appraisal and no income verification. Funding fee is 0.5% instead of 2.15–3.3%. On $300,000 that is $1,500 rather than $6,450.

WhoAnyone with an existing VA loan, 210 days past the first payment, six payments made, current on the note. You only certify you ONCE lived there — it works on a former home now rented out.

CatchYou are not tied to your current lender, and the rate difference between lenders is often worth more than the fee itself.

Junk mailIRRRL solicitations are built to look like government paperwork and push urgency. Nothing about this benefit expires. Throw the mailer away, pick your own lender, and compare at least three quotes.

va.gov

Your VA loan is assumable

A buyer can take over your loan at your original rate. If you locked something low, that is a real selling point in a high-rate market, at a fraction of the cost of a new loan.

WhoAny qualified buyer — they do not have to be a veteran.

CatchIf a non-veteran assumes it, YOUR entitlement stays tied to that loan until it is paid off. Only a veteran substituting their own entitlement frees yours. Always get a written Release of Liability.

va.gov

A 30% rating skips the competition

Not preference points. A federal agency can appoint you directly — no posting, no competition, no beating anyone.

WhoAny veteran with a 30% or higher service-connected rating. Reaches every grade; VRA by contrast caps at GS-11. No expiry.

CatchA hiring manager cannot use an authority they do not know you hold. Name it in your cover letter and your federal resume, with your rating percentage.

opm.gov

Any rating gets you back on post

Commissary, exchange, and MWR retail — golf, bowling, marinas, campgrounds, movie theaters, recreational lodging, American Forces Travel. Changed on 1 January 2020.

WhoANY VA-documented service-connected rating. 10% counts. Also Purple Heart recipients, former POWs, and primary caregivers under PCAFC. Every honorably discharged veteran can shop the exchanges online.

CatchYou need a Veterans Health Identification Card showing your status. Without one you generally cannot get in-person access, so request it before you plan a trip.

news.va.gov

Counseling with no rating and no VA record

Vet Centers sit in ordinary neighborhoods, deliberately apart from VA medical facilities. Free, confidential, and evening hours.

WhoNo enrollment. No rating. No combat service required. FAMILY members are eligible too — individual, marriage, family and bereavement counseling.

CatchRecords are held separately from your VA medical file. For a Soldier who will not walk into a VA hospital, or who worries about a note touching a clearance, this is the door that is actually open. Call 877-927-8387.

vetcenter.va.gov