Veteran Toolkit — Veteran's Strategic Solutions LLC

How to use this Tap Read to open a guide right here in your browser. Tap Download on the Word and Excel files and they save straight to your device — those are carried inside this page, so they work with no internet connection once you have them.

Still serving? Start here. DoD SkillBridge lets you work a civilian job in your final 180 days while the military keeps paying you — full pay, BAH, BAS and TRICARE. The official program site is skillbridge.mil. The SkillBridge page below covers the free programs and the questions to ask before you commit.

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The Path to 100%

Why 95 is the only number that matters, how VA math actually works, the eight things that close the documentation gap, and the secondary conditions where earned points are most often lost.

Read

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SkillBridge — Ten Free Programs

Work a civilian job in your last 180 days while the military keeps paying you. Ten free programs shortest-first, the four questions to ask any provider, the planning timeline, and how to cut the one cost that is real.

Read

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Ten Benefits Almost Nobody Claims

The VA IRRRL, the funding fee refund, VR&E business funding, one free course of dental care, and the deadlines that quietly end them. Every item links to the agency's own page.

Read

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Travel & Lodging Help for Veterans

Fourteen established programs that cut the cost of travel and lodging, with the eligibility rules stated plainly. Includes both free lifetime national park passes and the difference between them.

Read

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Six Benefits Retirees Miss

For older veterans, surviving spouses and families. Aid & Attendance, Medicare Extra Help, Medicare Savings Programs, LIHEAP, USDA home repair grants and property tax relief — with the eligibility gates the headlines leave out, and who to call.

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DIC — What Your Spouse Gets

Dependency and Indemnity Compensation. The three ways a survivor qualifies, the 10-year rule almost nobody knows, 2026 rates, and the form a survivor actually files.

Read

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The VA Home Loan Guide

What the benefit actually is, what it costs, and the questions to ask before a lender asks them of you.

Read

Word document · 16 KB

Ten Benefits Almost Nobody Claims (print version)

The same ten benefits as a printable document, with the fuller explanation of each and the honest catches spelled out.

Download Ten_Benefits_Almost_Nobody_Claims.docx

Word document · 86 KB

Veteran Trucking Career Pathway

Freedom Haulers, the federal CDL waivers that can skip your road test, your written test and the entry-level training you would otherwise pay for, plus using the GI Bill for school or getting paid wages and a housing allowance through an apprenticeship.

Download Veteran_Trucking_Career_Pathway.docx

Excel workbook · 20 KB

Six-Month Operating Runway Calculator

What it really costs to run a household and a business for six months, what income you already have against it, and how much cash you need on hand before you go full time.

Download Six_Month_Operating_Runway_Calculator.xlsx

Excel workbook · 38 KB

Loan Payment Calculator

Payment, total interest and a full month-by-month schedule for any fixed-rate loan. Add an extra monthly payment and it shows the payoff date you moved up and the interest you saved.

Download Loan_Payment_Calculator.xlsx

Excel workbook · 82 KB

VA House Hack Calculator

Buy a small multi-unit with a VA loan, live in one unit, and see whether the rent from the others covers enough of the payment to make the numbers work.

Download VA_House_Hack_Calculator.xlsx

Excel workbook · 23 KB

Simple Trip Budget

Seven tabs. Price the trip, catch the twenty costs people forget, work out who owes whom, set the amount to save each payday, and compare driving to flying.

Download Simple_Trip_Budget.xlsx

The spreadsheets are locked on purpose. Only the yellow cells accept typing. Everything else holds a formula, and one stray keystroke over a formula replaces it with a number — the sheet then looks right and quietly stops calculating. If you need to change a label or add a row, the unlock password is VSG2026 (Review tab → Unprotect Sheet). Keep an unedited copy either way.

Before you rely on any of this. Rates, eligibility rules and tax figures change, sometimes quickly. These tools do arithmetic and point you at official sources; they are not financial, legal or tax advice, and Veteran's Strategic Solutions LLC is not an accredited Veterans Service Organization. Verify current figures with the agency involved before you spend money or sign anything. For help filing a VA claim, use a VA-accredited representative — DAV, VFW, American Legion, AMVETS, or your county Veterans Service Officer. Never pay anyone to file your claim.