Real Estate Investment :Valuable Veteran Information

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Want some valuable information to share with your contact database, post on your LinkedIn, facebook, add to your website, tweet and get out to every possible social network you can? Here it is!!!  I am posting this again!!!  Everytime I post it, I hear back from several veterans and/or family members who had life changing outcomes.

Every Year I post this information and will continue to do so as long as these programs are viable benefit programs for Veterans and their spouses.  There are two, little known, Veteran benefits available that; when combined, will pay up to 3/4 of a qualified Veterans and/or spouse of a Veteran’s assisted living. I know this personally because my ex father in law was in assisted living paying just 0 a month for a one bedroom apartment while the VA sends him a check DIRECTLY for the balance of the ,200/mo rent. The applicant can have up to ,000 in the bank, own a home and car and these programs DO NOT effect any other income or benefits you already have!! I share this because, in this economy, it can be very challenging to care for our family members and there are so many Veterans living in back bedrooms isolated from others because they can’t afford an alternative. Here is the information. I hope it helps at least one person live a better quality life while reaping the benefits they so deserve for their service to our country!!!!

Yes, VA Pays for Assisted Living!  This might sound like an advertisement or business promotion but it isn’t.  This is a true story that may save someone a great deal of pain, frustration and money. I know, I lived it. I make no money on this and just hope that it can help others as much as it has helped me and my family. You are welcome to call or email me regarding this program.  It literally saved my Father in law’s life and gave him the independence he needed at a very minimal cost without losing all his benefits. Financial Assistance For Elderly Veterans And/or Their Spouses Is A Well Kept Secret. Did you know the VA will pay for a qualified Veteran’s and Spouse’s Assisted and Home Health Care? I cared for my father-in-law, a Veteran of WWII, for years in our home until I could no longer manage his care safely. Like a lot of people, he had no long-term care insurance or budget for an assisted living facility.  We were considering state assistance but then he would lose his social security and have to liquidate the few assets he had.  One day, after my father-in-law had a serious hospital stay, I decided to look into care facilities to see what his options were. I walked into one of the premier care facilities in Tucson and was pleasantly surprised to see a brochure on the front desk describing the VA Assisted Living Pension program outlined below.  Since that fateful day, my father-in-law has been living in a beautiful care facility with his own apartment and round the clock assistance and meals and the VA has paid him directly for ¾ of his monthly fees.  His apartment and meals total ,100/mo. He is paying just 0 a month and the VA is paying him the difference.  It took 4 months for approval but once it was done, the VA sent him a retroactive check covering the 4 months he was living in the facility.   That was a beautiful day for all of us!!!!!  If you or your spouse is a veteran, the first thing to do is apply for general VA eligibility.  

No matter what your circumstances are now, you never know what you or your spouse might need in the years ahead. My father-in-law didn’t apply for eligibility until he was 76 years old.    Big mistake and cost him dearly in expenses for medical and prescriptions.

This is where my father in law ended up living until his recent death and he was very happy. www.cascadestucson.com Here are the details.  Do not try to do this on your own!!    At the end of this is contact information for very good consultants who know this program inside and out.  Do not rely on the assisted living social workers or the VA. Very, very few people know how to get this done properly.

Here Are the Details:  Ask an elderly Veteran if they are aware they may be eligible for a pension from the Veteran’s Administration and they will tell you ” I’m not eligible because I was not injured in the War.”  This is a common misconception, which keeps many Veterans from tapping into a benefit they well earned by serving our country. The fact is elderly, disabled Veterans and their widows may very well qualify for large sums of money, but they have to apply for the funds.  There are several Veteran pensions, but the pension designed to help elderly Veterans and widows pay for costly home health care or Assisted Living Facility care is called Pension with Aid and Attendance. It is actually two pensions in one.  The two pensions combined can pay a veteran up to ,674 per month and a widow can receive up to 0 per month. (these numbers may be higher now. These were from 2005) The amount one receives depends upon whether or not they are married, how much their medical expenses may be and their current financial and medical status.  The pension is paid by check directly to the Veteran or widow every month as long as they meet the criteria. 

The Aid and Attendance Pension is the government’s best-kept secret. I cannot tell you how many seniors have told me that they called the Veterans’ Administration and were actually told that this pension does not exist or that they do not qualify – they really do exist and your clients, family and friends may qualify.  To get the maximum pension amount, a veteran must qualify medically and financially and must have served their country for at least one day during “War Time”.   Also the Veteran must have been honorably discharged.  Every case is considered individually.  If a Veteran or Veteran Widow feels they may qualify, they can apply for the pension.  The pension can take many months to actually be approved.  The average waiting period is three to eight months. The first check will be retroactive to the date the application arrived at the Veterans’ Administration, therefore the first check may be for thousands of dollars.  Subsequent checks will arrive monthly for the approved amount.  This pension money can mean the difference between affording adequate care for an aging Veteran/ Widow(er) or having no care at all. As with any governmental program, success is all in the paperwork. The pension application is seven pages long and some of it is in essay form.  It is the exact wording used in the essay areas that mean the difference between approval or denial. Also, the Veteran’s Administration does not tell Veterans about all the supporting documents that they would like to see.  The better the medical and financial records, the better the chances of approval. Including the right medical forms signed by a doctor is very important for approval.  Also typical of governmental red tape is the frustrating lack of communication.  Once the application is filed and in the process of being reviewed, it is nearly impossible to get an update or check on the status of the application. In a perfect world, financial assistance for those who qualify should be easily accessible and easy to get.  But the reality is that government agencies are inherently complicated and their application processes are never self-explanatory or simple. Ignorance of the rules is no excuse and no one will tell you the rules. The rules are written somewhere, but the Veterans Administration is not allowed to give them to you.Seasoned Eldercare professionals can often navigate these processes for you.  They may charge for their services, but to attempt to do it yourself and have your application denied, will cost much more money.  The Veterans’ Administration supposedly employs staff to help Veterans and their Widows apply for these pensions for free, but it is these very people who have told so many seniors that they do not qualify, when in fact, they could qualify if they made one small change.  Perhaps the Veteran’s Administration is afraid that if they made it easy for every Veteran to apply, the pension fund would go broke.  Given that War Time includes the Gulf War Era, which began in 1990 and has not ended yet, it is anticipated the pension fund will one day be either broke or impossible to get. For now, the money is very much available and attainable. Here are the Aid and Attendance eligibility criteria for the year 2005. 1) Veteran served in the Military for at least one day during War Time or had a spouse who served at that time. Spouses are people whom you never divorced. 2) Honorably Discharged from the Military. 3) Currently has medical or psychological condition which make the Veteran or Veteran spouse dependent on the aid or assistance of a non- family member in order to meet their daily care needs or they reside in an Assisted Living Facility (not a nursing home).  This claim must be supported by physician signed forms and medical records. 4) Financial: Have assets in their own name below ,000 (if married) or below ,000 (if single). The car and house does not count as an asset.  Annual income below ,955 (if single) or $ 20,099 (if married) after all medical expenses such as Assisted Living fees, paid caregiver salary, medications, medical transportation/ supplies, certain housing expenses, etc. In many cases, if a person has a paid care giver, such as a nurse’s aide, or they pay an Assisted Living Facility, those expenses impact so greatly on a person’s net income, that they will meet the criteria for the income level. If a Veteran or Veteran Widow has cash assets above the limit, they are allowed to place those assets into certain investments in order to have them “sheltered”.This sheltering does not have a penalty or “look back period” associated with it. Proper asset sheltering for Aid and Attendance should be done under the supervision of an Eldercare professional or Attorney well versed in Medicaid planning because one could easily ruin the chances of ever getting Medicaid if the VA pension planning was done incorrectly. With a little professional planning, many Veterans and Veteran Widows can receive pensions that make a significant difference in the amount of care they receive. After all, the reason for this particular pension is to assure that a Veteran or Veteran Widow does not live in a substandard environment in their old age. It takes a little work to apply for this pension, but anything worth having usually does. And believe me…it is very worth it. These people know how to get this done. I have personally met them and I am impressed with their dedication to helping Veterans.

They can even help you liquidate Real Estate assets and minimize capital gains taxation by rolling your equity into an annuity which will pay out for the rest of your life.  

Andy Smith Smith & Cox, LLC
1846 E. Innovation Park Dr. Oro Valley, Az. 85755
Office (520)318-5505        Cell(520)269-3883          Fax (520)318-5508 
www.smithandcoxllc.com
“Retirement Planners for Southern Arizona’s Midwestern Retirees”
Smith & Cox, LLC is an Independent Investment Advisory Firm

Best Wishes. Please pass this information on to anyone you think it may help.

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