The short answer: VA pension pays wartime veterans with low income up to $17,441 a year in 2026 — or up to $29,093 with Aid and Attendance, $34,488 with a dependent — under rate tables effective December 1, 2025. The catch is the income and net worth test, and the escape hatch is unreimbursed medical expenses, which reduce countable income nearly dollar-for-dollar. Here's how the pieces fit, with worked examples.
Three gates, and every one is mandatory. Service first: at least 90 days of active duty with a minimum of one day during a wartime period — you don't have to have been in combat, just on active duty inside the window. Most who enlisted after September 7, 1980 need 24 months or the full period they were called up. The discharge can't be dishonorable.
The wartime windows, per VA: World War II (December 7, 1941 – December 31, 1946), the Korean conflict (June 27, 1950 – January 31, 1955), the Vietnam era (November 1, 1955 – May 7, 1975 in Vietnam itself; August 5, 1964 – May 7, 1975 elsewhere), and the Gulf War (from August 2, 1990, to a date still to be set). For a claim today, Gulf War and Vietnam-era service are the usual qualifiers.
Money second: family income and net worth have to fit, covered below. Age or disability third: the basic pension generally requires being 65 or older, or permanently and totally disabled — and for the higher add-ons, a specific level of need.
Aid and Attendance isn't a separate check; it raises the ceiling VA will pay — the Maximum Annual Pension Rate. The 2026 MAPRs, effective December 1, 2025 with a 2.8% COLA:
| Claimant | Basic pension | Housebound | Aid & Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Veteran, no dependents | $17,441 | $21,313 | $29,093 |
| Veteran with 1 dependent | $22,839 | $26,710 | $34,488 |
| Surviving spouse | $11,699 | $14,298 | $18,697 |
| Surviving spouse with 1 dependent | $15,311 | $17,902 | $22,304 |
Each additional dependent beyond the first adds $2,984. You qualify for Aid and Attendance if you need help with daily activities like bathing, feeding, and dressing; you're bedridden for much of the day; you're in a nursing home because of disability; or your corrected eyesight is 5/200 or less in both eyes. Housebound is the lesser add-on for veterans who spend most of their time home due to a permanent disability — and you can't collect both at once.
Pension pays the difference between your MAPR and your countable income, so almost nobody receives the full ceiling. The formula, step by step:
A widowed veteran with $18,000 of Social Security and $3,000 of premiums and copays has $2,128 of countable medical expenses ($3,000 − $872), so her countable income is $15,872. With the Aid and Attendance MAPR of $29,093, her pension is $29,093 − $15,872 = $13,221 a year, $1,101.75 a month.
Now the example that matters for care costs. The same veteran moves into assisted living at $4,800 a month. That $57,600 annual bill is an unreimbursed medical expense, it dwarfs her $21,600 of income, countable income falls to zero — and she draws the full $29,093, or $2,424.42 a month, tax-free. The Aid and Attendance calculator runs both scenarios on your own numbers.
The list is broader than most families expect: Medicare and supplemental premiums, copays, deductibles, prescriptions, hearing aids and batteries, in-home aides, adult day care, assisted living, and nursing home costs — anything medically necessary that nobody reimbursed. Transportation to appointments counts. The trap is documentation: VA wants the annual totals, and loose records are the most common reason deductions get cut.
For the December 1, 2025 through November 30, 2026 rate year, net worth — assets plus income for VA purposes — must stay under $163,699. The house you live in, one car, and most home furnishings don't count. A spouse's assets count. And there's a three-year look-back: gifts made to shrink assets can trigger a penalty period of up to five years, which is why transferring the house to the kids last month is worse than doing nothing. This is the part of pension planning where an elder-law attorney earns the fee.
They're different programs that share a paymaster. Pension is needs-based; compensation, covered in how much VA disability pays, is earned by service-connected ratings and ignores your wealth entirely. If a condition is service-connected, compensation usually pays more — and unlike pension, it can't be eroded by Social Security income. VA won't pay both for the same period; it pays the greater one. Counting both Social Security checks? The Social Security calculator handles that side of the ledger.
Enter income, medical expenses, and family size — see the MAPR, countable income, and monthly payment at 2026 rates.
Aid & Attendance Calculator →Pension is needs-based and goes to wartime veterans with low income and net worth, whether or not any condition is service-connected; it shrinks as other income grows. Compensation is earned by service-connected disability ratings and isn't means-tested. VA won't pay both for the same period — you get whichever is greater.
Usually yes. Out-of-pocket assisted living and nursing home costs for disability care count as unreimbursed medical expenses, and they're deducted from your income above a small deductible (5% of the basic MAPR, $872 for a single veteran in 2026). That deduction is the main reason assisted-living residents often qualify for the full Aid and Attendance amount.
Net worth — assets plus income for VA purposes — must be under $163,699 for the December 1, 2025 through November 30, 2026 rate year. Your house, one car, and most home furnishings don't count. Gifts made in the prior three years can trigger a penalty period of up to five years, so last-minute transfers backfire.