VA Pension Asset and Income Limits for 2026

Veterans Pension and Survivors Pension are need-based, so VA applies a financial test with 3 parts. All figures on this page took effect December 1, 2025, after the 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment, and run through November 30, 2026.

Source: https://www.va.gov/pension/veterans-pension-rates/, effective December 1, 2025.

Net worth decides whether you are eligible at all. The MAPR decides how much VA can pay: pension is the difference between your countable income and the MAPR for your household. Medical expenses lower countable income, which raises the payment. For the service and age rules, start with the pension eligibility guide.

Since October 18, 2018, VA has used a single bright-line number. 38 CFR 3.274 says net worth "means the sum of a claimant's or beneficiary's assets and annual income." The regulation set the limit at $123,600 in 2018 and raises it every December by the same percentage as the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment. For the current year that is $163,699.

The income half is your countable income after deductions, not your gross income. The calculation runs in this order:

1. Add up your countable assets (next section).
2. Add up your annual income from every source.
3. Subtract exclusions and deductible medical expenses from that income.
4. Add step 1 to step 3. If the total is $163,699 or less, you pass the net worth test.

Example. A widowed veteran has $140,000 in savings and a paid-off home. She receives $26,000 a year in Social Security and a small pension, and pays $3,000 a year for Medicare premiums and prescriptions. Deductible medical expenses are $3,000 minus the $872 threshold, or $2,128, so countable income is $23,872. Net worth is $163,872: $173 over the limit.

A veteran's net worth includes a spouse's assets and income. A surviving spouse's net worth includes only their own assets. A dependent child whose net worth is over the limit is not counted as a dependent.

Net worth is not a one-time gate. The regulation says it "may decrease in three ways": assets fall, income falls, or both. You can apply once you are under the limit.

38 CFR 3.275 defines assets as "the fair market value of all property that an individual owns, including all real and personal property," minus any mortgage on that specific property. VA's rates page lists "investments (like stocks and bonds)," antique furniture and boats as examples of personal property that counts.

Counted assets usually include:

• Checking, savings, CDs, stocks, bonds, mutual funds and brokerage accounts
• Retirement accounts such as a 401(k) or IRA. The regulation makes no exception for them; they are property you own
• Cash-value life insurance. No exception here either. The old version of this page said only cash value over $1,000 counts; that rule does not exist
• A second home, rental property, land you do not live on, and the part of your home lot beyond 2 acres if it could be sold
• Vehicles beyond family transportation, such as a collector car or a boat

Excluded assets:

• Your primary residence, with the lot it sits on up to 2 acres (87,120 square feet). Land beyond 2 acres stays excluded only if "the additional acreage is not marketable." The home stays excluded while you live in a nursing home, assisted living or a relative's home to receive care.
• Personal effects. The regulation names "appliances and family transportation vehicles." There is no 1-vehicle cap.
• Certain federal payments, such as Radiation Exposure Compensation.

Watch out: The mortgage on your home does not help you. Because the home is already excluded, VA "will not subtract" a mortgage on the primary residence from your other assets. If you sell the home after pension starts, the net proceeds become an asset unless you buy another residence in the same calendar year.

38 CFR 3.271 starts from the broadest possible rule: "payments of any kind from any source shall be counted as income" in the 12-month period received "unless specifically excluded." VA's rates page adds that it counts your Social Security, investment and retirement payments, and any income your dependents receive.

Counted income includes: Social Security, military retired pay, civilian pensions, wages, interest and dividends, rental income, annuities, and one-time payments such as an inheritance, which VA counts for the 12 months after you receive it. Income you could claim but waive still counts.

Excluded income under 38 CFR 3.272:

• "Donations from public or private relief, welfare, or charitable organizations." The regulation does not name programs, so report every payment and let VA apply the exclusion.
• Food and shelter given by a relative, friend or charity
• VA pension payments themselves
• Reimbursement for a casualty loss, such as an insurance payout after a fire
• Profit from selling property, unless you sell property as a business
• Joint bank account balances that became yours because the other owner died
• Unreimbursed medical expenses above 5% of your MAPR (next section)
• Tuition, fees and books you pay for a course of study
• Part of a dependent child's work income
• Up to $5,000 a year of state or local veterans' benefits
• Lump-sum life insurance proceeds paid on a veteran's death

There is no separate income limit. Income above your MAPR means a payment of $0 until deductions bring it below the cap.

The MAPR is the most pension can pay for a year. It is higher if you qualify for the Housebound or Aid and Attendance (A&A) add-on. Monthly figures are the annual amount divided by 12 and rounded.

Source: https://www.va.gov/pension/veterans-pension-rates/, effective December 1, 2025.

Source: https://www.va.gov/pension/survivors-pension-rates/, effective December 1, 2025.

2 married veterans where 1 has A&A and the other is Housebound have a MAPR of $38,350. A qualified surviving child alone has a MAPR of $2,984. The survivor rules are in the Survivors Pension guide.

This deduction is the reason most people who get A&A qualify. Under 38 CFR 3.272(g), unreimbursed medical expenses you paid in the 12-month period are subtracted from income, but only "to the extent" they are more than 5% of your MAPR. For 2026 the thresholds are $872 for a veteran with no dependents, $1,141 with 1 or more dependents, $584 for a surviving spouse alone and $765 for a surviving spouse with 1 dependent (VA rates pages, effective December 1, 2025).

38 CFR 3.278 lists what counts: payments for items or services "that are medically necessary" or that improve, or slow the decline of, a disabled person's functioning. The categories that matter most for older veterans:

• Nursing homes and medical foster homes. The whole bill counts, "meals and lodging" included.
• Assisted living. Room and board counts if the facility provides or contracts for health care, or if a physician, physician assistant, nurse practitioner or clinical nurse specialist states in writing that you must live there to receive care.
• In-home care. Payments to an attendant count when the attendant provides health care or custodial care, meaning regular help with 2 or more activities of daily living (bathing, dressing, eating, toileting, transferring, walking in the home). A non-licensed attendant, including a family member, counts if you need A&A, are housebound, or a provider states in writing that you need custodial care.
• Insurance premiums. Medicare Parts A, B and D and long-term care insurance. See the Medicare coordination guide for what Medicare itself pays.
• Medications and travel. Prescription and non-prescription drugs, prescribed vitamins, and mileage to appointments at the General Services Administration (GSA) rate.

Vacations, cosmetic procedures and help with chores alone do not count.

Worked example. A veteran, 86, with no dependents receives $31,000 a year in Social Security and retired pay and has $60,000 in savings. His income is above the $29,093 A&A MAPR, so without expenses he gets nothing. He moves into assisted living at $4,000 a month ($48,000 a year) because he needs help bathing and dressing, documented by his physician on VA Form 21-2680.

1. Medical expenses: $48,000 minus the $872 threshold equals $47,128 deductible.
2. Countable income: $31,000 minus $47,128 is below zero, so VA counts $0.
3. Net worth: $60,000 in assets plus $0 income. Under the limit.
4. Pension: $29,093 MAPR minus $0 equals $29,093 a year, about $2,424 a month.

Cut the care cost to $20,000 and the numbers change: $19,128 deductible, $11,872 countable income, and a payment of $17,221 a year, about $1,435 a month. Report every expense on VA Form 21P-8416, Medical Expense Report, with invoices, leaving out anything reimbursed. If a relative is the caregiver, the caregiver support programs guide covers separate VA help for them.

38 CFR 3.276 took effect October 18, 2018, and VA disregards any transfer made before that date. Since then, VA reviews the 36 months before it receives an original pension claim, or a new claim after a period without pension.

A "transfer for less than fair market value" includes gifting an asset, selling it below its value, and buying an annuity or setting up a trust that you cannot fully cash out. The penalty is based on the covered asset amount, which is not the whole transfer. It is the amount by which your net worth "would have exceeded the limit due to the covered asset alone" if you had kept it. If you would still have been under $163,699 with the asset counted, there is no penalty.

How the penalty period is set. VA divides the covered asset amount by the monthly penalty rate: the A&A MAPR for a veteran with 1 dependent divided by 12 and rounded down. For 2026 that is $34,488 divided by 12, or $2,874. The result is rounded down to whole months, capped at 5 years (60 months), and starts on the first day of the month after the last transfer.

Example. A veteran with $150,000 in assets and countable income gives $50,000 to a daughter 1 year before applying. With the gift counted, net worth would have been $200,000, so the covered asset amount is $36,301. Divide by $2,874: 12.63, rounded down to 12. VA pays no pension for the 12 months after the gift. Because the gift was 12 months ago, that period has already run.

Watch out: Returning the money can undo the penalty. If the covered assets are returned to you within 60 days of VA's notice, and VA gets the evidence within 90 days, it recalculates or removes the penalty. Two other exceptions: assets lost to fraud or unfair sales of financial products marketed to establish pension eligibility are not covered assets, and transfers into a trust for a child VA has found incapable of self-support are not penalized if the trust cannot benefit you or your spouse.

Spending money is not a transfer. Paying for care, paying bills, buying a car you use, or repairing your home reduce net worth at fair market value and carry no penalty.

38 CFR 3.277 requires you to "promptly notify" VA of any change in income, net worth, marital status, nursing home status, or a child's school enrollment after age 18.

• Income goes up. An inheritance or a part-time job lowers the payment. Reporting late means an overpayment VA will collect.
• Medical expenses change. A move into care or a new caregiver can raise your payment. File a new VA Form 21P-8416.
• Assets rise above the limit. Pension stops, and can restart once net worth is back under $163,699.
• Verification. Under 3.277(c), VA can require an Eligibility Verification Report when your Social Security number has not been matched, when it believes income went unreported, or to protect program integrity. If you do not answer within 60 days, VA "shall suspend the award or disallow the claim." VA Form 21P-0969, Income and Asset Statement, updates income or net worth between claims.

A VA-accredited Veterans Service Organization (VSO) representative or county veterans service officer can help with all of this at no charge.

State benefits do not change VA's net worth test, but they can change the money side. Under 3.272, up to $5,000 a year of state or local veterans' benefits is excluded from income, so a state annuity or bonus below that amount does not reduce your pension. Most states also run at least 1 state veterans home, and many offer property tax relief keyed to age, income or disability. Pick your state to see what applies.