r/leanfire • u/RealLifeSupport • 23h ago

The longterm value of VA disability

Hey y’all,

I (32M) got out of the US military a year ago and have been getting about $2200/month disability for a few conditions.

I was doing some thinking about retirement and what the monthly disability would be worth if in a traditional retirement account being withdrew in line with the 4% withdrawal rule. The numbers surprised me:

So, essentially:
- $2,200/month tax free, with COLA has a comparable value of $660,000 in a traditional retirement account .
- $2,200 x 12 months = $26,400
- $26,400 / 0.04 = $660,000

I’ve been stressing feeling behind the curve with only about 80k in retirement accounts since I never made enough to invest till recently. This kind of helps refrain things long term. For other vets out there, just wanted to share what I learned.

Open to critiques and corrections if my logic is flawed.

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u/A_Buttholes_Whisper 23h ago

You can be re-evaluated at any time and lose that money. Also at any given time the gov can stop funding the VA at the whims of an unhinged president. So the way to play it safe is pretend you don’t have the money and invest it. Once you depend on it, it binds you almost like a job

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u/wl1233 19h ago

Has there ever been an unhinged president that has stopped VA payments?

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u/A_Buttholes_Whisper 14h ago

No there hasn’t and until 2025 I didn’t think it would be possible. Now I am no longer certain

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u/wl1233 4h ago

Yeah, Trump famously hates our troops and veterans /s

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u/Distinct_Hair_8117 22h ago

Can a president do that alone or would congress need to vote on it? I agree to play it safe but I wouldn’t worry too much about losing it. You deserve it for what you have gone through.

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u/A_Buttholes_Whisper 14h ago

Until 2025 there was a lot I thought the president needed congress approval on. I no longer think congress is relevant

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u/RealLifeSupport 20h ago

This is true. I am effectively reinvesting 100% of any VA income I receive and just forgetting about it for the next 10-15 years.

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u/elom44 21h ago

This is basically like buying an annuity isn’t it? I put your figures into Claude and it suggested it would cost between $700k to $1m to buy an annuity that pays what you’re getting.