Can I choose between retirement pay and va dissability pay

ok i have my va exam all next week in vista and la jolla ca. i know 20% or lower is seperated and 30-40 tdrl and 50-100 is pdrl but my questions are as follows.
i am getting rated for dod on my leg, compartment syndrome and foot drop. (from a motorcycle accident. but im claiming 19 other conditions for the va
Qs
1) if it comes back as say 40% dod and 80 va which obviously the va would be more money per month do i get to choose?
2) is their anyway if i get say 40 or 30 dod that i choose severance pay inseted of 1000 dollars a month? because i have 3 kids and marries 1000 a month wont pay our car paymnets rent food ect it wont what the heck would i do? at least severance pay would pay off our vehicles and set us up till i found a good job back home in or.
3) im going back to oregon and everyone on here says is i get retired i wouldnt get unemployment cause retirement counts as pension but my buddies that have gotten out and did a va claim and get $ every moth still rate full unemployment and voc rehab which diss pay UE and school they bring on over 4k a month which would def pay the bills for us and the kids.

im claiming DOD
foot drop
compartment syndrome right leg

va
PTSD
insomnia
chronic diarrhea
temporbiladeral joint dysfunction (jaw)
tinnitus
bilateral hearing loss
facuit syndrome, lunbar spine
otitus media
right hip condition
right knee condition
right ankle condition
headaches
painful scar (post operation compartment syndrome)
and a few others that are embarrassing but anyways.

so obviously my va is going to be higher the my dod rainting but my question is mostly when it comes back can i choose between th etwo? i rally want a severance pay to get us out of the hole and cause my wife and my jobs when we get back will already have health insurance for us.

im not a pune ive been in 6 years im a sergeant ive done my deployments im tired of the corps im ready to go back to my small town in oregon and raise my boys. thanks for the imput guys and god bless all your hearts
 
ok yea i get it but say i get 40 dod and 80 va obviously 80 va is more money per month th edod how do i make sure i get the va pay? dod 40 retirement for me is 1200 roughly and and 80 va with 3 kids and married is 0ver 2k plus is i get the full unemployment with is over 2k a month in oregon on top of that but that is if i take the va money cause the dod money counts as pension. anyways to make this happen? va money per moneth cause 80 va is more the medical retirement for me
Do you not think you'll be able to find a job once you get out? As Warrior pointed out, unemployment is temporary...and shouldn't be relied upon for income if at all possible.
 
Retirement has everything to do with unemployment cause its a pension and its taxible. Va money is no ttaxible and you rate the max unemployment if va money but not on retirement.
 
Yes I plan on getting a job forsure but for the time being unemployment would be the temp solution for an extra 2k a month till I.find a job but if I get retirementthen i can't get unemployment but if i get va moneybthen I.get full unemployment. So my QUESTION IS IS THERE AWAY TO TAKE THE VA MONEY INSTEAD OF RETIREMNT?
 
Yes I plan on getting a job forsure but for the time being unemployment would be the temp solution for an extra 2k a month till I.find a job but if I get retirementthen i can't get unemployment but if i get va moneybthen I.get full unemployment. So my QUESTION IS IS THERE AWAY TO TAKE THE VA MONEY INSTEAD OF RETIREMNT?

This is getting a bit muddled. If the DoD retires you, you will receive the higher of either: high 3 of your DoD base pay or your VA amount.

1. The only case where the offset applies is if your DoD amount is higher than your VA amount, which it sounds like it is not in your case, so it is a mute point- you are going to receive your VA amount.

2. There is nothing you can do to choose which one you get, you automatically get the higher of the two (as the DoD states, "the most financially beneficial to the service member").

If you are 30% or greater disabled as assigned by the PEB, you will be retired. You will not be able to choose severance.

If you are less than 30% disabled per the PEB (for conditions unfitting), you will receive severance. When you leave the military, you will have your severance check (which takes a while to get to you- some have had to wait 1-3 months or more) and whatever your VA compensation is. Keep in mind that severance pay is fully taxable and is considered income. Whatever else you decide to do for additional income at that point is up to you.
 
You can elect to receive military or VA compensation. However, in the absence of an election you will get whatever is most advantageous. (There are some rare instances, usually having to do with family law and divorce, where electing the "less advantageous" amount is actually better for the member).
 
DOD Retirement has nothing to do with unemployment, period!!! Unemployment is a state claim. If he was 70% IU and receiving 100% because of individual unemployability... then he can not draw unemployment. But Unemployment is a state program and has nothing to do with a military medical retirement!!!

Uh yea it does.. DOD pension has everything to do with unemployment. It's a taxable earned income.
 
Hey sgt march,
So hey congtats on.your raitings.so what now? U get the retiremnt or.the va money? And or you get your tetiremnt for a few.months.till.va kicks in and.takes over so.you can.get full unemployment till u find job. If you don't mind me asking also whats your story like why u.went peb what u claimed va and DoD ect?
 
Uh yea it does.. DOD pension has everything to do with unemployment. It's a taxable earned income.


MY AMRY RETIREMENT IS NOT TAXABLE. :rolleyes: And it has nothing to do with what state I claim residence. I do not collect unemployment compensation now because I collect Social Security Disability. VA Compensation is not taxed to anyone.... ;)
 
MY AMRY RETIREMENT IS NOT TAXABLE. :rolleyes: And it has nothing to do with what state I claim residence. I do not collect unemployment compensation now because I collect Social Security Disability. VA Compensation is not taxed to anyone.... ;)

If you're dod pension is not being taxed then your injuries were a result of combat, and I do not know how that works with UI benefits. I am full aware that the va comp is untaxed though, read through my posts where I have clearly stated that the va comp has no effect on UI benefits.
 
To OP: We also were hoping to have severane for a variety of personal reasons. We will wait and see what percentages are returned and go from there. My husbands lumbar disc disorder has gotten better so we may re do his ROM. We know his cervical fusion is permanently unfitting and likely 10 percent however. Everyones' family has different needs and being wounded/ill/injured defines what those needs play out to be. We will work with whatever we end up with and be glad to get it....but you are definitely not alone in preferring severance.
 
Uh yea it does.. DOD pension has everything to do with unemployment. It's a taxable earned income.
Here's from another post today on unemployment:
How did your retirement effect you weekly unemployment pay... The DOD pay didn't affect my unemployment at all since it was for disability (it was a headache to get straight with the State, but finally got squared away.)
Did you still have to give then you retirement pay statement... Filed in Wisconsin, I have yet to file for SSDI as I am still not sure what that all involves (haven't done my research on that) and how much it would benefit me. Also yes the unemployment office wanted to see the DOD document stating that it is for disability retirement which does not affect my unemployment in any way.
:rolleyes: I wish people knew what they were talking about before they open their pie hole and inform people (based on their situation:confused:) whose situation is different as the gospel :cool: This not my first rodeo...
 
Let's be civil everyone. The point is to help people. Keep that in mind when you post and you will most likely meet the spirit of what we are trying to accomplish here.

As to the substantive issue, having a military disability retirement by itself should not disqualify folks from UI. I would think that the issue could arise with a 100% TDIU rating or an inability to seek employment. But, these are state law issues, so I would start with your state unemployment office on criteria for payment.
 
Cool that's good news then.. When I called the Washington UI office they stated as I had. It would effect the amount I receive but I still could be entitled to some. Like I suggested earlier in the thread, get with the state UI office they could tell you best.
 
Sorry SGT MARCH, I guess I need to be more sensitive. State laws will vary in all 50 states. Sounds like the other person had to convince his state unemployment office too. Sometimes state workers don't hear what we say.... sometimes we don't say what we mean. A dod retirement is income but not all dod retirements are the same... when it comes to state law. I hope everything turns out well in your future and tteal 07 makes the right decisions with the for his future.
 
Sorry SGT MARCH, I guess I need to be more sensitive. State laws will vary in all 50 states. Sounds like the other person had to convince his state unemployment office too. Sometimes state workers don't hear what we say.... sometimes we don't say what we mean. A dod retirement is income but not all dod retirements are the same... when it comes to state law. I hope everything turns out well in your future and tteal 07 makes the right decisions with the for his future.

No need to be sensitive with me, I'm an Infantry squad leader.. Not much sensitivity coming from my end, and not much can hurt my feelings. I'm very hopeful that what you said is true, and I will work hard to try and have my disability retirement from the DOD not have an effect on my UI until my VA comp. kicks in. That's what this website is for, helping people, if my info was wrong then someone needs to say so, by speaking up you will have made people look harder into their research.
 
You don't chose between DoD and VA. You always get VA if you apply for it and it will offset DoD retirement. Lets say you get $1,000 DoD and $2,000 VA. You would get the $2,000 from VA as it completely offsets your lesser DoD amount. Now, let say you get $2,000 DoD and $1,000 VA. You would get $1,000 from the VA and $1,000 from DoD, the amount the VA did not offset.

The VA offset can be restored in full or in part via CRDP of CRSC. For disability retirees, you must have 20 years to be eligible for CRDP. All disability retirees can file for CRSC. The amount restored by CRSC or CRDP will be limited to the lesser amount of:

Retirement based on LOS

or

The amount of VA comp (for CRDP) or the amount of VA compensation for combat related conditions (for CRSC)

You cannot get both CRDP and CRSC. If eligible for both, you must elect one over the other.

Mike
 
You don't chose between DoD and VA. You always get VA if you apply for it and it will offset DoD retirement. Lets say you get $1,000 DoD and $2,000 VA. You would get the $2,000 from VA as it completely offsets your lesser DoD amount. Now, let say you get $2,000 DoD and $1,000 VA. You would get $1,000 from the VA and $1,000 from DoD, the amount the VA did not offset.

The VA offset can be restored in full or in part via CRDP of CRSC. For disability retirees, you must have 20 years to be eligible for CRDP. All disability retirees can file for CRSC. The amount restored by CRSC or CRDP will be limited to the lesser amount of:

Retirement based on LOS

or

The amount of VA comp (for CRDP) or the amount of VA compensation for combat related conditions (for CRSC)

You cannot get both CRDP and CRSC. If eligible for both, you must elect one over the other.

Mike

Thank You Sir
 
thanks zomglawlz i appricate that incite and like i said above ya know. also who diciedes if the condition i may improve or is permanate? the va guy that gives me my exams next week? it seams like the best deal for me would be 20 dod and crap i hope 80+ which is what the MSC told me anyways severance pay and va money every moth sine my wife's job will have heath insurance and then i will be at home and be a dad for a little bit and collect unemployment and va month every month and be a dad for a while and be able to live a little then go get a job while getting va money ontop of full unemployment would be 10000 times better then just dod retiremnt best case sanerio is what 1500 f that when say 80 va is what 2300 and unemployment is over 500 a week crap thats over 4k a moth while my wife work has health insurance so wed be set. byt just dod rretiremtn pay crap that wouldnt even pay our car payments and rent at all!!!!!!!!!!!!1 any advice here?
your story? actual facts?

I can see your point about the little bit of money while waiting for VA but you want Medical Retirement. I understand that your wife will have a job where you can get health benefits for you and your family but if you do a little research on what health care premiums are right now and where they are projected to be your wife could be giving up half her pay check for these benefits which you could get for free or a fraction of the cost. Tricare might not be Blue Cross Blue Shield but the amount you are gonna pay in the civilian sector for healthcare is not worth it and you will be losing out on a lot of extra cash. Also what if your wife has trouble finding a job or gets layed off in this economy who knows it could happen then your family is stuck with no Healthcare or Cobra (which is extremely costly) or you gotta try to get on medicare or medicaid which means a lot of out of pocket expenses. And god forbid someone in your family gets really sick or needs some surgery or gets a chronic disease most healthcare plans out there to today are HMO based or something similiar and they have a coverage cap. Once you use up the allotted money for your plan they say oh well and you get the bill. I work in the healthcare industry and currently have a masters in healthcare management and admistration and I am telling you get the medical retirement because even if you can choose no amount of up front money is going to be worth what you get from the healthcare coverage you are entitled to from medical retirement. It is guarenteed coverage for you and your wife for life and your children till they graduate college and it will cost you next to nothing. Just something to think about.
 
Absolutely... ;)
 
OK so what about back pay.........
When your retired form DOD (40%)and when (90%)VA disability pay sets in is there back pay for full VA amount or is it offset from what is received from DOD retirement pay.
So back pay after 3 months would be either $6000
or $3000 after retired pay offset.
 
Your back pay will be the difference of DOD and VA(if VA pay is higher) for however many months till you get VA pay!

So for example my retirement pay is 1300$ and my VA pay will be 4000$ and I've been waiting 5 months now so if I was to get ratings today my back pay would be 2,700 each month( which is the difference of DOD and estimated VA pay)for a total of 13500$

Now I've heard it takes time for VA to get the audit from DFAS so a vet on here who has already recieved retro pay could give you a better timeframe on how long before money in the bank
 
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