Veteran & Military Tools
Calculators built for service members, veterans, and their families: VA loan math with the funding-fee rules, the combined-ratings disability math the VA actually uses, 2026 BAH rates for every housing area, AFT scoring, and survivor benefits (DIC and the Survivors Pension). More military tools are on the way.
- VA Loan CalculatorVA home loan payment with the funding fee financed in, and $0 PMI, ever.
- VA Disability CalculatorReal VA math: combine your ratings, see your official rating and 2026 monthly pay.
- BAH CalculatorOfficial 2026 rates: every MHA, every grade, with and without dependents.
- AFT CalculatorAll five events on the official Army scales, plus exactly what you need to pass.
- DIC CalculatorScreen the DIC paths and add up the published 2026 survivor rates, tax free.
- VA Survivors Pension CalculatorThe 2026 difference formula: what a surviving spouse or child may be eligible for.
- Mortgage CalculatorMonthly payment with taxes, insurance, and HOA, plus lifetime interest.
- Retirement Withdrawal CalculatorFind out how long your retirement savings will really last.
- Life Insurance CalculatorHow much term life coverage you need, via the DIME method.
What is here, and what is coming
- VA disability calculator. Combined ratings using the method the VA actually applies, plus current compensation rates and the dependent adjustments.
- VA loan calculator. Payment with the funding fee financed in, the exemptions that remove it, and no PMI ever.
- Supporting tools. mortgage for comparison against a conventional loan, retirement withdrawal, and life insurance need.
More veteran tools are on the way. If there is one you keep needing and cannot find a straight answer for, tell us, because that is genuinely how most of this site gets built.
Combined ratings are not addition
This is the single most misunderstood piece of VA math, and it is misunderstood for a good reason: the arithmetic is genuinely counter-intuitive. A 50 percent rating and a 30 percent rating do not make 80 percent. The VA applies each rating to what remains of the whole person, so the 30 percent applies to the 50 percent that is left, giving 15, for a combined 65 that then rounds to 70.
The practical consequence is that additional ratings are worth progressively less, and that the rounding at the end can make a real difference to your monthly figure. Our calculator implements the method as written in 38 CFR 4.25 and links the regulation, so you can check the arithmetic against the source rather than against another website's guess.
The funding fee is not the same for everyone
The VA loan funding fee varies with your down payment and whether this is your first use of the benefit, and it is waived entirely for veterans receiving compensation for a service-connected disability and for some surviving spouses. The fee is usually financed into the loan rather than paid at closing, which means it quietly increases the amount you borrow and therefore the payment. Our calculator shows that rather than treating the fee as a closing cost you forget about.
These are estimates built from published VA figures with the source and review date on the page. They are not a determination of your eligibility, your rating, or your entitlement, and only the VA can tell you those.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my combined disability rating lower than the sum of my ratings?
Because the VA does not add ratings. Each additional rating applies only to the portion of the whole person remaining after the previous ones, so 50 percent and 30 percent combine to 65 rather than 80, then round to 70. This is set out in 38 CFR 4.25, which we link on the calculator so you can follow the method yourself.
Do I have to pay the VA loan funding fee?
Not always. The fee is waived for veterans receiving compensation for a service-connected disability and for certain surviving spouses. Otherwise it varies with your down payment and whether you have used the benefit before, and it is normally financed into the loan rather than paid up front, which increases both your balance and your monthly payment.
Is the compensation figure your calculator shows what I will receive?
It is an estimate from the VA's published rate tables for the combined rating and dependent situation you entered. Your actual award depends on the VA's own determination of your ratings and circumstances. Use this to understand the math and to check that a figure looks right, not as a determination of entitlement.
What other veteran tools are planned?
The collection is deliberately small and growing rather than padded out. What gets built next is driven mostly by what people ask for, so if there is a calculation you keep needing and cannot get a straight answer on, get in touch and it goes on the list.