A Benefit for Military Retirees in the Ft. Meade and Annapolis Areas

There are probably more military retirees in the Fort Meade and Annapolis Areas than there are active duty personnel. 

Why not?  After all, some of the best medical care in the world is right here (Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, ranked #1 in the nation year after year), and support services including Commissaries and PX facilites in several locations.  Who can count the restaurants, golf courses, Active Adult communities... You'll find everything a military retiree could want - well, except for the high state taxes, but that's a topic for another day.

With so many military couples retiring in this area, eventually some are going to need additional help.  If you or someone you know is nearing that stage of life, I have some news for you:

There's a little-known veterans' benefit for longtime care which is available to most veterans and their spouses - up to $23,396 annually per couple, $19,736 per individual, and $12,681 for the spouse of a deceased veteran.

The criteria for receiving this benefit is at least 91 days of military service during wartime, either in the warzone or stateside.  There's a streamline process for making application and most applicants are approved within four-six months.  Retro-active payments are possible.  Excessive wealth is a barrier to receiving this benefit, but that doesn't describe most people.

The payment received for this benefit isn't enough to pay for assisted living, at least not around here.  But it will certainly help.  For more information, take three minutes to view this NBC report.  (Unfortunately, you'll have to watch a brief advertisement in the beginning.)

As military retirees ourselves, we were not aware of this until we saw an article about it today, so don't assume that eligible people already know about it. 

Knowing about this could actually help you sell homes, if your client is spending some of their own income to subsidize the care of parents who happen to be military retirees.  Just a thought...