VA Disability Compensation

• VA Disability Compensation benefits help veterans who are disabled to pay for their expenses. To be eligible to receive these benefits, you must have received honorable discharge from service, and your disability must be service related. This means that you are required to show that your medical condition originated while you were serving or that it was caused due to your years of service. You do not need to meet age requirements to qualify to receive these benefits.
  
  

Disability Eligibility

• Regardless of your age, if you have a disability and you meet all requirements, you are eligible to receive VA Disability Compensation benefits. The amount of benefits you receive is not related to your age, and even if you retire, you can continue to receive the same amount of benefits. The amount of benefits you receive depends on your disability rating. As of 2011, people who receive a disability rating of 10 percent are eligible to receive $123 per month, and they are allowed to continue working. People who receive a disability rating of 100 percent are eligible to receive up to $3,014 per month, but they must be incapable of work. Depending on your disability rating, your benefit amount varies between these two extremes.
  
  

Reaching Retirement Age

• If you are receiving VA Disability Compensation benefits and you reach retirement age, depending on your medical condition at that point, you may be eligible to receive higher benefits. At retirement age, you might be more likely to acquire terminal diseases or physical conditions that limit your ability to work. If any of these conditions increase your disability rating compared to your previous disability rating, you may qualify to receive a higher payment.
  
  

VA Pension

• VA Pension is another Department of Veterans Affairs program that pays disability benefits. To be eligible for VA Pension benefits, you must be younger than age 65 and totally and permanently disabled, or you must be age 65 or older. Since you qualify to receive these benefits at age 65, you do not lose your benefits if you reach retirement age at 66. In fact, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs, being older than age 65 is a factor in determining disability.