FAFSA confusion: Reporting veteran retirement pay and SSDI as tax-free income?

You definitely need to report both the retirement pay and SSDI even though they're tax free! My husband is also a disabled vet and I made the mistake of not reporting his VA disability the first time around. Got flagged for verification and delayed my son's aid by 2 months.

I can help clarify this for you: 1. Yes, you must report all untaxed income including military retirement and SSDI in the "Untaxed Income" section of the FAFSA. The 2025-2026 FAFSA specifically asks for this. 2. All savings and assets should be reported regardless of their source. The FAFSA doesn't care where the money came from, only that you have it. 3. Since you don't file taxes, you'll select "Will not file" when asked about filing status. Then you'll manually enter income information. 4. SSDI (Social Security Disability Insurance) is NOT the same as SSI (Supplemental Security Income) for FAFSA purposes. Medicare is also NOT the same as Medicaid. Be careful to only check the benefits you actually receive. 5. Yes, as a parent in the household, you must be included on the FAFSA even if you don't work or file taxes. Your information is still required for a complete financial picture. I recommend using the FAFSA preview worksheet first to organize all this information before entering it online.

UGGGHH the FAFSA is such a NIGHTMARE for military families!!! I spent HOURS trying to figure this out last year for my twins. The FSA website kept crashing anytime I tried to get help and the phone line had a 3+ hour wait EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. I nearly gave up!

Military retirement and disability benefits have specific reporting requirements on the FAFSA: • VA disability payments should be reported as "Untaxed Income and Benefits" • SSDI is reported separately as "Untaxed Social Security Benefits" • Military retirement is reported as "Other Untaxed Income" And yes, you absolutely need to include yourself on the FAFSA even if you don't file taxes or work. The FAFSA requires information from both legal parents who live in the household. For your specific situation, make sure to note that SSDI is different from SSI - they're treated differently for aid calculation purposes. And Medicare is completely different from Medicaid in the Federal Benefits section. Finally, all savings count as assets regardless of their source (tax-free or not).

i went thru this last yr with my husbands army disability and ssdi too!!! its so confusing!!! i think u need to report everything even tho its not taxed bc colleges still count it as income. we made the mistake of not reporting the va disability and got selected for verification and it was a HUGE hassle

I worked in a college financial aid office for 5 years, and this is one of the most common issues veterans' families face. Here's what you need to know: 1. The FSA system will flag your application if they detect you're receiving military/VA benefits but don't report them. These systems talk to each other! 2. For accurate SAI calculation, report all untaxed income in these categories: - VA disability → Untaxed Income and Benefits - SSDI → Untaxed Social Security - Military retirement → Other Untaxed Income 3. Yes, you need to be included as a parent even with no income. 4. SSDI and Medicare are NOT the same as SSI and Medicaid. 5. For the tax-free income section where it asks for a tax form line, you'll enter the amounts manually and may need to provide documentation if selected for verification. If you have trouble with the online system when entering this information, I highly recommend using Claimyr to get through to a live FSA agent quickly. I've referred many families to their service (claimyr.com) when they need immediate help. They have a video that shows the process: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ. Getting direct guidance from an FSA agent can save weeks of back-and-forth.

dont overthink it! just put your husband's retirement and ssdi in the untaxed income section and your good! and yes medicare isnt medicaid fyi

Thank you all SO MUCH for the helpful responses! I feel much more confident about how to report everything now. I'm going to get all our documentation together tonight and tackle the application tomorrow with a clear plan. I'll report back if I run into any other issues!

My daughter just went through this whole process and goodness it was confusing! Just wanted to add that when we called the financial aid office at her school, they were actually way more helpful than the general FAFSA helpline. They deal with military families all the time and knew exactly where everything should go. Might be worth calling your daughter's top choice schools directly for guidance!

As a fellow military spouse, I completely understand your confusion! We went through this exact same situation with our son's FAFSA two years ago. Here's what I learned the hard way: The key is to be thorough and honest about ALL income sources. Even though your husband's retirement and SSDI are tax-free, they absolutely must be reported as untaxed income. The FAFSA system is designed to capture your family's complete financial picture, not just taxable income. One thing that really helped me was creating a simple spreadsheet listing all our income sources and their amounts before starting the application. This way I could reference it while filling out each section instead of trying to remember everything. Also, don't stress too much about the specific line references on tax forms you don't have - the system allows you to enter amounts manually when you select "Will not file." Just make sure you have your year-end statements from the VA and Social Security handy for accurate amounts. Your daughter is lucky to have such a thorough parent advocating for her! The extra time you're taking now to get this right will definitely pay off.

I'm going through this exact same situation right now with my spouse's VA disability and SSDI! After reading through all these responses, I feel so much more prepared. One thing I wanted to add is that when I called the Federal Student Aid Information Center last week, they mentioned that if you're selected for verification, having organized documentation ready makes the process go much smoother. I've started gathering our VA award letters, Social Security benefit statements, and bank statements now rather than scrambling later. Also, for anyone else dealing with this - the MyStudentAid app actually has a helpful checklist feature that walks you through what documents you might need based on your situation. It's been a lifesaver for keeping track of everything!

I'm in a very similar situation with my husband being a disabled veteran receiving both VA disability and SSDI! Reading through all these responses has been incredibly helpful. One thing I wanted to add that might help you - when I was struggling with the FAFSA last year, I found that the Veterans Education Success organization has a really helpful FAFSA guide specifically for military families. They break down exactly where to report different types of military benefits and have examples that made it click for me. Also, I learned that if your husband's retirement is specifically medical retirement (sounds like it is based on your post), that gets reported differently than regular military retirement - it goes in the disability benefits section rather than retirement income. The distinction matters for the financial aid calculation! You're doing the right thing by being so thorough. Military families often get overlooked in the standard FAFSA guidance, but there are resources out there designed specifically for our unique situations. Good luck with your daughter's application!

I'm a veteran education counselor and this is such a common issue! Just wanted to add one more resource that might help - the Student Veterans of America (SVA) has a FAFSA completion toolkit specifically designed for military families dealing with complex income situations like yours. They have step-by-step screenshots showing exactly where to enter VA disability, SSDI, and medical retirement benefits. Also, since your husband is medically retired, make sure you're not double-reporting his benefits. Sometimes the medical retirement pay and VA disability can overlap, and you want to avoid inflating your reported income. The key is to report the actual amounts you receive, not the gross amounts before any offsets. One last tip - many schools have dedicated veterans' services offices that can review your FAFSA before you submit it. They're often more knowledgeable about military benefits than general financial aid staff. It might be worth reaching out to see if any of your daughter's prospective schools offer this service!

I'm a military family financial counselor and wanted to add one more crucial point that I haven't seen mentioned yet - if your husband's medical retirement includes both VA disability compensation AND retired pay, make sure you understand how they interact. Sometimes retired pay is reduced dollar-for-dollar by the VA disability amount (called VA waiver), so you'd only report the actual net amounts received, not both full amounts. Also, since you mentioned you haven't filed taxes in 14+ years, be prepared that some colleges might request a "non-filer's statement" during verification. This is just a simple form confirming you weren't required to file taxes due to low income thresholds. One practical tip: when you get to the assets section, remember that retirement accounts like TSP (if your husband has one) are NOT counted as reportable assets on the FAFSA, but regular savings and checking accounts are. This distinction can make a significant difference in your Student Aid Index calculation. The fact that you're being so thorough shows you're going to get this right! Military families deserve every bit of aid they qualify for.

As someone who just went through this process with my veteran spouse last month, I wanted to share a few additional tips that really helped us avoid delays: First, make sure you have the exact dollar amounts from your most recent award letters rather than estimating. The FAFSA system can be very sensitive to discrepancies, and having precise figures from official documents will save you headaches later. Second, I'd recommend calling ahead to your daughter's top choice schools to ask if they have any supplemental forms for military families. Some schools have additional questionnaires that help them better understand veteran benefits and can actually work in your favor for institutional aid. Finally, don't forget about education benefits! If your daughter is eligible for any transferred GI Bill benefits or other military education programs, those need to be reported in a specific section of the FAFSA as well. The whole process can feel overwhelming, but you're asking all the right questions. Take it one section at a time and don't hesitate to save your progress frequently - the system can be glitchy with complex military situations. You've got this!

I just wanted to jump in and say how helpful this entire thread has been! I'm a newer member here but my family is in a very similar situation with my husband's VA disability and my son starting college next year. Reading through everyone's experiences and advice has been like finding gold - I had no idea about so many of these nuances like the difference between SSDI and SSI reporting, or that the systems actually communicate with each other to flag unreported benefits. The practical tips about organizing documentation ahead of time, using the MyStudentAid app checklist, and reaching out to school veterans' services offices are exactly what I needed to hear. I'm definitely going to check out those military-specific resources like the SVA toolkit and Veterans Education Success guide that were mentioned. Thank you to everyone who shared their experiences - both the success stories and the cautionary tales about verification delays. It's clear that being thorough and accurate upfront is so much better than dealing with corrections later. This community is amazing for supporting military families through these complex processes!

I'm a financial aid administrator at a state university and wanted to add a few more insights that might help you and other military families in this thread: One thing I see causing confusion is the timing of when to report benefits. Always use the "base year" amounts (2023 for the 2025-2026 FAFSA), not current year estimates. So if your husband's benefits changed in 2024, you'd still report the 2023 amounts. Also, regarding assets - while you do need to report savings from tax-free sources, there's actually an asset protection allowance for parents that can shield a portion of your savings from the aid calculation. The amount varies by age and marital status, but for most military families I work with, it covers a significant portion of their assets. One more tip: if you're selected for verification and need to provide documentation for untaxed income, the VA and Social Security provide benefit verification letters online that most schools will accept. Having these ready can speed up the process significantly. I always tell military families - your service has earned these benefits, and colleges understand that military compensation structures are complex. Don't let the FAFSA complexity discourage you from pursuing all available aid!

Just want to echo what everyone else has said about being thorough and honest with reporting all income sources! I went through this same process last year with my veteran husband's disability and SSDI. One thing that really helped me was printing out the FAFSA completion guide specifically for military families from the Federal Student Aid website before I started - it has examples of exactly where each type of benefit gets reported. Also, since you mentioned being a stay-at-home mom, make sure you still include your Social Security number and demographic information even though you don't have income. The system needs both parents' basic info to process the application correctly. One last tip - if you run into technical issues while entering the military benefit information (which happens more often than it should), try using a different browser or clearing your cache. The FAFSA system can be finicky with complex income situations, but persistence pays off. You're doing great by asking these questions upfront rather than guessing!