7 Best Personal Loans for Veterans, Plus Other Financial Help

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How to pre-qualify for an online personal loan

Pre-qualifying for an online loan can get you access to potential loan terms, including the loan’s interest rate, loan amount and payments. Take the steps to pre-qualify and compare offers to find the loan that gives you an amount you need and a payment you can afford.

» MORE: Pre-qualify with multiple lenders on NerdWallet

Financial assistance, grants and resources for veterans

Veterans seeking personal loans or short-term emergency cash may have other resources available, such as grants, which provide free money with no repayment required, and financial assistance. Here’s a list of some potential resources.

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE AND BENEFITS

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs: The VA’s annual guide to federal benefits for veterans, dependents and survivors offers information on disability compensation, housing grants for disabled veterans and educational assistance.

A veteran service officer at the National Veterans Foundation can help you write and submit benefits claims to the VA.

The Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes: This nonprofit helps veterans cover expenses such as utility bills, car and mortgage payments, and medical bills for wounded veterans and families of Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn. Applicants must meet eligibility requirements to be considered for financial aid and other services.

JOB TRAINING AND PLACEMENT

Blue Star Families: This nonprofit organization provides free resources and services to more than 1.5 million military families, such as training and job placement, career networking events and mentoring.

Hiring Our Heroes: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce launched this nationwide initiative to help veterans, transitioning service members and military spouses find employment opportunities. Hiring Our Heroes hosts free job fairs throughout the country, and also offers a corporate fellowship program, resources for creating a resume, and access to thousands of volunteer mentors.

GRANTS

Rebuild Hope: This volunteer-driven nonprofit provides financial counseling to disabled Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and their families. Qualified applicants may receive emergency financial assistance grants between $1,500 and $2,000.

Unmet Needs Program: The Veterans of Foreign Wars offers this program for military families who have financial difficulties stemming from deployment or other military-related activity or injury.

It provides grants up to $1,500 and can be used for eligible expenses, which include household expenses, car repairs, utilities, food and clothing and medical bills.

Modest Needs Homecoming Heroes Grant: This nonprofit corporation offers a financial assistance grant to eligible military veterans who have recently returned from overseas deployment. The grant helps with one-time emergency expenses or a temporary loss of income.

The American Legion: This nonprofit veterans organization offers a Temporary Financial Assistance program, which awards cash grants of up to $1,500 to children of current active-duty or American Legion members.

Business grants and resources: Veterans looking to start a business or existing business owners can seek financial assistance through small-business grants, as well as education and training programs aimed at helping veteran entrepreneurs.