You are thinking of applying for your VA pension benefits. You have not done it yet, but you believe you are eligible and you want to get the process started.

You have also heard other people talk about getting denied for simple reasons and mistakes on their forms. You want to avoid dragging the process out any more than necessary. To help, here are seven crucial pieces of information that you will need to provide:

1. Your Social Security number: You can also use your VA file number. This information is absolutely required and you will not be able to move forward with a successful application without it.
2. Records of your military history: Again, you are required to provide this information to get benefits.
3. Your personal financial information: You have no choice but to turn over this information disclosing assets, income, debts and the like.
4. Your dependents’ personal financial information: This is the final piece of absolutely required information, though providing everything on this list is still important to help the process go smoothly.
5. Your bank account information: This includes your account number and your routing number. It will be used to send you direct deposit payments if you do wind up getting the benefits.
6. Any relevant medical information: It may be worth a trip to your doctor to make sure that all of your files are up to date.
7. Information about your work history: Note if you have held other jobs besides being in the military.

Remember, this is just the starting point. Make sure you fully understand the legal VA application process before you begin.