Maximizing Your VA Benefits with Zak Helme of The Better Veteran
What happens when a community college dropout becomes an NSA intelligence mission manager, a Columbia graduate, a founder with a successful exit, and an NYU Stern EMBA student, all before 35? In this episode, Emily sits down with Zak Helme, Navy veteran and founder of The Better Veteran, to talk about the benefits most veterans never use and how they can shape a path to business school and beyond.Since launching about two months ago, The Better Veteran has grown from four subscribers (three of them Zak and one his wife) to more than 3,300, with no paid advertising. Each week the newsletter takes a deep dive into federal benefits across the VA, Department of Education, and Department of Labor. Zak also builds free interactive tools, including the Veteran Freedom Index and the MBA ROI calculator featured on the Military MBA Consulting website. Zak walks through how the calculator works: veterans enter their rank, years of service, dependents, and disability rating, then compare in-program income from the GI Bill housing allowance and disability pay across schools like Stanford, Wharton, and NYU, alongside post-MBA salary outcomes by career path.Emily and Zak also cover:Why Zak chose NYU Stern’s Executive MBA over a full-time program, and the real tradeoffs between the twoWhy every veteran, whether they served one contract or forty years, or were medically retired, has earned the same benefitsTotal and Permanent Disability (TPD) discharge for student loans, and Zak’s view on whether veterans should worry about it going awayNew federal loan caps for professional graduate programs, including MBAsUsing the GI Bill, housing allowance, and Yellow Ribbon program at top schools in the U.S. and abroadWhy land-grant and state universities are strong GI Bill options, and why veterans should avoid for-profit “money mills”Veteran-owned small business certification and set-aside government contracts as a path to entrepreneurshipZak’s long-term vision for an online community, in-person events, and a network of veterans who have used their benefits to build remarkable livesIn the lightning round, Zak shares the worst transition advice he ever got, the one thing he would fix about how the VA serves veterans, the benefit he believes can change a family’s financial life, and the biggest mistake veterans make with the GI Bill.Whether you’re preparing for an MBA application, weighing an EMBA against a full-time program, or simply trying to understand what you’ve earned, this conversation will show you what you don’t know you don’t know.Learn more and subscribe at The Better Veteran, and try the MBA ROI calculator on the Military MBA Consulting website.
