Questions veterans
are asking

Yes — that's exactly what the app is built for. You enter your estimated monthly benefit from your SSA statement (you can find it at ssa.gov), pick what age you want to start collecting, and the app projects it forward with annual COLA alongside your VA compensation for the years ahead. Most people using the app aren't receiving Social Security benefits yet — they want to see what the full picture looks like when it kicks in.

No. The app never asks for your SSN. All it needs is your estimated monthly benefit amount from your SSA statement. No accounts, no login, no email — nothing that identifies you ever leaves your phone.

Your data is stored on your device only. The app makes zero network calls — no servers, no cloud, no analytics, no tracking. Nothing is ever sent anywhere. Delete the app and it's gone. You can verify this yourself in the App Store privacy label: zero data collected.

No catch. Free to download, no ads, no in-app purchases, no paywall. The app was built for veterans because this information should be easy to see. A broader version of Culminari with additional income streams is in development — that's the business — but Culminari for Veterans will always be free.

Nobody can predict exact COLA — it changes every year based on inflation. The app uses a long-term planning average based on historical data, not a prediction of any single year. It's the same approach financial planners use: you can't know what inflation will be in 2034, but a reasonable average over 20+ years gives you a useful picture of where things are headed. Each year when the actual COLA is announced, the app's rate tables get updated through an App Store update.

Your SSA statement projects your benefit assuming you keep earning at your current level until you claim. The app uses the number you enter as your Primary Insurance Amount — the benefit at your full retirement age — and adjusts it for early or delayed claiming and future COLA. If your earnings change between now and when you claim, your actual benefit may differ. The app explains this in its Learn tab under Social Security Benefits.

Not yet — iOS first to get it right, Android is next. Follow the Culminari Facebook page for the announcement when it's ready.

It's on the roadmap for the full Culminari app. Military retirement pay needs your retirement system, years of service, and retired pay to model correctly — it's a bigger build. This version focuses on VA compensation and Social Security benefits as the foundation, and military retirement is the next layer.

Planned. Special Monthly Compensation has its own rate structure (SMC-K through SMC-T, plus combinations) that sits outside the standard 10–100% schedule. It takes dedicated engineering work, but it's on the roadmap.

TRICARE Select and Prime for military retirees are planned for the full Culminari app alongside military retirement pay. Getting retiree healthcare costs in there next to Medicare would make the picture much more complete for 20+ year retirees.