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There are close to 1.5 million Americans serving in the United States Armed Forces today. At some point in time they will be discharged and going back to civilian life. To these great men and women, we say thank you for your service and we appreciate you protecting us while we sleep and keeping us free. You are without a shadow of a doubt the most important people in America. This article is all about how to find the best plan design and the lowest rates for life insurance for military veterans.
Some of you have life insurance through SGLI and will wonder what to do about life insurance after you are discharged. This article will help you find veterans life insurance with the lowest rates and protect your family members financial future.
This articles information will be directed to the major branches of the US Armed Forces including the:
- US Army
- US Marine Corps
- US Navy
- US Air Force
- US Coast Guard
If you currently have life insurance through SGLI and you are considering converting to VGLI consider this.
The first idea many servicemen have is to convert their SGLI (Service Members Group Life Insurance) policy to a VGLI (Veterans Group Life Insurance) policy once they are discharged. This is an option you definitely have so let’s take a look at this option first and see what is involved to make this transition.
Option #1 Apply for VGLI Life Insurance:
Within a time-span of approximately 45 to 60 days following your discharge from service, you should
receive an application from OSGLI (Office of Servicemen’s Group Life Insurance). You have a maximum time period of one year and 120 days from your date of discharge to apply for VGLI. After this, you will no longer be eligible for VGLI life insurance. If you submit a VGLI application within 120 days following your discharge you may submit your application along with the first month’s premium and you do not need to any evidence of being in good health.
If you submit a VGLI application between 120 days and one year and 120 days after your discharge you will need to provide proof of good health. Keep in mind that your application may be declined if you are not in good health.
The veteran’s administration (VGLI) Veterans Group Life Insurance policies have a rate increase every five years.
These plan designs are in essence a five-year renewable Term life policy that includes a substantial rate increase every 5 years like clockwork. If you are in decent health your premiums would be drastically less with a conventional life insurance product with level premiums that do not go up. Take a look at a sample of the VGLI rates with a $400,000 face amount. Especially pay attention to the higher age groups starting with 50-54 years of age.
- Age 29 & Below – $32.00 per month
- Age 30 to 34 – $40.00 per month
- Age 35 to 39 – $52.00 per month
- Age 40 to 44 – $68.00 per month
- Age 45 to 49 – $88.00 per month
- Age 50 to 54 – $144.00 per month
- Age 55 to 59 – $268.00 per month
- Age 60 to 64 – $432.00 per month
- Age 65 to 69 – $600.00 per month
- Age 70 to 74 – $920.00 per month
- Age 75 & Up – $1840.00 per month
The youngest age category of 29 and below have rates that are higher than conventional Term life insurance but the older age categories have incredibly high rates that most Americans could not even afford. Conservatively speaking if you were age 55-59 your premiums would be $3,216.00 per year. The age 60-64 veterans would be paying $5,184.00 per year. The final age group of 75 and over would have an annual premium of $22,080.00 per year. Review their rates on the VGLI website.
If an individual is in very poor health, these policies may work for you. If any veteran in good health is considering purchasing veterans life insurance through the VGLI, the life insurance offered from the conventional life insurance companies in the US will be the only way to go. These 5 year rate increases are brutal to the wallet and don’t make sense when there are so many other great options to choose from.
Option #2 will be your best choice. Apply for veterans life insurance on the civilian life insurance market where you can receive the lowest rates:
Your second option after discharge would be to apply for veterans life insurance through the conventional civilian market. This would be far less expensive and simple to accomplish. Remember when you go this route your rates would not be based on a military background and you would be able to receive the lowest rates possible on Term life insurance or permanent life insurance such as Universal Life.
You can purchase low cost Term life insurance on the civilian market if you are in the Reserves, National Guard or a member of the Full Time Military.
If you are a member of the National Guard or the Reserves, you application would be treated like any other occupation with no increase in rates or stipulations. If you are full time military, you still can purchase life insurance on the affordable civilian market. There would be some basic questions that need to be asked such as:
- How much time are you going to be spending overseas?
- Are there any plans for deployment in the next 12 months?
- What are your current duties & responsibilities?
How much will Term life insurance cost for a discharged military veteran?
If you apply for Term life insurance or a permanent plan design such as Universal Life your rates will be based on the usual underwriting criteria below:
- Your Current Age
- Health History
- Tobacco Status
- Height & Weight
- Occupation (If Hazardous)
- Sports (If Hazardous)
- Driving Record
Keep in mind that the above list applies to fully underwritten policies. These types of policies have the lowest rates available. Simplified issue life insurance which is also referred to as Non-Med policies can be approved in 24-48 hours. They do cost more because the life insurance companies do not know as much about your health history so they have to add some buffer premium for the added risk they take. I always recommend the fully underwritten policies so you can receive the lowest premiums possible.
What will happen if I have pre-existing medical conditions?
Applying for veterans life insurance with medical conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol,
anxiety, height & weight issues and many others are very common these days. A medical pre-screen will help direct you to the correct company to apply with and help you to receive the lowest rates. A medical pre-screen takes a few minutes and is totally confidential and simple to perform. Your agent can take care of this for you and get you on track to a smooth application process. We highly recommend pre-screens to take the guesswork out of the application process. Nobody likes surprises when applying for life insurance.
What if I am a member of the National Guard or the Reserves?
This is a very good question when you think about this due to the fact a Reservist or a National Guardsman could be ordered to be deployed at virtually any given time. The way the life insurance companies look at this scenario is your application would be treated just like anyone else’s as long as you do not have deployment orders pending.
How do I go about applying for life insurance for military veterans on the civilian insurance market?
This is very simple, for starters, you can compare Term life insurance for military veterans along with Universal Life also on our free consumer quote engine on the right. You can compare the lowest rates from the most competitive and trusted life insurance companies. Don’t hesitate to contact us 7 days a week by calling (800)897-5699 for answers to all your questions. We can walk you through the whole process so you know what to expect before you ever apply. The application process is very simple which can begin with an easy telephone application that takes about 20 minutes.
Independent insurance agents and brokers work with all of the most competitive companies to make sure you receive the lowest rates possible.
Independent insurance agents are also know as brokers. They have complete access to all the best life insurance companies. State Farm agents and Farmers agents for example are referred to as captive agents and only have their one company to show you. In today’s competitive life insurance market, looking at only one company will be a huge handicap when trying to receive the lowe
st term life insurance rates.
Our office utilizes over 40 trusted companies such as Prudential, Banner Life, Transamerica, Protective Life, Assurity, Voya, MetLife, Aviva, AXA Equitable, ING, SBLI, Fidelity Life and many more. Check out our top 12 life insurance companies blog post where you can get some more information about the excellent companies we use.
Check out our About Us page to learn more about us and all of the excellent life insurance products we offer. Don’t hesitate to use our websites quoting engine where you will be able to compare Term life insurance rates from the most competitive companies in less than a minute. Thank you for taking the time to read this blog post. I hope it has answered many of your questions.