Volunteering to face dangers that most people never have to think about in their daily lives is to be appreciated and commended, but due to this increased risk military personnel have special life insurance options for while they are in the military.
However, once a veteran retires from the military, there are many more options for veterans life insurance.
Quick Navigation
- Veterans Life Insurance Options
- Is VGLI worth it?
- The Cost of Life Insurance for Veterans
- Coverage with Pre Exsiting Conditions
- FAQs
- Get Started
Veterans Life Insurance Options
Veterans have access to a few types of life insurance. The two primary forms of coverage are term and permanent.
Term Life Insurance for Veterans
With term life insurance, you can obtain death benefit protection only for a relatively small premium price – provided that you are in good health at the time of application.
Typically, term life insurance policies can be obtained for certain time frames, or “terms,” of 10 years, 15 years, 20 years, 25 years, and even 30 years.
In some cases, these types of policies can be converted over to a permanent form of life insurance at some point in time – and some may even be converted over without the need to provide evidence of good health.
Permanent Life Insurance for Veterans
Permanent life insurance is a type of policy that does not have any certain set time limit to it. So, as long as the premium is paid, the coverage will remain in force. In most instances, the amount of the premium will also stay the same.
These types of life insurance policies will provide both death benefit protection and a cash value component. And the great thing about the cash value is you won’t owe any income taxes until that cash is withdrawn.
This can allow the cash to increase more rapidly than in a taxable investment – oftentimes exponentially. The gain on the cash is not taxed until the time it is withdrawn.
Because of the combination of death benefit and cash value features, the premiums that are due on permanent life insurance are usually higher than they are on term life insurance with a comparable death benefit amount.
Is VGLI Worth It?
Compared to regular life insurance it is very expensive.
So if you can qualify for a regular term life insurance policy for retired veterans then you are much better off going with the private sector company.
To give you a good example, we looked at a $400,000 10 year term life policy for a 45 year old retired veteran. This person is in good health and qualified for term life insurance.
The VGLI policy was $130 per month, but the term life policy was $20.60 per month. This is more than six times more expensive.
So you can see, if you can qualify for other life insurance VGLI is not a good deal and you could save thousands of dollars over the term of the policy by choosing a private veteran life insurance problem.
How Much Does Life Insurance Cost For Veterans?
The cost of a life insurance policy will vary, based on several different factors.
These will include your health and your age at the time you apply for coverage. It will also be based on the type of life insurance coverage that you purchase, as well as the amount of death benefit that you obtain.
Typically, you will also be required to submit a blood and urine sample via a paramedical examination. For this exam, a paramedical professional will usually meet you at your home or place of business.
The testing usually only takes about 30 minutes. The blood and urine samples will be tested for various health conditions that could cause certain risks to the life insurance company.
The insurance company may also require additional information from you, such as your medical records, as well as any information regarding certain health conditions that you may have such as diabetes.
Once everything has been gathered by the home office, they will analyze it and decide on the terms of your coverage. Should your health be determined to be satisfactory, a Standard rating should be applied to you.
If, however, you have certain health conditions that may not be severe enough to deny you for life insurance coverage altogether, you are likely to be approved as a Substandard policyholder.
In this case, you will likely be charged a higher premium rate than that of a Standard policyholder. (In some cases, Substandard policyholders may also be provided with a lesser amount of coverage as well, in order to lessen the amount of risk to the insurance carrier).
If, however, your health is in great shape, and your immediate family members are in excellent health, then most likely you will qualify as a Preferred policyholder. This could also mean that you will be charged a lower premium rate for your life insurance policy.
While most life insurance carriers will all have some form of Standard, Substandard, and Preferred policyholder ratings, many will also have additional sub-categories that lie within each of these categories.
In addition, although all carriers may have somewhat similar underwriting criteria, all do not underwrite their applicants in an identical manner. What this means is that what one life insurance company may deem as being a Substandard policyholder could be deemed as a Standard policyholder at another insurance company.
With that in mind, it is often a good idea to check with more than just one insurer for your life insurance coverage. This is especially the case if you may have certain types of adverse health conditions.
What If I Have Adverse Health Conditions?
Should there be reason that you do not pass underwriting and you are denied for coverage due to your health, you still have other options for obtaining the life insurance coverage that you need. In this case, you could apply via a no medical exam life insurance policy.
As its name implies, a no medical exam life insurance policy does not require that you go through a paramedical exam. With these types of plans, you will typically be required to answer just a few simple questions on the application for coverage.
In most cases, coverage can be issued within just a few days – and sometimes, even sooner. This means that you can have the life insurance protection that you need very quickly. These policies can be either term or permanent – and death benefit amounts can range from just $5,000 up to more than $500,000, depending on the insurance carrier.
Please note though that this type of policy does come with some disadvantages.
The main issue is how much your no medical exam plan will cost. It will be higher than you probably expected since the carrier will not have as much information on your health history. They are adding a higher risk to their book, and in turn they will pass that cost onto you.
The other disadvantage is that you’ll be limited to $500,000 worth of coverage. For most families, that face value will not be enough to cover the expenses that will be left behind if either parent were to pass away.
Most Common FAQs
Does the VA have life insurance?
The VA provides veterans, active service members and their families with insurance coverage. Including different options such as SGLI and VGLI.
Do veterans automatically get life insurance?
Completely disabled veterans are eligible for free life insurance coverage but also are given the chance to purchse additional coverage if they would like.
How To Get Started
When seeking premium quotes on life insurance for veterans, it is typically best to work with either an agency or a company that has access to more than just one insurance carrier.
This is because you will be able to more directly compare – on an objective basis – the insurers, the policies, the benefits, and the premium costs – of the actual coverage that you are considering.
As you go through the process of policy comparison, we can help. We are associated with many of the best life insurance companies in the market place today, and our job is to provide enough information so you’ll make an informed purchase decision. We also work most efficient by helping you over the phone and email- that way we save you time!
We will get you the answers that you need regarding the type of coverage that is right for you, how much benefit protection that you need, and a determination of which of the many carriers that we work with may be the best fit for your specific coverage situation. So, contact us today – we’re here to help.