Is there Affordable Life Insurance for Veterans?

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.

What Are My Options For Life Insurance?

There are several types of life insurance that are available to Veterans in the market place today. The two primary forms of coverage are term and permanent. 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.  There are even life insurance policies available for obese individuals if that is something you are in need of. Continue reading to learn more about some of our reviews such as our Metlife Life Insurance Review.

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. This cash value is allowed to grow on a tax deferred basis. This means that there are no income taxes that are due on the gain in the cash each year as is the case with regular taxable investments.

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 The gain on the cash is not taxed until the time it is withdrawn.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 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 A Good Deal Or Should I Look At Another Option?

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 If You Are A Veteran?

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.

When you apply for a life insurance policy, in most instances, you will be required to fill out an application for coverage, and go through the process of underwriting. On the application for coverage, you will be asked certain questions regarding your:

• Age
• Height and Weight
• Occupation and Income
• Marital Status
• Current Health
• Health History
• Family Health History
• Smoking Status
• Hobbies (Whether you participate in hobbies that are considered to be dangerous, such as sky diving or scuba diving)
• Frequency of Foreign Travel

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.

After all of your information has been received, the insurance underwriters will analyze all of it and make a determination regarding your coverage. Should your health be determined as being similar to that of the “average” policy holder, then it is likely that you will be approved as a Standard policy holder and will be charged an average premium rate.

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 policy holder. In this case, you will likely be charged a higher premium rate than that of a Standard policy holder. (In some cases, Substandard policy holders 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, you are in excellent health, and you also have a family history of excellent health, then it is possible that you could be accepted at a Preferred policy holder. 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 policy holder 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 policy holder could be deemed as a Standard policy holder 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.

There are several disadvantages to these plans that you should be aware of when you’re shopping for insurance protection. The most notable pitfall of these no exam plans is that they are going to be more expensive than a traditional insurance plan. The purpose of the exam is to give the insurance company an idea of how much risk you are to accept for insurance coverage. Without the medical exam, the insurance company is taking a much greater risk to give you life insurance, and they are going to offset that by charging you higher premiums. If you want to get cheaper life insurance coverage, then you will to apply for a traditional policy that requires a medical exam.

The other disadvantage is that you’ll be limited to $500,000 worth of coverage. For most families, this won’t be enough insurance coverage for your family. Not having enough life insurance protection is one of the worst mistakes that you can make for your loved ones. If something tragic were to happen to you, and your life insurance policy is too small, they would be responsible for all of your debts and not have the money to pay off those expenses.

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 we can work with you in obtaining all of the pertinent details that you require in making a more informed purchase decision prior to moving forward. We can do so for you quickly and easily, directly from your home computer, and without the need to meet with a life insurance agent or broker. Whenever you are ready to start the policy comparison process, simply use the form on this page.

Should you discover that you have any questions along the way that you need answered, our experts will be happy to assist you. We know that the purchase of life insurance can sometimes be a lot to digest, so we are here to help. Please feel free to contact us directly, toll-free, by calling 888-229-7522

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.