Life Insurance for Military Members & Veterans (Beyond SGLI)

Service members start with SGLI (Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance) and can convert to VGLI after service - both useful, both limited. Building a real plan usually means adding privately owned coverage that stays with you for life, can be larger, and is often cheaper over the long run for a healthy applicant.

SGLI / VGLI: the baseline

VGLI's premiums climb with age and it has no permanent level-term option, so a healthy service member or veteran can often lock in cheaper, level private term for the long haul. That doesn't mean dropping SGLI/VGLI - it means using them as the floor and building on top.

Watch the war and aviation clauses

This is the part that trips people up. Some private policies contain a war clause or aviation exclusion that can limit or void a payout in combat or military-flight scenarios. Before you buy:

• ask directly whether the policy has a war/terrorism exclusion and how it's defined;
• if you're military aircrew, treat this like any aviation case - see life insurance for pilots; and
• prefer carriers experienced with military applicants, who tend to be clearer and fairer about these terms.

A cheap private policy with a war clause can be worse than useless for a deploying service member. Read the exclusions before you fall in love with the premium.

Deployment and timing

Underwriting can be harder to complete mid-deployment or with imminent orders, and some carriers pause new coverage for members with deployment pending. Where possible, apply while stateside and healthy. Lock in level term early; the coverage then follows you through your career, deployments and into veteran life, at a premium fixed on the day you bought it.

Veterans with service-connected conditions

If you're a veteran with a service-connected health condition, your underwriting blends occupation and medical factors. The occupational side is covered here; on the medical side, the same principles as any impaired-risk application apply - accurate documentation, choosing a carrier that treats your condition favorably, and applying in the right order. Don't assume a VA rating makes you uninsurable; it doesn't.

How much coverage - and don't forget your spouse

Size your total coverage to the need: income replacement (commonly 10-12x income), your mortgage and debts, and your dependents' future costs. SGLI provides a fixed maximum that may sit below what your family actually requires, which is the gap a private policy fills.

Don't overlook spouse coverage. Family SGLI can cover a spouse and children, but the amount is limited and it ends when you separate. If your spouse manages the household or raises children, a private policy on them protects the very real cost of replacing that work - childcare, schooling, running the home - if the worst happens. Plan the household's total coverage across SGLI and private policies together, not in isolation.

Timing your VGLI vs. private decision

After separation you have a limited window to convert SGLI to VGLI without proof of good health - genuinely useful if a condition has made you hard to insure privately. But VGLI premiums climb with age and it isn't level, so over a long horizon it often costs more than private term.

The smart sequence for a healthy service member is: apply for private level term while still serving and healthy, lock in a fixed premium for 20-30 years, and keep the VGLI conversion window as a fallback you only use if your health makes private coverage expensive. Whatever you do, don't let the VGLI conversion window lapse if your health is poor - that guaranteed option is worth protecting.

Action steps

1. Keep SGLI/VGLI as a baseline, but don't stop there.
2. Add portable, level private term - ideally while healthy and stateside.
3. Confirm there's no war or aviation clause that defeats the purpose, or that any clause is acceptable for your situation.
4. If you're aircrew, underwrite the aviation piece deliberately.
5. Right-size the amount to replace income, clear debts, and cover your family's future.

Handled in the right order, a military career is no barrier to solid, portable life insurance - it just rewards buying early and reading the fine print.