Quick answer
SGLI covers up to $500,000 in $50,000 steps, and eligible service members are signed up automatically. Whether that's enough depends on what your family would need without your income. After you leave the military, SGLI stays in force free for 120 days, so line up your next policy before you separate.
SGLI can be enough, but only if its death benefit covers what your family would need without you. When comparing life insurance for military members, start with your family’s expenses, existing resources, and plans for leaving service. Additional coverage may make sense if SGLI leaves a financial gap or you need protection beyond military service.
How do you know whether SGLI is enough?
Compare your family’s expected expenses after your death with available financial resources, then check whether your actual SGLI benefit covers the remaining gap.
SGLI, short for Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance, provides low-cost term coverage to eligible service members. The VA’s SGLI guidance, updated in 2025, lists a maximum benefit of $500,000, available in $50,000 increments. Eligible service members who meet the program’s criteria are enrolled automatically.
That maximum isn’t a recommendation for every household. Your family might need less, or its needs might exceed the available benefit.
Build your estimate around:
- Immediate expenses: Funeral costs, medical expenses, and debts your family would need to address.
- Ongoing expenses: Income replacement, housing, and child care.
- Future expenses: Children’s education and other financial support you want to provide.
Then subtract the financial resources your loved ones already have. This expense-minus-resources approach comes from Life Happens’ coverage guidance. Our life insurance needs calculator can help organize that estimate.
Compare the result with your actual coverage, not just the program maximum. If your benefit falls short, that difference is the starting point for evaluating additional insurance.
The VA’s SGLI guidance, updated in 2025, lists a total monthly deduction of $26.00 for $500,000 of coverage. That includes a $25.00 life insurance premium and $1.00 for Traumatic Injury Protection coverage, known as TSGLI.
Affordable coverage is useful, but price doesn’t tell you whether the benefit is enough.
What happens to your life insurance when you leave the military?
Leaving service creates a coverage decision: review VGLI eligibility and conversion options before your SGLI protection ends, especially if your health has changed.
Under the VA’s SGLI guidance updated in 2025, you receive 120 days of free coverage after leaving the military. The same guidance allows conversion to an individual permanent policy within 120 days of discharge without proof of good health.
VGLI, or Veterans’ Group Life Insurance, is a separate term coverage option. The VA’s guidance updated in 2026 says its benefit amount is based on how much SGLI coverage you had when you left service.
VGLI application deadlines
The VA’s 2026 guidance sets these deadlines:
- Apply within 1 year and 120 days after leaving the military.
- Apply within 240 days to avoid having to prove good health.
- Apply after that 240-day window and you’ll need to submit evidence of good health.
The longer application deadline doesn’t extend the shorter no-health-evidence window. Don’t treat those dates as interchangeable.
Permanent conversion versus term coverage
Converting SGLI to a permanent policy is different from applying for VGLI. Term insurance covers a specified period; permanent coverage is designed for longer-lasting needs and generally has higher premiums.
Our term life insurance explainer covers that distinction in more detail.
Before leaving service, put the applicable deadlines alongside your expected separation date. If you’re considering replacing coverage, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners advises against canceling an existing policy until you get the new one. A pending application isn’t the same as a policy.
How much does VA life insurance cost by age?
VA life insurance pricing depends on the program: VGLI premiums depend only on age, while spousal FSGLI premiums also increase as the spouse ages.
There isn’t a single VA life insurance rate chart that applies to every program. Keep the program name attached to any premium you compare.
The VA’s VGLI guidance updated in 2026 lists the following monthly rates, effective July 1, 2025, for $500,000 of coverage:
| Age | VGLI death benefit | Monthly premium |
|---|---|---|
| 30 to 34 | $500,000 | $40.00 |
| 40 to 44 | $500,000 | $70.00 |
| 50 to 54 | $500,000 | $145.00 |
For VGLI, the VA says monthly cost depends only on age. It doesn’t charge more based on gender or tobacco use.
That differs from individually purchased life insurance. State insurance regulators explain that private policy pricing can reflect age, health, occupation, smoking, hobbies, and other risk factors. A private policy therefore needs its own application and pricing review; you can’t predict its cost from the VGLI table.
Compare more than the premium due today. Ask how premiums may change, how long protection lasts, and what happens when coverage needs to continue.
For private term coverage, level term insurance and renewal provisions deserve particular attention. The NAIC warns that renewing a term policy brings higher premiums. Our term life cost guide provides broader context, but an individual offer is what establishes your price.
What coverage is available for military spouses and children?
FSGLI offers coverage for eligible spouses and dependent children, but you should assess a spouse’s financial contribution separately rather than assume family coverage suffices.
Family Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance, or FSGLI, covers spouses and dependent children of service members covered under full-time SGLI.
According to the VA’s FSGLI guidance updated in 2026:
- Spousal coverage can reach $100,000, but cannot exceed the service member’s SGLI coverage.
- Each dependent child can receive $10,000 of coverage.
- Dependent children receive coverage free; spousal coverage requires a premium that increases with age.
Don’t assume your spouse is automatically enrolled. The VA’s 2026 guidance says military spouses married on or after January 2, 2013, aren’t automatically covered. The service member must enroll the spouse through the SGLI Online Enrollment System.
When estimating a spouse’s coverage needs, consider income and child care costs. A household may need money to replace care as well as wages. Apply the same expense-and-resources calculation you used for the service member.
Also review what happens if the family’s circumstances change. The VA’s 2026 guidance allows conversion of spousal FSGLI to an individual permanent policy within 120 days after the service member’s separation, divorce from the spouse, or death. That option doesn’t allow conversion to term, variable, or universal life insurance.
The best life insurance for veterans and family members starts with each person’s financial role and coverage needs. It isn’t simply whichever arrangement has the smallest premium.
When should you consider private life insurance?
Consider private coverage when your family’s needs exceed your military benefit, but compare application requirements, future premiums, and policy exclusions before choosing additional protection.
Term insurance is intended to provide lower-cost coverage for a specific period. The NAIC notes that most term policies don’t build cash value. That can fit a need tied to raising children or paying off a mortgage, rather than a need for lifelong coverage.
Private life insurance for military veterans also deserves a look when evaluating post-service options. Still, neither acceptance nor a lower price is assured.
Health and application requirements
Depending on the policy, an application may involve health questions, a medical exam, or another health assessment. The NAIC cautions that policies requiring little detailed health information usually cost more and provide less coverage.
Our guide to no-exam and other underwriting approaches explains the differences. No exam doesn’t necessarily mean no health review.
Answer application questions accurately. Incorrect information can lead to reduced or canceled coverage.
Military and aviation exclusions
Don’t assume every private policy treats military duties the same way. Maine law permits certain exclusions or restrictions involving war, military service, aviation, and specified hazardous occupations. Minnesota law also permits certain aviation-related benefit limitations.
Those examples aren’t a nationwide rule. They’re a reason to inspect the actual contract and any riders.
Ask specifically about your duties, military aviation, and any war-related language. If the wording is unclear, have a licensed insurance professional explain it before you rely on the policy. A benefit amount alone doesn’t tell you when that benefit would be payable.
What should your family know about death benefits?
Your family should understand the death benefit, know who is named to receive it, and have beneficiary arrangements that match your wishes and circumstances.
Life insurance pays a death benefit if you die while the policy is in effect. The NAIC explains that this money can help address lost income, funeral expenses, debt repayments, medical expenses, and child care.
For veterans life insurance death benefits, start with the coverage actually in force. The VA’s VGLI guidance updated in 2026 lists available term benefits from $10,000 to $500,000, based on the SGLI coverage held when leaving service. Don’t substitute the program maximum for your own benefit amount.
Beneficiary planning matters, too. The NAIC advises against naming a minor child directly because insurers won’t pay a minor. Its guide suggests considering an estate or trust instead. Discuss the appropriate arrangement with an estate-planning professional rather than assuming either choice fits your family.
Tax treatment also needs careful wording. The IRS’s guidance reviewed in 2026 says life insurance proceeds received because of the insured person’s death generally aren’t included in a beneficiary’s gross income. Interest received is taxable, and policy transfers can create exceptions. Check unusual circumstances with a tax professional.
Finally, revisit your policy after marriage, divorce, a birth, adoption, a job change, or a death in the family. Coverage and beneficiary choices should reflect your current household, not just the circumstances when you enrolled.
Your next step: check the gap and the deadlines
Start with your actual benefit amount, your family’s estimated needs, and any approaching separation date. Review beneficiaries and spousal enrollment, then compare any uncovered need with available coverage options.
If private term coverage belongs in that comparison, the term quote page is another reference. Compare equivalent benefits and read the exclusions, not just the price. Keep existing coverage in place until replacement coverage is obtained.
Frequently asked questions
Is SGLI enough if you have children?
It depends on what your children and other dependents would need financially. Include ongoing household support, child care, education, debts, and final expenses, then subtract available resources. Compare that gap with your actual SGLI benefit. Having children is a reason to review coverage, not proof that a particular benefit amount is sufficient.
Can you get VGLI without a medical review?
The VA’s guidance updated in 2026 says you won’t need to prove good health if you apply within 240 days of leaving the military. Applying after that window requires evidence of good health. The overall application deadline is 1 year and 120 days after leaving service, so the health-evidence deadline arrives earlier.
What if a private life insurance application is denied?
Ask why the application was denied and whether incorrect or incomplete information contributed. Life Happens says applicants can appeal decisions based on incorrect or insufficient information. Washington’s insurance regulator also notes that underwriting methods differ, so another application may receive a different decision. That isn’t a promise of acceptance; compare available options without abandoning existing coverage prematurely.