Blake Hall
Source: USAA – | Retired, Army | San Antonio, TX |
Servicemembers Group Life Insurance (SGLI) premiums are going up…and a celebration could be in order!
Even after the increase, you can obtain $400,000 worth of SGLI plus the added coverage provided through SGLI Traumatic Injury Protection for only $29 a month.
Since the premium increase may have you thinking about life insurance, now is the perfect time to look at your own numbers and see where you stand. If you’re currently eligible for SGLI, is it enough? Are you adequately insured? Or should you purchase additional coverage?
Enough Life Insurance?
See where you stand:
In that spirit of checking out the numbers, here are a few related to SGLI:
1965. The year the current version of the insurance program began. Coincidentally, it’s also the year I was born. And like me (I like to think), the program has gotten better with time: Expanding coverage to spouses, increasing available coverage, adding protection for traumatic injuries…and decreasing prices. According to the VA, today’s paltry price of 7 cents per $1,000 of life coverage is down substantially from the initial cost of 20 cents per $1,000.
120. That’s the number of days after separation when SGLI ends. It’s also the end of the window after separation or divorce when a spouse can convert their Family SGLI coverage to an individual whole life policy.
$10,000. That’s the automatic, no-cost coverage for dependent children provided to servicemembers who are covered by SGLI.
240. This is the number of days after separating from service in which you can convert SGLI to Veterans Group Life Insurance (VGLI) without medical questions. This was extended a couple of years ago.
5. Dollars per month for a spouse under age 35 to get $100,000 of coverage through FSGLI.
1. The flat rate for traumatic injury protection — paying up to $100,000 for a traumatic injury suffered by the servicemember.
Life insurance in general and SGLI specifically are probably not topics you think about, let alone celebrate. But it could be that this price hike (and I use that term loosely) provides an opportunity to do both. Evaluate your own life insurance coverage and be thankful for what SGLI provides…at a very reasonable rate.