Can Soldiers Get Life Insurance in Time of War?
Posted on Mon, Apr 12, 2010
Among the most important priorities of financial planning for members of the U.S. Military, perhaps none is more serious than life insurance. Every year, hundreds of Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines die in service to our country. While some of them will make the ultimate sacrifice on the field of battle, others will lose their lives while living a unique life as a service member. These men and women will leave behind their beloved family and friends.
While injuries that are sustained by “Acts of War” are not typically covered in a conventional life insurance policy, the Servicemembers Group Life Insurance (SGLI ) is a VA program that provides low cost group life insurance to members of the Uniformed Services, including commissioned officers of the Public Health Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as well as cadets and midshipmen of the service academies. SGLI coverage now also includes Traumatic Injury Protection that provides servicemembers protection against loss due to traumatic injuries and is designed to provide financial assistance to members so their loved ones can be with them during their recovery from their injuries.
Beyond that, specialty private insurers like the
USAA offer term life insurance to active duty soldiers. Perhaps more importantly, service members can also choose to supplement the protection they provide their families by purchasing
Private Life Insurance if they wish, including
life insurance with no medical exam.
Indeed, military personnel are advised not to assume that group insurance is going to be adequate for their individual situation. What’s more, because SGLI service stops 120 days after a servicemember leaves the military, having a private policy is highly advisable. On discharge, soldiers can typically convert SGLI to Veterans Group Life Insurance (VGLI); or purchase their own term or permanent life insurance policy.
It bears repeating, armed services members are advised to have private life insurance in place before they retire or separate from the service. Veteran Group Life Insurance (VGLI), the “after retirement SGLI” is considerably more expensive than SGLI and is usually only a good deal if leaving the service with a chronic illness or disability that will make life insurance more expensive. Soon-to-be veterans should look at purchasing private life insurance well before they retire, as it is always cheaper when they are younger. They may be overinsured for a time, but better to be overinsured than not insured at all.
Like any type of life insurance, the underwriting process takes into account the type of work a soldier is doing. As George White, an insurance service representative of USAA exaplined, “The serviceman who is flying into a hot zone to rescue wounded soldiers is obviously going to have a different risk and policy than a solider who is piloting a drone from a military base here in the U.S. But even the most dangerous military operatives, like the explosive detonation experts profiled in the movie “The Hurt Locker,” can obtain life insurance, and well they should!
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Term Life Insurance Quote or Research how to
Buy Life Insurance Online visit
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