Vets and VGLI

[airforce1]

Hi FIRE and military vets,

So far what has your experience with VGLI?

At which age did you stop paying into VGLI?

Did you move into other alternative insurance plans?

 

[Gumby]

Hi FIRE and military vets,

So far what has your experience with VGLI?

At which age did you stop paying into VGLI?

Did you move into other alternative insurance plans?

Can't help with VGLI. Sorry. I have had Navy Mutual Aid Association life insurance for 42 years now. I would guess that there is a similar company associated with the Air Force.

 

[airforce1]

Can't help with VGLI. Sorry. I have had Navy Mutual Aid Association life insurance for 42 years now. I would guess that there is a similar company associated with the Air Force.

Aha, I found the sister equivalent Army and Air Force Mutual Aid Association. I will look into them.

I guess NMAA has treated you well considering you have been with them for 42 years. How are life insurance premiums compared to other companies?

 

[Gumby]

Aha, I found the sister equivalent Army and Air Force Mutual Aid Association. I will look into them.

I guess NMAA has treated you well considering you have been with them for 42 years. How are life insurance premiums compared to other companies?

I have been very happy with NMAA. I have a paid up whole life policy now, but as I recall, the premiums were quite reasonable while I was paying them. They don't have agents to pay, nor shareholders, so the insurance can be cheaper than other companies.

 

[friar1610]

Hi FIRE and military vets,

So far what has your experience with VGLI?

At which age did you stop paying into VGLI?

Did you move into other alternative insurance plans?

Are you referring to the insurance you can buy at military retirement to replace SGLI? And then after 5 years you can convert it to a commercial whole life policy w/o proof of insurability? If so, I know a little about it. If you are referring to something else I probably can’t help you.

 

[friar1610]

I have been very happy with NMAA. I have a paid up whole life policy now, but as I recall, the premiums were quite reasonable while I was paying them. They don't have agents to pay, nor shareholders, so the insurance can be cheaper than other companies.

+1

Their annuities are also good - straight annuities, no bells and whistles.

 

[airforce1]

Copy Gumby, just found NMAA are open to vets of all branches.

And yes, I think VGLI is very expensive to maintain.

Thanks again for your feedback!

 

[ERObjd]

retired in 2014 took a look at VGLI and wife and I decided we could do better. The premiums are quite high for VGLi. So we looked for other options shopped around and went with Banner life and got a 20 year term 400k policy for $125 a month. I was age 54 at the time and it would have been a bit cheaper, but I do have sleep apnea and ptsd/anxiety which pushed up the premiums some, but it was still more affordable than VGLI would have been. Should the good Lord see fit to keep me above ground until age 74 , I will call that a win. At 74 life insurance will be unaffordable for us anyway and we should have enough investments and cash to self insure at that point. at least that is the plan and we are able to invest about 1500 a month currently, so barring something that knocks us off that we figure we will be ok when the term insurance times out.

IMO, the better option for most veterans is to shop the market for a term policy, 10, 15,20, 25 yrs or however long. I think 30 yr is the maximum policy you can buy. Anyway save the money you're not spending on a much larger VGLI premium and invest it.

Obviously, some veterans may have multiple health issues that would DQ them from many other policies that require a physical and blood draw. VGLI has no such requirement and will insure any vet without a health screening physical so in that case VGLI may be the best option, although a very expensive one. We bank at USAA and looked at their policies and AUSA (association of US Army) and Mass mutual and Prudential, and Milbank mutual and Banner turned out to be the best rates for us. Lots of competition among insurance companies so shop around and compare and you can likely find cheaper premiums and more coverage that what VGLI can provide. I always wondered why the Army pushes VGLI so hard, it really is not that great of deal, because their premiums are way too high.

 

[airforce1]

retired in 2014 took a look at VGLI and wife and I decided we could do better. The premiums are quite high for VGLi. So we looked for other options shopped around and went with Banner life and got a 20 year term 400k policy for $125 a month. I was age 54 at the time and it would have been a bit cheaper, but I do have sleep apnea and ptsd/anxiety which pushed up the premiums some, but it was still more affordable than VGLI would have been. Should the good Lord see fit to keep me above ground until age 74 , I will call that a win. At 74 life insurance will be unaffordable for us anyway and we should have enough investments and cash to self insure at that point. at least that is the plan and we are able to invest about 1500 a month currently, so barring something that knocks us off that we figure we will be ok when the term insurance times out.

IMO, the better option for most veterans is to shop the market for a term policy, 10, 15,20, 25 yrs or however long. I think 30 yr is the maximum policy you can buy. Anyway save the money you're not spending on a much larger VGLI premium and invest it.

Obviously, some veterans may have multiple health issues that would DQ them from many other policies that require a physical and blood draw. VGLI has no such requirement and will insure any vet without a health screening physical so in that case VGLI may be the best option, although a very expensive one. We bank at USAA and looked at their policies and AUSA (association of US Army) and Mass mutual and Prudential, and Milbank mutual and Banner turned out to be the best rates for us. Lots of competition among insurance companies so shop around and compare and you can likely find cheaper premiums and more coverage that what VGLI can provide. I always wondered why the Army pushes VGLI so hard, it really is not that great of deal, because their premiums are way too high.

Thanks for keeping those recommendations coming. Yes, I think 75 yo is the max for me too. $125/month is so cheap! I'm paying $240 right now.

Will def. look into Banner.

Thanks!

 

[corn18]

Another NMAA customer. VGLI was not good value. They only reason to consider it is if you have a pre-existing condition that would cost a fortune to get new insurance for. Then VGLI might make sense.