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.