SGLI and VGLI After Military Service: The Dates That Decide Your Options

Separation comes with a long checklist, and life insurance is easy to lose on it. That matters, because the options you have in the first few months after leaving are some of the best you will ever have, and several of them have hard deadlines.

What SGLI is, and what it is not

Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance is term life coverage for service members, up to $500,000 in $50,000 steps. It covers the service member. Spouse and child coverage is a separate program, Family SGLI, with its own rules.

SGLI is tied to service. It does not simply follow you into civilian life.

The three windows

Count forward from your separation date.

120 days. SGLI continues for 120 days after you leave, at no premium. If you are totally disabled, the SGLI Disability Extension can continue it for up to 2 years. This is also the window to convert SGLI to a permanent individual policy, such as whole life, without proof of good health.

240 days. Apply for VGLI inside this window and, per VA, you will not need to prove you are in good health.

1 year and 120 days. The last day to apply for VGLI at all. After 240 days, health questions apply.

If you separated recently, find your date and write these three down.

How VGLI works

Veterans' Group Life Insurance lets eligible veterans keep group coverage after service.

• Coverage runs from $10,000 up to your SGLI amount at separation, never more.
• It lasts for life as long as you pay the premium.
• Premiums depend on your age and the amount, not on gender or tobacco use. VA publishes the rates in five-year age bands, so the cost rises as you move into older bands.
• If you have less than the maximum, you can add $25,000 one year after getting VGLI and then every 5 years, up to $500,000 total, until age 60.
• You can convert VGLI to an individual permanent policy, such as whole life, through VA's participating insurers, without proof of good health. Term coverage is not a conversion option.

When VGLI may be exactly the right fit

This is the part people skip. If you have a health condition, service-connected or not, that would make individual coverage expensive or hard to get, VGLI inside the 240-day window may be the best coverage available to you. VA itself encourages people with preexisting conditions to use these windows.

Other good reasons to keep or apply for VGLI:

• People depend on your income right now and you need coverage in place today.
• You are not sure you would qualify for individual coverage later.
• You want coverage that lasts for life without new health questions.

When it is worth comparing

For some healthy veterans, an individually underwritten policy may cost less for a fixed number of years, because VGLI is priced by age band for everyone. That does not make VGLI bad. It means the comparison is worth a few minutes, especially for someone in their twenties or thirties with a mortgage and young kids.

What should not happen is dropping VGLI to save money before a replacement is approved, accepted, paid for and in force. If you are declined or rated, you cannot go back.

Beneficiaries do not carry over by themselves

Whatever you have next, name beneficiaries on it. A new policy starts with whatever you write on the new application. Tell someone where the paperwork is.

A short checklist

1. Find your separation date and the three deadlines.
2. Confirm your SGLI amount at separation and your beneficiaries.
3. If health is a concern, apply for VGLI before day 240.
4. Compare VGLI's cost with individual options if you are healthy and have time inside the window.
5. Keep whatever you have in force until a replacement is approved and active.

If you want help laying it out, compare your options in a few taps or read the SGLI and VGLI guide. A licensed independent broker can compare individual options. Approval depends on underwriting and is never guaranteed, and sometimes the right answer is VGLI.

Keep in mind

Cornerstone Capital is an independent life insurance brokerage, not the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Defense, any military branch, or a government agency. We do not administer SGLI or VGLI and do not perform VGLI conversions. Program rules change; confirm with VA. Sources checked October 14, 2026.