Guides

Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (SGLI)

SGLI gives eligible service members up to $500,000 of term life for $26 a month. Who qualifies, family coverage, TSGLI and what happens at separation.

4LifeInsurance · Published October 4, 2026

Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (SGLI) is a low-cost group term life program for active-duty, Guard, Reserve and certain other service members. Coverage goes up to $500,000 in $50,000 steps, costs 5 cents per $1,000 plus $1 a month for traumatic injury protection (so $26.00 a month at the maximum), and enrolls you automatically at the top amount unless you reduce or decline it. It ends 120 days after you leave service, so separating members need a plan. For planning around private policies, see Life insurance for military members: SGLI and private policies; this guide covers how the program itself works.

The details below come from the VA's SGLI page, checked October 2026. Rates and rules can change, so confirm on VA.gov before you act.

Who is covered

According to the VA, you may be eligible for full-time SGLI if you are:

  • An active-duty member of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, Marine Corps or Coast Guard.
  • A cadet or midshipman of the military academies.
  • A member, cadet or midshipman of ROTC engaged in authorized training and practice cruises.
  • A member of the Ready Reserve or National Guard who is assigned to a unit and scheduled to perform at least 12 periods of inactive training a year.
  • A volunteer in an Individual Ready Reserve mobilization category.

Members in nonpay status in the Ready Reserve or Guard may qualify if they meet additional requirements listed by the VA. The program is administered by the VA through the Office of Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (OSGLI), with Prudential as the contracting insurer and claims administrator.

Amount and cost

SGLI is term life insurance: it has no cash value and ends when you leave. You choose your coverage in $50,000 increments up to $500,000, or you can decline it. The basic premium is 5 cents per $1,000 of coverage, and the $1 monthly charge for TSGLI (below) is added.

Coverage Monthly cost (SGLI plus TSGLI)
$100,000 $6.00
$250,000 $13.50
$400,000 $21.00
$500,000 $26.00

Premiums come out of pay. SGLI is not underwritten and has no health questions at enrollment, which makes it especially valuable if you have a health condition that would make private insurance costly. Unlike many private policies, SGLI covers deaths in combat or war. For comparison with private policies that may have exclusions, see war, terrorism and aviation exclusions in life insurance.

Family coverage (FSGLI)

The Family Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance program covers dependents of members who have SGLI:

  • Spouse: up to $100,000, and not more than the member's own SGLI amount. A premium based on the spouse's age applies.
  • Children: $10,000 per dependent child, at no charge.
  • Enrollment: a spouse married on or after January 2, 2013 is not covered automatically. The member must enroll the spouse through the SGLI Online Enrollment System (SOES).

Traumatic Injury Protection (TSGLI)

TSGLI is a rider attached to SGLI. According to the VA, it pays $25,000 to $100,000 to insured service members who suffer a qualifying traumatic injury, as short-term help with recovery and rehabilitation. You must have been insured by SGLI when the injury occurred, and you apply with the Application for TSGLI Benefits (SGLV 8600). It pays you, not a beneficiary, and is separate from the SGLI death benefit.

Beneficiaries and payouts

You choose and can change SGLI beneficiaries, and you can reduce, decline or restore coverage, through the VA and military online systems such as milConnect. Check them after every marriage, divorce, birth or death in the family. life insurance and your will explains why a will does not override a beneficiary designation.

When a member dies, the beneficiary files the Claim for Death Benefits (SGLV 8283). According to VA form SGLV 8283A (June 2026), payout options include a Prudential Alliance Account (not FDIC-insured), a check, an electronic transfer, or 36 monthly installments. Compare them with life insurance payout options: lump sum, installments and annuities before choosing, and note that the Alliance Account is a form of retained asset accounts: the checkbook you didn't ask for. Death benefits are generally not taxable income, as with other life insurance; see is life insurance taxable?.

Leaving the service

SGLI coverage continues free for 120 days after separation, or up to two years if you are totally disabled when you separate (apply with the SGLI Disability Extension Application, SGLV 8715). Your options during or after that period:

  1. Veterans' Group Life Insurance (Veterans' Group Life Insurance (VGLI): eligibility, cost and conversion). Renewable term in amounts up to $500,000, with premiums set by age. Apply within 240 days of separation to skip the health review; the outer deadline is 1 year and 120 days. The VA lists VGLI premiums for $500,000 (as of July 1, 2025) from $30 a month for ages up to 29 to $145 at 50-54 and $425 at 60-64. The VA also announced that eligible veterans pay no VGLI premiums from November 1, 2026 to January 31, 2027.
  2. Conversion to an individual policy. Within 120 days of discharge, you can convert SGLI to a permanent individual policy with a participating commercial insurer without proving good health. Prices are higher than healthy-applicant term.
  3. A private term policy. Often cheapest for healthy veterans who apply before leaving.
  4. VA Life Insurance (VALife): who qualifies, what it costs, the 2-year wait. For veterans with a service-connected disability rating, guaranteed-acceptance whole life of $10,000 to $40,000 with a two-year waiting period.

See Life insurance for veterans: VGLI, VALife and more for the comparison.

Hypothetical example

Say a 29-year-old Air Force staff sergeant with a spouse and one child keeps $500,000 of SGLI ($26 a month) and enrolls her spouse for $100,000 of FSGLI. The child's $10,000 is automatic. Her family's needs estimated by the How much life insurance do I need? come to about $800,000, so she buys a $300,000 private 20-year term policy to cover the gap. When she separates at 33, she lets SGLI lapse after the free 120 days because the private policy continues, and she skips VGLI. The figures are illustrative.

Key takeaways

  • SGLI is automatic group term coverage of up to $500,000 for eligible service members, costing $26 a month at the maximum including TSGLI.
  • Spouses can be covered up to $100,000 and children for $10,000 at no charge through FSGLI; spouses married on or after January 2, 2013 must be enrolled through SOES.
  • TSGLI pays $25,000 to $100,000 for qualifying traumatic injuries.
  • Coverage ends 120 days after separation (longer if totally disabled), so decide on VGLI, conversion or a private policy before you leave.
  • Keep your beneficiaries current; the designation controls who is paid.

Terms used in this guide

Group life insurance Coverage issued under one master contract to members of a group, usually employees, often at one or two times salary with little or no underwriting. Term life insurance Life coverage for a set number of years, such as 10, 20 or 30, that pays a death benefit only if the insured dies within that period. Conversion privilege A term policy feature that lets the owner switch to permanent coverage with the same insurer without new medical underwriting, within set deadlines. Beneficiary The person, trust, charity or estate named to receive a life insurance death benefit or an annuity's remaining value when the insured or owner dies. Death benefit The money a life insurance policy pays to the beneficiaries when the insured dies, usually the face amount adjusted for loans, riders and dividends. Exclusion A provision listing causes of death or circumstances a policy will not pay for, such as suicide in the first two years or certain aviation deaths.

Related tools

How much life insurance do I need? Add up income replacement, debts, college and final costs, subtract what you already have, and see how much coverage is left to buy. How long a term do I need? Enter when your children become independent, your mortgage ends and you retire. The tool finds the shortest standard term that outlasts them.

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