Life insurance is peace of mind. It’s very relieving to know that you can be sure family, children, dependents, and other loved ones will not be financially “strapped” in the event of a death. For military service members, that peace of mind is held dear. Military personnel need to be able to have life insurance options that are specifically suited to their needs.
On the subject of needs, just to name a few, one should think about what kind of life insurance they need, how much, and war clause, aviation clause, terrorist clause—meaning, in the event that the service member dies in combat/aircraft/terrorist attack, some life insurance companies will not pay out. It’s definitely important to make sure that whatever company you choose, that there is a war clause included in the policy.
Below is a list of the top 5 life insurance companies for military personnel.
1. AAFMAA (Army & Air Force Mutual Aid Association) is a way to go whether active duty or retired. They offer life insurance policies and survivor assistance programs. According to the AAFMAA website, policies offer: “no war clause, no aviation clause, exclusion or surcharge, no terrorist clause, continuation after separation or retirement from the military (as policy allows), survivor assistance services, no coverage limitations based on deployment status, and coverage available up to $800,000.”
2. AFBA (Armed Forces Benefits Association) offers all types of military life insurance policies, from policy benefits specifically tailored to active duty service members to policy benefits that aid Department of Defense contractors to civilians and spouses and children. I do not know if there is a war clause or not, but it’s definitely worth looking into.
3. USBA (Uniformed Services Benefit Association) provides many different military-specific life insurance policies to active duty service members, transitioning military personnel, Veterans, retired military, Reserve and National Guard, and Federal employees. Policies include those that offer coverage for spouses and children/dependents as well. USBA also offers health insurance plans.
4. Another way to go for active duty and USAR/ARNG service members is USAA. They offer life insurance for military personnel (not SGLI) and USAA members. Their rates are very competitive, their customer service is amazing and best of all, they do not have a war clause either. You should give them a call and get a quote.
5. MBA (Military Benefit Association) offers plans that are comparable (for military and spouses and children) to SGLI and less expensive than VGLI. They also offer life insurance coverage for veterans and retirees. Coverage is available up to $500,000 and lasts until age 90.
These are the top 5 life insurance companies for military personnel, specific to military personnel. There may definitely be military discounts and military-specific life insurance policies available through many well-known companies as well. If there are any other life insurance companies that are tailored to military personnel’s specific needs, please feel free to include them in the comments section.
About the Author: Lauren is a stay at home mom currently working from home as a freelance writer. She is certified in Education with a background in education, writing, and tutoring to help students develop their educational skills. She comes from a military family and writes articles about education, military life, and personal development.
Chuck Holmes
Former Army Major (resigned)
Publisher, Part-Time-Commander.com
Email: mrchuckholmes@gmail.com
Suggested Resources
Our Books & Training Courses
Recommended Reading List
Earn Extra Money
Lose Weight Today!
Nice article. I recently retired from the guard – AGR Title 10.
I think the biggest issue for Soldiers nearing the age of 50 is to ensure they secure a modest permanent policy for them and their spouse to last their entire life. Some Soldiers might have medical impairments that will increase the rate. Little things like early stages of diabetes, high blood pressure, tobacco use are all factors that raise rates and make it a tough decision to own a civilian plan.
Check out this article and take a look at term life coverage to the age of 100 offered by 5 Star life.
Thanks for sharing that Terry.
Thank you for sharing this great resource of life insurance companies for military personnel. In the military, life insurance is critically important. Things won’t go well with your spouse if something bad happens to you. In most cases, they will struggle financially. I use USAA for most of my insurance needs and they are good.
Yes, it’s very important to have life insurance, especially if you are married with children. No one likes to think about dying, but it’s part of life and it’s much better to be prepared than leave everything to chance.
This is wonderful information, Lauren. Life insurance is absolutely essential, and really, the less money you think you have available to pay the premiums, the more you need life insurance. Things certainly won’t get any easier for your spouse if something disastrous were to happen to you.
My specialty is property and casualty insurance, so the only company on your list that I was familiar with was USAA. I have heard very good things about USAA, but it is nice to see that there are good alternatives for our service people. Thank you for sharing.
In today’s world it pays to shop around. Assuming you are even fairly healthy, there are lots of life insurance options out there.
I’m sure that more soldier’s families would like to know more about life insurance – young people don’t think of it. I could see, though, how hard it might be for some of them to stretch their meager salaries, already using food stamps and many times the spouse staying home to care for the kids – no way can they afford childcare, but if the soldier dies, the spouse doesn’t have a skill that enables them to start supporting the family. I wonder if civilians truly know how low the pay is.
To me, life insurance is a non-negotiable, even if money is tight, especially for young folks with a family. You find a way to come up with money for the premiums.
I use USAA for most of my insurance needs, however, I had difficulty getting life insurance with them because of a health condition. I’m a big fan of the SGLI for most Soldiers, because it’s affordable and there is no war or terrorist clause. The “combat clause” weeds out most life insurance policies, because it’s no good having life insurance if you aren’t covered all of the time.
I’ve never heard of most of the other companies you recommended, so I will definitely need to go and check them out.
Thanks for writing this post, Lauren.
Chuck
I haven’t heard of most of these, so thank you for this informative post. People always want alternatives to what the military provides us, so this is great information to pass on in case they don’t want to use SGLI or USAA or the like.