We have hundreds of thousands of military families that have their future at risk even as our government tries to disengage from one war and figure out an exit strategy from another.

The government offers active duty military what is called SGLI, Service member’s Group Life Insurance. The maximum that can be taken out is $400,000 and its’ cost is about $26 a month. $400,000 or even lower amounts might be appropriate for someone who is single, but for those who are married and especially those who have children, $400,000, the SGLI maximum, is pretty inadequate. A family with children in their 20’s or 30’s should really be looking at 20 times, if not more, of their annual income. It sounds like a lot but when you’re on my end of raising children and realize how much it really did cost, well, it’s an eye opener.

So what’s the alternative when the government caps your group life insurance at $400,000? There are several life insurance companies that will write life insurance on active duty personnel “as long as there are no current orders or orders anticipated” to a war zone. I remember from my time in the military that even when I first arrived at a duty station I knew when and where I was headed next, so my orders were anticipated. I think that is even more true today when soldiers are actually on rotation for deployment. You might come home for a while but you already know when you’re going back.

But there is one company that will bridge those gaps even when you have orders and certainly when you are in a known rotation. As long as you get the coverage while you’re here at home they don’t hold your duties and orders against you in underwriting. You can literally have current orders to the worst of the bad places and they don’t underwrite your application based on that, but rather on you as a patriotic, healthy person.

With one decidedly unpatriotic asterisk. **This company won’t cover special forces. So, Ranger, Seals, special ops, they don’t want to cover you. I think it stinks and I have made my opinion known to the company. They didn’t care.

I ran rates yesterday to see what it would take for a 25 year old male to double their life insurance by getting an additional $400,000 of 20 year term and, not even using the best rate class, the price was within a dollar a month of what SGLI charges. Their current rate is at $26 and we can do it at $27 or less if you qualify for preferred plus rates based on health.

Again, having been in the military, I understand that no one signed up for the great pay and that military families are often struggling to make ends meet. Parents! Grandparents! Friends! Consider buying this additional coverage for them. Third party ownership is completely acceptable and a great way to take if off their budget plate.

Bottom line. However it’s done or owned, take a serious look at the adequacy or inadequacy of military group life insurance and if you want to consider supplementing it please email or call me directly for no pressure answers to your questions.