VGLI premiums are set by the VA, published openly, and identical for every veteran — no underwriting, no health questions, no gender pricing. That makes VGLI the rare insurance product where you can see your exact price before you apply. Here’s the complete current table, and the honest analysis of what it means.
TL;DR
- The VA cut VGLI premiums effective July 1, 2025 — reductions ranged from 2% to 17% across age brackets, averaging about 11%.
- A veteran under 30 now pays $30/month for $500,000. The same coverage costs $145/month at 50 and $425/month at 60.
- VGLI premiums jump every five years when you enter a new age bracket. They never stop climbing — $500K costs $2,200/month at 80+.
- Healthy veterans can usually beat VGLI with private term by their mid-30s, often earlier. Veterans with serious health conditions frequently can’t — and for them VGLI’s guaranteed issue is genuinely valuable.
- The 240-day window after separation is the one deadline that matters: convert SGLI to VGLI inside it and no proof of good health is required, ever.
Current VGLI monthly premiums by age (effective July 1, 2025)
| Age bracket | $500,000 | $400,000 | $250,000 | $100,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 30 | $30.00 | $24.00 | $15.00 | $6.00 |
| 30–34 | $40.00 | $32.00 | $20.00 | $8.00 |
| 35–39 | $50.00 | $40.00 | $25.00 | $10.00 |
| 40–44 | $70.00 | $56.00 | $35.00 | $14.00 |
| 45–49 | $95.00 | $76.00 | $47.50 | $19.00 |
| 50–54 | $145.00 | $116.00 | $72.50 | $29.00 |
| 55–59 | $250.00 | $200.00 | $125.00 | $50.00 |
| 60–64 | $425.00 | $340.00 | $212.50 | $85.00 |
| 65–69 | $690.00 | $552.00 | $345.00 | $138.00 |
| 70–74 | $1,075.00 | $860.00 | $537.50 | $215.00 |
| 75–79 | $1,925.00 | $1,540.00 | $962.50 | $385.00 |
| 80 and over | $2,200.00 | $1,760.00 | $1,100.00 | $440.00 |
VGLI is sold in $10,000 increments up to $500,000 (capped at the SGLI amount you carried at separation), and pricing scales exactly proportionally — $10,000 of coverage for a veteran under 30 is $0.60/month. Source: VA premium tables effective July 1, 2025.
What the 2025 rate cut actually changed
The VA reduced premiums across every age bracket in mid-2025 — the first broad cut in years. It made VGLI meaningfully more competitive in the younger brackets: $500K under age 30 dropped to $30/month, which is inside the range a healthy young veteran would pay for private term.
What the cut did not change is the structure. VGLI is five-year renewable term: your premium steps up every time you age into a new bracket, forever. The cut lowered the stairs; it didn’t remove them.
The lifetime cost picture
Take a 30-year-old veteran who keeps $500K of VGLI to age 60. Adding up each bracket:
| Ages | Monthly | 5-year cost |
|---|---|---|
| 30–34 | $40 | $2,400 |
| 35–39 | $50 | $3,000 |
| 40–44 | $70 | $4,200 |
| 45–49 | $95 | $5,700 |
| 50–54 | $145 | $8,700 |
| 55–59 | $250 | $15,000 |
| Total, 30→60 | ~$39,000 |
A healthy 30-year-old locking a private 30-year term at roughly $28–$35/month pays about $10,000–$12,600 over the same 30 years — for the same death benefit. That’s the trade in one number: VGLI’s guaranteed issue costs a healthy veteran roughly $27,000 over three decades.
Flip the health picture and the math flips with it. A veteran whose conditions would draw a table 6–8 rating from a private carrier might be quoted $150–$250/month for that same $500K — and for them, VGLI at $40 is the bargain of the two.
When VGLI is the right call
- You have a health condition that private underwriting will punish — recent cancer treatment, uncontrolled diabetes, a cardiac event inside the last year, PTSD with recent hospitalization. VGLI never asks.
- You’re inside the 240-day window and unsure. Converting costs nothing extra and requires no health proof. You can lock VGLI now and replace it with private term later if your underwriting comes back strong — the overlap costs a few months of double premium, which is cheap insurance against a bad lab result.
- Your coverage need ends within one bracket. If you’re 57 and need coverage only to 62, the bracket pricing may match your timeline better than a newly issued 10-year term at those ages.
When private term wins
- You’re healthy and under about 45. Nearly every standard-or-better applicant beats VGLI’s lifetime cost with locked-rate term, usually by a wide margin.
- You want coverage that doesn’t climb. VGLI at 60 costs more per month ($425) than most healthy 40-year-olds pay per year for the same benefit.
- You need more than $500K. VGLI caps at your SGLI amount. A growing family with a mortgage often needs $750K–$1M, which only the private market offers.
The full decision framework — including the four scenarios where keeping VGLI is clearly right — is in our VGLI vs. private life insurance guide, and the short version lives on our VGLI vs. private term comparison page.
Common VGLI rate questions
Do VGLI rates differ for women? No. VGLI pricing is unisex — which, notably, means private term is often an even better deal for healthy female veterans, since private carriers price women 10–20% lower.
Does a VA disability rating change my VGLI premium? No. Premiums depend only on age and coverage amount. (A disability rating can complicate private underwriting — we wrote a separate guide on that.)
Can my VGLI be cancelled for health reasons? No. As long as premiums are paid, coverage continues for life. There’s no term expiry — that’s a genuine structural advantage over private term, which ends or becomes unaffordable at the end of the level period.
What happens if I miss the 240-day window? You get a further window (up to one year and 120 days post-separation) but must answer health questions. Past that, VGLI is closed to you permanently.
Get both numbers before you decide
The only way to know whether VGLI or private term is cheaper for you is to see a real private quote next to the table above. We run that comparison for veterans every week — 15 minutes, multiple carriers, no exam required to see numbers, and if VGLI is the better answer for your situation, that’s exactly what we’ll tell you.
VGLI premiums shown are VA-published rates effective July 1, 2025, current as of August 2026. Private term figures are illustrative ranges for standard-or-better non-tobacco classes across the A-rated carriers Good Life Insurance Group represents. Verify current VGLI rates at va.gov before applying.