SGLI After Retirement: 120 Free Days, Then VGLI Priced by Your Age
Retiring does not let you keep SGLI. It runs free for 120 days after your retirement date and then stops. What replaces it is VGLI, and at the ages people retire from the military its premium climbs every five years. Here is the timeline, the premium table, and what $500,000.00 of VGLI costs against a 20-year retired check by grade.
The bottom line up front
- 1.SGLI ends 120 days after your retirement date (38 U.S.C. 1968(a)(1)); those 120 days are free.
- 2.Apply for VGLI within 240 days for no health review; the final deadline is 1 year and 120 days.
- 3.VGLI is priced only by age: $500,000.00 costs $70.00 a month at 40 to 44 and $425.00 at 60 to 64, against $26.00 for SGLI on active duty.
- 4.At 60 to 64 that premium is 16.1% of a 20-year E-6 legacy retired check and 6.9% of an O-5 over 22 check.
- 5.Coverage can be raised by $25,000.00 every 5 years only until age 60; a retiree with any VA rating can also add up to $40,000.00 of VALife.
SGLI ends 120 days after you retire. The statute, 38 U.S.C. 1968(a)(1), stops coverage "120 days after the separation or release from active duty," and a military retirement is a release from active duty like any other. VA's SGLI page calls those four months "120 days of free coverage from the date you leave the military." This is settled law and has not changed in 2026. What is not settled for any one retiree is the price of what comes next, because Veterans' Group Life Insurance is priced by age, and VA reprices its table from time to time.
What is fixed and what can move
The 120-day end of SGLI, the 240-day VGLI window without a health review and the 1-year-and-120-day final deadline are in the statute and on VA's VGLI page (updated October 13, 2026). The premiums below are VA's table "as of July 1, 2025," still the current table on that page today. VA can change it, so read the table again the month you apply. Pay figures are 2026 basic pay; verify your own numbers with your finance office before you decide.
The timeline, counted from your retirement date
Every deadline below counts from the day you leave the military, which for a retiree is the retirement date. From that day the clock looks like this.
| Day after retirement | What happens | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 120 | SGLI stays in force at no cost | 38 U.S.C. 1968(a)(1); VA SGLI page |
| Up to 120 | You may convert SGLI to "a permanent, individual insurance policy" "without proof of good health" | VA SGLI page |
| Up to 240 | Apply for VGLI "without a health review" | VA VGLI page |
| 241 to 485 | VGLI still open, but "you'll need to submit evidence that you're in good health" | VA VGLI page |
| After 485 (1 year and 120 days) | No VGLI | VA VGLI page |
One exception stretches the free period. If you are "totally disabled" on the retirement date, the statute keeps SGLI going until you stop being totally disabled or two years pass, whichever comes first, "but in no event before the end of 120 days." VA calls this the SGLI Disability Extension and says an approved member gets a notice 20 months after separation that the extension is ending.
Guard and Reserve retirees
The rule is the same, counted from a different day. VA lists as eligible anyone "within 1 year and 120 days of retiring or being released from the Ready Reserve or National Guard." For a reservist with 20 good years, the day that starts the clock is the release from the Ready Reserve, not the day retired pay starts. Section 1968(a)(4) ends Ready Reserve SGLI "120 days after separation or release from such assignment." The reserve retirement calculator covers the pay side of that gap.
What VGLI costs at retirement ages
VGLI coverage can match the SGLI you carried on your last day, from $10,000.00 to $500,000.00. VA's page says plainly that "your monthly cost depends only on your age." On active duty, $500,000.00 of SGLI was $26.00 a month for everyone, TSGLI included. On VGLI, the same $500,000.00 runs $70.00 a month at 40 to 44, $95.00 at 45 to 49, $145.00 at 50 to 54, $250.00 at 55 to 59 and $425.00 at 60 to 64. VA has also declared a VGLI premium holiday: covered Veterans pay no premiums from November 1, 2026 through January 31, 2027, and the coverage continues.
To see what that means for a household, set the premium against retired pay. The table uses 50 percent of 2026 monthly basic pay, the 2.5 times 20 years multiplier of 10 U.S.C. 1409(b) for a legacy High-3 retiree. Retired pay is computed on a retired pay base, not on the last month's rate, so a real check is usually lower than this column and the premium share a little higher.
Grade and years of service
| Grade and years of service | 2026 monthly basic pay | 50% at 20 years | VGLI $500,000.00 at 40 to 44 ($70.00) | At 50 to 54 ($145.00) | At 60 to 64 ($425.00) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E-6, over 20 | $5,267.70 | $2,633.85 | 2.7% | 5.5% | 16.1% |
| E-7, over 20 | $6,245.70 | $3,122.85 | 2.2% | 4.6% | 13.6% |
| E-8, over 22 | $7,308.30 | $3,654.15 | 1.9% | 4.0% | 11.6% |
| E-9, over 24 | $8,756.70 | $4,378.35 | 1.6% | 3.3% | 9.7% |
| W-4, over 22 | $9,669.60 | $4,834.80 | 1.4% | 3.0% | 8.8% |
| O-4, over 20 | $10,509.90 | $5,254.95 | 1.3% | 2.8% | 8.1% |
| O-5, over 22 | $12,394.80 | $6,197.40 | 1.1% | 2.3% | 6.9% |
At 42 the premium is a rounding error on an E-6 check. At 62 it is a sixth of it. Under the Blended Retirement System the multiplier is 2 instead of 2.5 per year, so the E-6 check at 20 years is 40 percent of basic pay, $2,107.08, and the $425.00 premium is 20.2 percent of it. Run your own figure in the High-3 calculator or the BRS calculator.
Worked example
Worked example: an E-7 who retires at 42 and keeps $500,000.00 of VGLI to 65
More than half of the total, $40,500.00, falls in the last ten years. The same coverage on active duty cost $26.00 a month at any age. The figure ignores the November 2026 to January 2027 premium holiday and assumes VA keeps the July 1, 2025 table, which it may not.
Raising VGLI after you retire
If you converted less than $500,000.00, VA lets you add $25,000.00 one year after VGLI starts "and then every 5 years after that," up to $500,000.00, "until you're 60 years old." The page offers no increase after 60, so the coverage you carry into your sixties is the most you can hold.
VALife, if you leave with a VA rating
A retiree with any service-connected rating, "even if your rating is 0%," can buy Veterans Affairs Life Insurance up to age 80 with no proof of good health. It is whole life, "up to $40,000 in whole life insurance coverage (in $10,000 increments)." Full coverage begins two years after you apply; a death inside those two years pays back "the total amount you paid in premiums, plus interest." At $40,000.00 at most, VALife is a supplement to VGLI, not a replacement for $500,000.00 of it. Check your rating in the VA disability calculator.
SGLI, VGLI and SBP are three different things
The Survivor Benefit Plan is a separate program under chapter 73 of title 10, not a VA insurance policy, and electing it does not extend SGLI by a day. Our SBP guide and SBP calculator cover that decision, and the SGLI / VGLI tool prices VGLI at any age and coverage.
Rates shown are 2026 basic pay and VA's current VGLI table. Always verify with your finance office before making financial decisions.
Sources
- 38 U.S.C. 1968(a)(1) and (a)(4): SGLI ends "120 days after the separation or release from active duty"; totally disabled members covered until the disability ends or two years, "but in no event before the end of 120 days" (https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/38/1968)
- VA, Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (SGLI), last updated October 14, 2026: "120 days of free coverage from the date you leave the military"; Disability Extension up to 2 years, 20-month notice; conversion to an individual policy within 120 days "without proof of good health"; $26.00 monthly at $500,000.00 (https://www.va.gov/life-insurance/options-eligibility/sgli/)
- VA, Veterans' Group Life Insurance (VGLI), last updated October 13, 2026: eligibility after retiring or release from the Ready Reserve or National Guard; 240 days "without a health review"; 1 year and 120 days; $10,000.00 to $500,000.00; $25,000.00 increases every 5 years until 60; monthly premiums as of July 1, 2025; premium holiday November 1, 2026 through January 31, 2027 (https://www.va.gov/life-insurance/options-eligibility/vgli/)
- VA, Veterans Affairs Life Insurance (VALife), last updated October 13, 2026: any service-connected rating including 0%; up to $40,000.00 in $10,000.00 increments; two-year wait; premiums plus interest if death occurs within two years (https://www.va.gov/life-insurance/options-eligibility/valife/)
- 10 U.S.C. chapter 73, Annuities Based on Retired or Retainer Pay, subchapter II (sections 1447 to 1455): Survivor Benefit Plan (https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/10/subtitle-A/part-II/chapter-73)
- 10 U.S.C. 1409(b)(1) and (b)(4): retired pay multiplier of 2½ times years of service, 2 for members under the modernized retirement system (https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/10/1409)
- Defense Finance and Accounting Service, 2026 Military Pay Tables, basic pay effective January 1, 2026 (https://www.dfas.mil/MilitaryMembers/payentitlements/Pay-Tables/)
Figures reflect 2026 rates and regulations. This guide is general information, not personalized financial or tax advice. Always verify with your finance office or a tax professional before making a decision. How we research and source: our methodology.
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REF: Military Toolkit Guides, effective 2026
Official 2026 DoD, DFAS, DTMO, IRS, and VA sources. See each guide’s Sources list
Results are estimates. Always verify with your finance office.
Reviewed by Guilherme Correia · Military Toolkit editorial