The VA does real good for veterans. It was never designed to bury you or replace your income for your spouse. The difference between what you think you have and what your family will actually receive is the reason this page exists.
$2,000 or less
Typical VA burial allowance for a non service connected death
$9,000 to $14,000
What an average funeral and burial actually costs
120 days
How long SGLI lasts after you separate
Many veterans are told their burial is covered. For a non service connected death the VA plot and burial allowance often totals only a few hundred to about two thousand dollars. The average American funeral runs between nine and fourteen thousand dollars once you add the casket, the vault, the service, and the headstone extras. The rest lands on your spouse or your kids.
Your Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance ends 120 days after separation. Plenty of veterans never notice until a claim gets denied years later. If you never converted it, you carry nothing at all today.
VGLI premiums climb every five years with your age bracket. A rate that looked cheap at 40 can more than quadruple by your late 60s, right when you are living on a fixed income and can least afford it.
Most term plans end at 65, 70, or 80. They are designed to run out before the average person dies, which is why they are cheap. When it lapses you get nothing back and buying new coverage at that age costs far more, if you can qualify at all.
Your monthly compensation is not an inheritance. Unless your spouse qualifies for DIC, that income disappears from the household budget immediately while the mortgage and the bills do not.
The old Service Disabled Veterans Insurance program stopped taking applications at the end of 2022 and the newer VALife plan carries a two year waiting period before it pays a full benefit. Private carriers can often do better with day one coverage.
Two minutes of questions and a licensed advisor will map your VA benefits against the real bill your family would face.
