Here’s Why Military Spouses Might Need Life Insurance, Plus Where to Shop

Many people want or need life insurance, including military spouses. It’s easy to forget that spouses might need life insurance just as much as service members, and sometimes spouses need even more.

Let’s first review the primary reasons that a person should have life insurance. A person should be covered by life insurance if either the loss of their income will negatively impact someone else; or their absence will cause an increase in costs. Both of these situations can apply to military spouses, just like anyone else. It’s important to remember that every situation is unique.

Why a Military Spouse Might Want Life Insurance

Both of these situations can apply to military spouses, just like anyone else. It’s important to remember that every situation is unique.

Loss of Income. If a military spouse works, and their income is helping to maintain the family’s standard of living, then they probably need life insurance. Now, if the loss of their income wouldn’t change much, then maybe life insurance isn’t required. It’s all about how valuable that income is to the bigger picture. To paraphrase a smart friend, “If you’re concerned about how to pay for income protection because you can’t afford it, how will you afford to be without the income?”

Read More: Monthly Benefits for Survivors of Fallen Active-Duty Service Members

Increasing costs. These usually come into play when children or older family members are in the home. A parent who works in the home provides immense value. Calculations show that a stay-at-home parent provides around $4,500 in work each month, depending on where you live. This includes child care, cleaning, driving, cooking, laundry and other tasks. If something happens to the stay-at-home parent, the other parent would need to either hire help for those tasks or perhaps step out of the workforce to do those tasks themselves. Either way, that costs money.

How Much Life Insurance a Military Spouse Needs

How do you figure out how much life insurance you need? You can use formulas or online calculators to get some ideas. If the person has a sufficient work record, include the Social Security benefit available to minor children. Do a couple of calculators. You’re likely to get very different results. In that case, notice which information is left out of each calculation.

Once you have an estimate of how much life insurance is needed, then it’s time to shop.

The first stop for a military spouse should be the Family Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance program (FSGLI). This military insurance benefit provides the option to buy up to $100,000 in term life insurance regardless of medical history. However, a younger and/or healthy person may be able to get that same coverage for a lower price elsewhere.

Read More: Family Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance (FSGLI): Rules and Rates

How to Shop for Life Insurance

Plus, many folks will need more than $100,000 in coverage. The three primary ways to shop for life insurance include:

Military organizations. Many military-related organizations offer life insurance to service members, veterans and their spouses. Because they are often nonprofits, they may have competitive prices. Think through your mental list of the military organizations you belong to, or do an internet search for “military nonprofit life insurance” and see what comes up.

Insurance websites. These have the advantage of gathering data from many companies, but you will be giving up some privacy. You may want to set up a throwaway email address and a Google voice or other anonymized phone number to prevent your real phone number and email from being clogged by insurance calls or solicitations. Online insurance searches will not be able to compare your military-related options, so you’ll have to put that information together yourself to make a decision.

Insurance brokers. An insurance broker is a person who has a working relationship with a handful or two handfuls of companies. The broker knows the ins and outs of each company, including conditions that might exclude you from coverage. This can be very valuable if you have any medical concerns that might make you harder to insure. And some insurance brokers know what’s available in the military-related insurance landscape and can help put those options onto your list for consideration.

The insurance application will ask many questions, and you may need to submit medical records and/or have a medical examination. This can take longer than you expect. If you think you need life insurance, start the process today. Protecting your family is worth the effort!

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