VGLI rates 2026: the monthly cost chart by age

Here is the current VGLI rates chart. Monthly premiums depend on your five-year age band and the amount you carry, and they took effect July 1, 2025. For $100,000 of coverage the cost is $6.00 a month at 29 and under, $19.00 at 45 to 49 and $85.00 at 60 to 64.

Find your age band down the left, then read across to your coverage amount. Source: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA.gov), VGLI, rates effective July 1, 2025, checked against the VA page on October 9, 2026. Coverage is sold in $10,000 steps from $10,000 to $500,000, and the price scales evenly, so $150,000 costs half of $300,000 in the same band. The per $10,000 rates are further down.

To print or save this chart: press Ctrl+P (Windows) or Cmd+P (Mac) and choose Save as PDF. As of this update the VA shows these rates as tables on its VGLI page, not as a downloadable rate-chart PDF.

How to read the VGLI rates chart

Your premium is set by the age band you are in, so a 52-year-old and a 50-year-old pay the same. Within a band the pricing is linear: $200,000 costs exactly twice what $100,000 costs. For an amount the chart doesn't list, say $250,000, read it off the $100,000 column: each $50,000 is half of the $100,000 figure for your band. A veteran at 45 to 49 paying $19 for $100,000 would pay $47.50 for $250,000.

These are the current, lowered rates. The VA discounted VGLI premiums effective July 1, 2025, by 2% to 17% depending on age and about 11% on average, and the lower figure is applied to your record automatically. The plan is administered for the VA by Prudential's Office of Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance, which is who bills you and who handles VGLI paperwork. If you are new to the program, what VGLI is and who qualifies is the short primer.

Cost per $10,000, and a printable copy

VGLI is sold in $10,000 units, so the per-unit rate is the fastest way to price any coverage amount. Each figure below is the monthly cost of one $10,000 unit in that age band. The chart and this table are set to print together with the VA.gov source line attached, so a saved copy always shows where the figures came from and the date they took effect.

Multiply by the number of units you carry. A veteran aged 45 to 49 holding $250,000 pays 25 units at $1.90, which is $47.50 a month. The same veteran at $120,000 pays 12 units, or $22.80.

Does VGLI go up with age? How the five-year steps work

Yes, but not every year. You pull up your VGLI premium one year and it is higher than you remember. You didn't change a thing. A birthday did. VGLI raises your premium when you age into the next five-year band, and holds it steady until the one after. Hold $400,000 and you pay $56 a month all through your early 40s. The month you turn 45 that same $400,000 moves to the 45 to 49 rate of $76. It holds there until 50, then steps again. The coverage never changed; the band did.

Three points keep the math honest:

• The steps get bigger later. Early bands move in small dollars. From the 60s onward each jump is steep: $425 a month for $500,000 at 60 to 64 becomes $690 at 65 to 69, then $1,075 at 70 to 74.
• The increases are automatic. You don't reapply for them. Crossing into the next band is the only trigger.
• 80 and older is the last band in the VA chart. $500,000 costs $2,200 a month there, and the rate is set by age, not by gender or tobacco use. What is still open at those ages is covered in life insurance for veterans over 70.

To see the whole arc, follow $400,000 of VGLI from separation onward. In your late 30s it runs $40 a month. Through your 40s it moves from $56 to $76. In your early 50s it is $116; at 55 to 59 it is $200, and at 60 to 64 it is $340. Cross into 65 to 69 and the same $400,000 is $552 a month; by 70 to 74 it is $860. That gentle-then-steep climb is the shape of every VGLI premium, and it is why the decision looks different at 40 than it does at 60. Our walk-through of whether VGLI is worth keeping puts percentages on each step.

The reason the price climbs is the same reason VGLI is useful: inside the first 240 days it takes you without a health review, and the monthly cost depends only on your age. The VA says it does not charge more based on gender or tobacco use. A level-term policy behaves the opposite way, which is the comparison that actually decides what to do.

VGLI premium holiday: no premiums November 2026 through January 2027

The VA announced a three-month VGLI premium holiday. If your VGLI coverage is active on November 1, 2026, you do not pay premiums for November, December and January, and your coverage continues under its existing terms. No action is needed; the VA applies it automatically. The rules below come from the VA's premium holiday FAQ:

• Who is not eligible: anyone who cancels coverage, or whose coverage lapses, on or before October 31, 2026.
• Past-due balances are still owed. The holiday does not erase them, and unpaid balances can lapse the coverage after the holiday ends.
• An age-band step during the holiday is covered for the holiday months. After January 31, 2027 you pay the higher premium to keep the coverage.
• New or reinstated coverage: your first premium is always required and is not part of the holiday. Coverage effective before November 1, 2026 gets all three months free, effective in November gets December and January, effective in December gets January, and effective on or after January 1, 2027 gets none.
• VGLI only. SGLI, FSGLI, TSGLI, VALife and S-DVI are not affected.
• Changes during the holiday: a request to cancel or decrease coverage takes effect after January 31, 2027, while other changes, like a beneficiary update, take effect when processed.

The holiday pauses the bill. It does not change the chart above, and premiums resume at your age band's rate afterward. VA rules and dates can change, so confirm on VA.gov before you act.

Ways to manage the cost of VGLI

If the rising premium is on your mind, you have more than one lever, and dropping the coverage entirely is rarely the first one to reach for:

• Decrease the amount. The VA says you can request to decrease or cancel coverage at any time. Because pricing is linear, halving the coverage halves the premium.
• Skip the optional increases. If you start below $500,000, the $25,000 increases you are offered are your choice. The VA notes you must actively elect them.
• Compare a private policy. A level-premium term policy, run on your age and health, may hold a lower cost over a long horizon. Set it next to your VGLI figure and see.
• Convert if it fits. The VA allows conversion to an individual permanent policy, such as whole life, through a participating company, at standard premium rates and without proof of good health. You cannot convert to term, variable or universal life. The VGLI term-or-whole-life explainer covers what that trade looks like.

The right lever depends on your health, your timeline and how much coverage the family actually needs. None of these requires a decision today.

VGLI vs. level term: the crossover concept

Here is the difference in one sentence: a level-term policy locks one premium for the whole term, while VGLI steps up every five years. That single contrast drives almost every keep-or-switch decision a veteran faces.

Picture two lines on a graph. A 20- or 30-year level-term policy is a flat line: you qualify once, and the monthly premium you start with is the premium you pay until the term ends. VGLI is a staircase, low at the start, climbing in steps as you move through the age bands. Early on, the VGLI staircase often sits below the flat term line, especially right after separation. Later, the staircase climbs past it. The age where the two lines meet is the crossover.

Where that crossover lands is personal, and it turns on two things: your age and your health. A healthy veteran who can qualify for a low term premium tends to hit the crossover sooner, so term wins for longer. A veteran whose health would make private coverage expensive may never reach a crossover that matters, because the term policy they would be compared against is itself costly or out of reach. We are not going to print invented term quotes here; the only number that means anything is a real quote run on your actual age and health, set next to the VGLI figure from the chart above.

What VGLI does that nothing else does

VGLI has real, specific advantages that no private policy can fully match, and they are the reason it exists. Weigh these before any cost comparison, because for some veterans they settle the question on their own:

• No health review inside 240 days. Apply within 240 days of leaving the military and you don't need to prove you are in good health. That means you can get coverage even with health conditions.
• Priced on age alone. The VA says your monthly cost depends only on your age, not on gender or tobacco use. Enroll in that first window and a service-connected condition does not change the rate.
• It lasts for life. Your coverage lasts your whole life as long as you keep paying the premiums.
• It converts and it can grow. You can switch VGLI to an individual permanent policy through participating companies at any time without a medical exam, and, if you start below $500,000, you can add $25,000 one year after getting VGLI and every five years after, up to $500,000, until age 60. The VA's SGLI and VGLI handbook says those increases do not require proof of good health.

None of this is a sales pitch for switching. It is the case for VGLI, stated plainly, so the comparison that follows is a fair one. Veterans with a service-connected rating have a second VA option worth knowing about: VALife, the VA's guaranteed-acceptance whole life plan (it replaced S-DVI for new applicants). VALife is priced differently from VGLI, with one rate set by your age when you apply, and the full VALife rate chart lists it for every age from 18 to 95. If you qualify for both, our VALife vs VGLI comparison sets them side by side. And if you are still on service coverage, the SGLI guide covers what it costs and when it ends.

When keeping VGLI is clearly the right call

Sometimes the honest answer is keep it, and don't overthink it. If most of these fit you, VGLI is doing its job and a switch is unlikely to beat it:

• You have a service-connected condition or any health issue that makes private underwriting expensive or uncertain. VGLI's acceptance without a health review is worth real money here.
• You're still inside the 240-day window and not yet sure of your health picture. VGLI locks coverage now, and you can compare at your own pace afterward.
• Your coverage need is shorter-term, bridging a few years until a mortgage is paid or kids are grown, so the later, steeper age bands never arrive.
• You value certainty over optimization: coverage you can keep for life as long as you pay, with no medical hoops, is exactly what you want.

This is the part most rate pages skip, so we'll say it directly: a review that ends in “keep your VGLI” is a successful review. If your coverage is already the right fit, you deserve to hear that plainly, not a reason to change something that is working.

When comparing private coverage makes sense

Comparing a private policy is worth the ten minutes when the math might favor it, and for a healthy veteran with a long horizon, it often might. Look at the chart again: those later age bands are where VGLI gets expensive. A level-term policy locked in while you are young and healthy holds its premium flat straight through the years where VGLI is climbing fastest.

A comparison is especially worth running if:

• You're in good health and can likely qualify for a preferred term rate.
• You need coverage for a long horizon, 20 or 30 years, so you would otherwise ride VGLI's staircase deep into the costly bands.
• You want more than $500,000, which VGLI can't provide.
• You'd like to lock a premium now rather than watch it step up every five years.

That comparison is what a free review is for. We connect you with an independent licensed agent, on a team that includes veterans, who sets the VGLI figure from this chart next to real quotes from over 20 carriers, run on your actual age and health, and tells you which one wins for your situation. If VGLI wins, that is the answer you will get. Our guide on whether VGLI is worth it lays out the keep, convert or replace choice, or walk through it in a quick free review of your options. Whatever you choose, keep VGLI in force until the new policy is approved and active.

The enrollment window: 1 year and 120 days

You have 1 year and 120 days from leaving the military to apply for VGLI. Inside that window the rules reward acting early, and missing it closes the door, so the timeline matters as much as the rates:

1. 1.First 240 days: apply without proving you are in good health. Coverage does not depend on a health review.
2. 2.Day 241 through the deadline: you can still apply, but you submit evidence that you are in good health.
3. 3.After 1 year and 120 days: the VGLI option generally ends. This is the gap we see constantly: SGLI continues for 120 days after you leave, the window passes, and nobody walked the veteran through the choice in time.

You can apply online through the Office of Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance on Prudential's site, or by mail or fax with the VA's Application for VGLI (SGLV 8714, PDF). The step-by-step, including the deadlines and what changes on the day your SGLI ends, is in our SGLI to VGLI conversion guide, and the SGLI vs. VGLI comparison shows how the two plans differ.

If you are inside the window right now, the move is simple: secure the coverage, then compare at your leisure. You can always convert or replace VGLI later, but you can't reopen the window once it closes.