Veterans · police · fire · EMS
We speak your language because we lived it.
This agency was founded by a six-year Army veteran who served as a combat medic and later spent two years as a police officer. We are not guessing at what your paperwork says or what your family is walking into. And we will tell you when the coverage you already have is fine.
Separating from service
The 240-day window is the one nobody tells you about clearly. Get it right and you keep a guarantee you can never buy back later.
Transitioning · recently separated
Wearing a badge now
Department coverage, the pension survivor election you may not remember making, and what actually happens off duty.
Police · fire · EMS · corrections
Turned down before
A PTSD diagnosis, a service-connected rating, or a medication list is not the end of the conversation. It is the start of a different one.
Previously declined or rated
If you are separating
You have 240 days, and almost nobody tells you.
Your SGLI continues at no cost for 120 days after you separate. You can convert to VGLI with no health questions at all if you apply within 240 days of separation. After that you can still apply out to one year and 120 days, but now you have to answer for your health.
That no-questions window is a guarantee you will never be offered again. If anything in your medical record is complicated, or might get complicated, it is the most valuable thing you own on the way out the door. Miss it and you are at the mercy of underwriting for the rest of your life.
Here is the part the briefing skips: VGLI is not automatically the right long-term answer. It is priced in five-year age bands, it climbs hard after 50, and it builds no cash value. For a healthy veteran in their thirties or forties, privately underwritten term is frequently cheaper for the same or more coverage.
So the honest play is usually both at once. Secure VGLI inside the window so you have something that cannot be taken away, and get underwritten privately at the same time. Then keep whichever one wins, and never let both lapse at the same moment. The full breakdown, with the VA's own numbers.
What VGLI costs as you age
This is the number nobody shows you.
VGLI is renewable for life as long as you keep paying. What changes is the price. These are the VA’s own published monthly premiums for $500,000 of coverage.
| Your age | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| 50–54 | $145 | $1,740 |
| 60–64 | $425 | $5,100 |
| 70–74 | $1,075 | $12,900 |
| 75–79 | $1,925 | $23,100 |
| 80 and older | $2,200 | $26,400 |
Source: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, VGLI premium rates effective July 1, 2025. Rates are set by the VA and can change — confirm the current table at va.gov before deciding anything.
Your age, your coverage amount, every increase from here, and the total if you keep it. Takes about ten seconds.
What that table means
$145 at fifty. $1,075 at seventy.
Same half-million dollars of coverage. That is not a criticism of VGLI — it is term insurance priced honestly by age, and for a veteran who cannot qualify privately it is a genuine safety net worth every dollar of it.
But it is why a healthy veteran who simply keeps VGLI and never looks again can end up paying many times what privately underwritten term would have cost over the same years. VGLI also builds no cash value, and it does not carry the living-benefit riders some private policies offer.
The decision was never VGLI or nothing. It is: lock the guarantee while the window is open, then find out in that same month what your health actually qualifies for.
If you are still on the job
Three things worth checking this week.
Your pension survivor election. Most officers made that choice years ago and could not tell you today what they picked. Some elections reduce your own pension to fund a survivor benefit. Some leave a spouse with nothing at all. Pull the paperwork and read it. Coverage is often a cleaner and cheaper way to protect your spouse than a reduced pension, but you cannot decide that until you know what you already have.
What your department actually covers. Line-of-duty benefits are real and they matter. They are also narrow. They generally do not pay for a death off duty, from illness, or from most medical causes — which is how the overwhelming majority of people actually die. The gap is not the shift. It is everything outside it.
Whether your coverage leaves when you do. Department-provided coverage usually ends with the job, at exactly the age when replacing it costs the most. If you plan to retire at 50 or 55, that math needs to happen now, not then.
If you have been declined
One carrier's no is not the answer.
A PTSD diagnosis is not an automatic decline. Neither is a service-connected rating, nor a medication list, nor the sleep study, nor the back injury that follows half of us home.
What is true is that carriers handle it very differently. One will decline on the diagnosis alone. Another will look at treatment history, stability and time, and offer standard rates. A captive agent has one shelf and has to accept that shelf's answer. We have more than twenty carriers and can put your actual history in front of the ones most likely to read it fairly.
If someone already told you no, bring us the decline letter. It tells us a great deal about where to go next.
After the uniform
The mission does not live in the uniform.
Our founder built Watchmen of Honor for exactly this: veterans and first responders figuring out what the next chapter looks like when the structure that organized your life is suddenly gone. It is a community, not a sales channel, and there is nothing to buy there.
We mention it here because the people who find this page are often in that gap. If what you actually need is a conversation about the next chapter rather than a policy, that is the better door.
Next step
Start where you actually are.
Separating soon
Get the window right
Twenty minutes. We will map your dates and tell you exactly what to file and when.Already covered
Read my policy with me
SGLI, VGLI, department coverage, whatever you have. Complimentary, in writing, no obligation.Rather run numbers first
Use the calculators
No email, no signup, no result that quietly points at a product.Bullard Financial is a private independent insurance agency. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Defense, any branch of the armed forces, or any police, fire or EMS department or pension system. SGLI, VGLI and VALife are government programs administered by the VA; apply for them directly through the VA. Program rules, deadlines and premiums are set by the VA and can change — verify current details at va.gov before acting. Nothing here is tax, legal or benefits advice.
Questions people ask
How long do I have to convert SGLI to VGLI?
SGLI continues at no cost for 120 days after you separate. You can convert to VGLI with no health questions if you apply within 240 days of separation. After that you can still apply up to 1 year and 120 days, but you will have to answer health questions. Missing the no-questions window is the single most expensive mistake a separating service member makes.
Is VGLI a good deal?
It depends entirely on your age and your health. VGLI is priced in five-year age bands and the premium climbs steeply after 50, and it builds no cash value. It is an excellent safety net for someone who cannot qualify privately. For a healthy veteran in their 30s or 40s, privately underwritten term is usually cheaper for the same or more coverage. The right move is often to secure VGLI inside the window and get underwritten privately at the same time, then keep whichever wins.
Can I get life insurance with a PTSD diagnosis?
Usually yes. A PTSD diagnosis is not an automatic decline, and carriers treat it very differently from one another — some look at treatment history and stability, others are far more conservative. This is exactly where an independent agency matters, because we can put your history in front of the carriers most likely to underwrite it favorably instead of accepting the first answer.
What happens to my department pension if I die?
That depends on the survivor election you made, and many officers do not remember what they chose. Some elections reduce your own pension to fund a survivor benefit; others leave a spouse with nothing. Pull your election on file and read it. Life insurance is often the cleaner and cheaper way to protect a spouse than a reduced pension, but you need to know what you actually have first.
Does my department or the federal government already cover a line-of-duty death?
There are federal benefits for public safety officers killed or permanently disabled in the line of duty, and many departments carry their own coverage. Those programs are real and worth understanding, but they are narrow. They generally do not pay for a death off duty, from illness, or from most medical causes, which is how the large majority of people actually die. That gap is what private coverage is for.