What waiting costs: how age changes a veteran's rate

Age is the largest single factor in what you pay for life insurance, and it is the only one that moves in just one direction. Every other factor can improve. You can quit nicotine, get a number back in range, document a condition as stable. Age only goes up, and it takes the price with it. This page shows how that works, what the jumps look like, and why "I will look at this next year" has a number attached.

Two things are aging at once

Most people understand that older means more expensive. What gets missed is that two separate things are working against you.

Your age. The straightforward one. Mortality risk rises with every year, and price follows.

Your health record. This is the one that surprises people. At 32 you may have nothing on your chart. At 42 you may have a blood pressure prescription, a sleep study, a knee surgery, and a family history that has developed since. None of that existed to be underwritten a decade earlier.

So the cost of waiting is not just the age difference. It is the age difference plus whatever appeared on your record in the meantime. That second part is invisible until you apply, and it is often the larger of the two.

What an age band looks like

Group coverage prices in bands rather than smoothly, and the VA programs show this clearly because the VA publishes the numbers.

Here is what Veterans' Group Life Insurance costs per $1,000 of coverage per month, by age band, effective 1 July 2025:

Read down that column and the shape is obvious. From 40 to 60 the rate roughly multiplies by six. From 60 to 75 it multiplies again by more than four. And the increases are not gradual, they land all at once on a birthday.

That is the arithmetic of a group program. Your price does not hold. It steps up on a schedule for as long as you keep the coverage.

Why level term behaves differently

A level term policy does the opposite. You are underwritten once, at the age you apply, and that price holds for the entire term you selected. Twenty years later you are paying the same amount you paid in year one.

This is the single most important structural difference between VGLI and a private term policy, and it is why the comparison is not just about today's price. Work through it in VGLI vs term life and managing VGLI premiums.

The catch is that the price holds only until the term ends. Choosing that term correctly is the whole job, and the method is in choosing your term length.

Insurance age is not always your age

One quirk worth knowing before you apply.

Many insurers use what is called nearest age or age nearest birthday. If you are seven months past your last birthday, some companies will underwrite you as though you were already a year older, because your next birthday is closer than your last.

The practical effect: applying a few weeks before a birthday can save you a full year of pricing, and applying a few weeks after the halfway point can cost you one. This is not a reason to rush a decision you have not thought through. It is a reason not to let a completed decision sit for two months on your desk.

The separation timing point

If you are approaching separation, there is a second reason the calendar works in your favor.

Life insurance is priced on your health on the day you apply. A separation physical exists to document your condition thoroughly, which is exactly what it should do. It also means conditions found and recorded during out-processing are on your record for the next application.

Applying before that documentation exists tends to produce a better health class.

To be completely clear: never delay medical care, a separation physical, or a VA claim to chase an insurance rate. Your health and your benefits come first, and a VA rating is worth far more over a lifetime than a rate class. Just understand that the sequence has an effect, and that starting early is the version that works in your favor. Deadlines are in SGLI timeline and deadlines.

What to do about it

If you have decided you need coverage, apply. The most expensive month is always the one you spend thinking about it after the decision is already made.

If you are close to a birthday, move now. See the nearest-age note above.

If you are working on something that will improve your class, weigh it. Twelve months clear of nicotine is worth more than one year of age, usually by a wide margin. That is the one case where waiting wins, and it is covered in tobacco, vaping, and nicotine.

If you already have a policy and your health has improved, reapply rather than wait. You will be underwritten fresh at your current age and current health. Never cancel the old policy until the new one is issued, delivered, and paid.

Frequently asked questions

How much does life insurance go up each year with age?

There is no single figure, and it is not linear. Rates rise slowly in your twenties and thirties and accelerate sharply from your fifties onward. The published VGLI table above shows the shape: the rate roughly multiplies by six between age 40 and age 60.

Does life insurance get more expensive with age?

Yes, and for two reasons at once. Mortality risk rises, and your medical record usually accumulates conditions that were not there to underwrite earlier.

When should I buy life insurance?

When you have someone depending on your income. If that is already true, the answer is now, because waiting only raises the price and adds to your health record.

Does my rate go up as I get older after I buy?

Not on a level term policy. You lock the price at your age when you apply, and it holds for the whole term. Group coverage like VGLI is different: it reprices at every age band.

What is insurance age?

Many insurers underwrite you at your age nearest birthday rather than your last birthday. Past the halfway point between birthdays, you may be priced as a year older.

Your next step

Get the free guide, "Leaving the Service: Your Life Insurance Decision Guide". It walks the timing decision alongside your separation deadlines. Or take the quiz, Which Coverage Fits You?

Sources: VA, Veterans' Group Life Insurance (va.gov/life-insurance/options-eligibility/vgli/), rate table effective July 1, 2025. Accessed August 15, 2026.