How to manage VGLI premiums as you age

How VGLI pricing works

VGLI is priced by age band, not by health. Everyone in the same band pays the same rate for the same coverage. Your premium holds steady inside a band, then steps up when you cross into the next one at 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, and 80. Your rate does not depend on your health, and it does not change if your health changes. That is VGLI's strength and its weakness. It cannot punish you for a diagnosis, but it cannot reward you for staying healthy either.

What VGLI costs right now

Monthly premiums for $100,000 of coverage, effective July 1, 2025, from VA.gov:

Age band	Monthly premium per $100,000
29 and younger	$6.00
30 to 34	$8.00
35 to 39	$10.00
40 to 44	$14.00
45 to 49	$19.00
50 to 54	$29.00
55 to 59	$50.00
60 to 64	$85.00
65 to 69	$138.00
70 to 74	$215.00
75 to 79	$385.00
80 and older	$440.00

Read the table from top to bottom and one thing stands out. The early bands are cheap and the jumps are small. Then the curve bends. From 55 to 59 to 60 to 64, the rate goes from $50 to $85. From 65 to 69 to 70 to 74, it goes from $138 to $215.

Here is the math on a real policy. Say you carry $400,000 of VGLI at age 49. You pay $76 a month. On your 50th birthday band change, that becomes $116 a month, a $480-a-year increase for the same coverage. At 60 it becomes $340 a month. At 70 it becomes $860 a month. As of July 2025, that is $10,320 a year at age 70 for coverage that cost $912 a year at 49.

VA also adjusts the rate table itself from time to time, in either direction. The table above took effect July 1, 2025. Check the current table on VA.gov once a year so you are planning with live numbers.

Move 1: Carry the right amount, not the default amount

Your premium scales directly with your coverage amount. Half the coverage costs half the premium in every band. Many veterans keep the full $400,000 or $500,000 they left service with, out of habit rather than need. As your mortgage shrinks and your kids finish school, the amount your family needs often drops too. Run the numbers in how much life insurance you need before you pay another band increase on coverage you may not need.

Move 2: Know your increase windows before you need them

VGLI increases run on a fixed schedule. If you carry less than the maximum, you can add $25,000 one year after getting VGLI, and then every five years after that, up to $500,000. The window closes at age 60. After that, you cannot increase your VGLI at all. If your family's needs are still growing, plan those increases early or look at private coverage for the gap.

Move 3: Review before every band change

Set a reminder for the year before each new age band. That is your decision point. If your health is good, price a private level term policy before the jump. Term locks one rate for the full term, often 20 or 30 years, while VGLI steps up every five. The full side-by-side, with the long-term math, is in VGLI vs term life. If you are not sure how VGLI's structure compares in the first place, start with how VGLI works.

When keeping VGLI is the right call

If your health makes private coverage hard to get, VGLI's no-health-based pricing is worth the rising cost. That includes veterans managing service-connected conditions that private underwriting would rate heavily. In that case, the three moves above still help. Right-size the amount, use your increase windows before 60, and check the VA rate table yearly. If you have a service-connected disability rating, also look at VALife eligibility, which offers guaranteed acceptance coverage with locked premiums, and see coverage with a VA disability rating for the full picture.

Your next step: Take the quiz, Which Coverage Fits You? It weighs your age, health, and coverage needs in about a minute. Or get the free guide, "The Veteran's Life Insurance Decision Guide."

Sources: VA, Veterans' Group Life Insurance (va.gov/life-insurance/options-eligibility/vgli/), rates effective July 1, 2025, accessed July 24, 2026.