The best life insurance for veterans and military families

If you're in the U.S. Armed Forces, you're offered life insurance from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

But that coverage expires when you leave active duty and, in many cases, service members need to supplement it with coverage from the civilian market. Many providers are hesitant to cover military members, given the risks associated with service.

CNBC Select has picked the best life insurance for active duty military and veterans, based on cost, coverage options, customer service, availability and other criteria. (See our methodology for more on how we made our selections.)

Who's this for? Mutual of Omaha's guaranteed acceptance whole life policies have generous payouts and age requirements: Seniors up to age 85 (75 in New York) can be approved for a policy worth up to $25,000 without a medical exam.

Standout benefits: Mutual of Omaha also offers long-term care insurance to applicants between the ages of 30 and 79, with a 15% discount for couples who enroll together.

[ Click here for more on Mutual of Omaha ]

Who's this for? While SGLI and VGLI only offer term life, Guardian has exceptional whole life insurance that builds cash value and comes with a host of optional endorsements, including riders for waiver of premium, guaranteed insurability, accelerated death benefit, guaranteed Insurability, accidental death and paid up additions.

Standout benefits: Guardian is one of the few providers that let you convert an SGLI, FSGLI or VGLI plan into a civilian policy without a medical exam.

Who's this for? USAA has two flexible term life plans: A level term policy with the option to increase coverage at life milestones up to a maximum of $10 million and the no-exam Eagle Express plan, which offers same-day approval for up to $1 million to applicants between the ages of 18 and 60.

Standout benefits: USAA will expedite the approval process if you're being deployed and, once you return, allow you to lower your coverage amount.

Who's this for? Armed Forces Mutual is one of only a few insurers that cover active-duty military personnel. Its level term plan is worth up to $800,000, with $10,000 in free coverage for any dependent children under 21.

Standout benefits: BeyondBasic, a guaranteed acceptance supplemental policy, can be stacked on top of SGLI with up to $100,000 of coverage. Coverage is available for as little as $9 a month.

Who's this for? Accelerated death benefit riders, which allow you to receive a payout if you're diagnosed with a chronic or terminal illness, typically cost extra. But Navy Mutual includes it for free with both term and whole life policies.

Standout benefits: Navy Mutual's whole life policies are available up to age 81 and term life up to age 76.

When you enlist, you're automatically issued Servicemembers Group Life Insurance (SGLI), a group term life policy worth up to $500,000.

Your premiums are automatically deducted from your pay and SGLI remains in force up to 120 days after your release from duty. It can also be paired with Family Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (FSGLI), which offers up to $100,000 of coverage for a spouse and free $10,000 coverage for any dependent children.

After you're discharged, you can apply for Veterans' Group Life Insurance (VGLI), a term life policy with up to $500,000 in coverage that's available up to one year and 120 days after your separation.

If you had less than $500,000 in coverage with SGLI, you can increase your VGLI death benefit annually by $25,000 until you reach the maximum or age 60, whichever comes first. 

Veterans with disabilities are eligible for VALife, a whole life policy that offers $40,000 in coverage to applicants up to age 80. VALife doesn't start to accumulate cash value for two years.

Active military personnel are covered by SGLI, but they can also buy a life insurance policy on the private market.

Service members can decide if they want coverage and how much the same way anyone else would, says Daniel Kopp, founder of Wise Stewardship Financial Planning and an Air Force veteran.

“Do other people depend on you for income? Do you have debts that may not be discharged in death, like private student loans or a mortgage?" Kopp said. "It’s all about goal-based planning.”

Service members do have some unique considerations, however: Many private insurance providers are wary of covering military members, especially someone with a scheduled deployment or who is stationed abroad.

You may be charged higher rates or even refused coverage. Your best option is an insurance provider that caters to the needs of service members, like Navy Mutual, AAFMAA and USAA.

In addition to SGLI, families of military personnel killed in the line of duty have access to a $100,000 death gratuity, college scholarships for their children and Social Security survivor benefits for their partner.

"Day One of military separation or retirement, those benefits go away," Kopp said. "And your life insurance needs increase exponentially," Kopp said.

You have 16 months after separation to enroll in VGLI, but you might consider a civilian policy instead, especially because the VA-backed plan isn't always the cheapest option.

Unlike SGLI and VGLI, however, commercial insurers consider your health status during the underwriting process.

Applicants are typically sorted into one of four risk classes: standard, standard plus, preferred and preferred plus. Veterans with minor or well-managed physical or mental health issues can still qualify for the standard risk class.

"'If you can at least get into the standard risk class, nine times out of ten, it's going to be cheaper than VGLI," Kopp said.

In his experience, VGLI is a better fit for veterans who would have difficulty getting accepted by a regular insurer due to a serious illness or disability.

You might start thinking about buying a term or permanent life insurance policy when you're getting ready to transition into civilian life, but Kopp suggests doing it much earlier.

“It’s not only cheaper to get insurance when you're younger, but there are also fewer health impacts from ongoing military service," he said.

You can convert your military policy into a civilian life insurance policy anytime, typically without a medical exam. (You may be asked questions about your health, but you're not required to answer.)

Insurers that will convert SGLI or VGLI policies include:

• American Fidelity
• EMC National
• Guardian
• MassMutual
• MetLife
• New York Life
• Northwestern Mutual

Before you convert your SGLI, Kopp advises considering the benefits that come with it: Surviving spouses can deposit SGLI death benefits and the $100,000 death gratuity into a Roth IRA.

"It's a powerful planning tool that won't apply after a policy is converted," he said.

And often, a converted policy isn't the cheapest option.

"The conversion would be cost-prohibitive," Kopp said. Getting your own private life insurance policy as early as possible is likely the cheapest move, he added.

If you have trouble getting approved because of an illness or disability, VGLI will still be cheaper than a converted policy, Kopp said.

At CNBC Select, we work with experts who have specialized knowledge and authority based on relevant training and/or experience. For this story, we interviewed Daniel Kopp, founder of Wise Stewardship Financial Planning and a specialist in financial planning for active duty officers and surviving spouses. Kopp is the operations officer for the Military Financial Advisors Association and served nine years in the Air Force.

At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every insurance review is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of life insurance products. To determine the best life insurance for military members and veterans, we considered more than 10 life insurers, prioritizing those with features that help those who have served or are serving in the armed forces. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics.

To determine the best life insurance for veterans and military families, CNBC Select reviewed dozens of providers, prioritizing companies with military-friendly policies, including those that were accessible across the U.S., those that would consider military members with an upcoming deployment and that offered guaranteed acceptance for veterans with significant health issues.

We considered the amount and type of coverage each company offered, as well as the availability of riders like accelerated death benefits and conversion privileges. Providers that don't penalize active duty personnel with higher rates were weighed more favorably.

We incorporated customer satisfaction ratings from J.D. Power, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and the Better Business Bureau.

We also considered CNBC Select audience data when available, such as general demographics and engagement with our content and tools.

Based on that criteria, our picks for best life insurance for veterans and service members are:

• Best for active duty service members: AAFMAA
• Best for seniors: Mutual of Omaha
• Best for term life insurance: USAA
• Best for whole life insurance: Guardian
• Best for living benefits: Navy Mutual

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