Transitioning Out
Your SGLI ends 120 days after you separate
The coverage you had on active duty ends 120 days after you separate. You have three deadlines after that, and one of them is the last day you can convert without a single health question.
Last verified June 1, 2025
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Separation clock
Enter your separation date to see your exact deadlines.
What just happened to your coverage
While you served, SGLI covered you for up to $500,000. It does not follow you out the door. SGLI continues free for 120 days after your separation date, and then it ends — permanently.
Those 120 days are a grace period, not a plan. If you do nothing, on day 121 you have no coverage from this system at all.
There is one exception: if you are totally disabled on the date of separation, SGLI can be extended for up to two years.
The three deadlines that follow
After you separate, the clock runs on three dates. The tool above puts your exact calendar dates on them. Here is what each one means.
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Through day 240 — the no-questions window. Within 240 days of separation you can convert to VGLI with zero health questions, no exam, and no possibility of being declined. This is the door you want to walk through. Your health does not matter here. Nothing you have been diagnosed with can stop you.
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Day 241 through day 485 — the underwriting window. The door is still open, but the terms change. From day 241 through day 485 — one year and 120 days after separation — you can still apply for VGLI, but now medical underwriting is required, and you can be denied. If your health has changed, this is where it can cost you the coverage entirely.
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After day 485 — closed. Past 485 days, the VGLI window closes permanently. There is no late application.
What VGLI actually gives you
VGLI's maximum is $500,000, but it cannot exceed the SGLI amount you carried at separation. If you separated with $400,000 of SGLI, that is your VGLI ceiling.
The premiums are age-banded and rise every five years. That is the main thing to understand about the cost: it is not fixed. It steps up as you age, on a schedule. VGLI premium rates were lowered on July 1, 2025.
There is a built-in way to grow the coverage: on your one-year anniversary and every five years after, you can increase coverage by $25,000 with no health proof, up to the maximum — but not after age 60.
The option almost nobody knows about
There is a second door, and it is barely advertised. Within 240 days of separation, you can convert your SGLI or FSGLI to a permanent commercial policy at standard rates with no health proof, through a participating carrier.
That matters because VGLI is term-style coverage with premiums that climb every five years. A permanent policy converted at standard rates, with no health proof, locks in a different structure — one that does not step up on VGLI's schedule. For some veterans, especially those who want lifelong coverage rather than coverage that gets more expensive with each band, this is the better move. But it lives inside the same 240-day no-questions window, so the decision has to happen early.
Most people never hear about the conversion option because no one profits from telling them in time. Now you have heard about it. Use the clock at the top of this page to see how many days you have left.