What they've actually got

• •Non service connected death: roughly $900 total.
• •Service connected death: significantly more, but it still isn't a funeral.
• •Plot, headstone, flag and honors are covered at a national cemetery, if there's space.

“The VA takes care of the ground and the stone. Everything above the ground is on your family.”

• •SGLI ends 120 days after separation.
• •VGLI is the conversion, no health questions inside the window.
• •VGLI premiums step up every five years and get steep in the 60s and 70s.
• •Most guys drop VGLI right around the age they need it.

“VGLI's fine while it's cheap. The problem is it doesn't stay cheap, and it goes up right when you're on a fixed income.”

• •Group life is usually one to two times salary.
• •It stops when the job stops: retirement, layoff, or disability.
• •It's rarely portable, and when it is, it reprices.
• •Most deaths happen after the working years.

“Would that work policy still be there when you're 75? That's the question nobody asks until it's too late.”

• •Term rents coverage for a set number of years, then it's gone.
• •About 98% of term policies never pay a claim.
• •Whole life is level premium, never expires, builds cash value.
• •Final expense is whole life built for smaller face amounts and older ages.

“Term's like renting. Whole life's like owning. For burial money you want the one that can't expire before you do.”

• •Anything without a named beneficiary can sit in probate for months.
• •Life insurance with a beneficiary bypasses probate entirely.
• •A will doesn't avoid probate, it just tells the court what you wanted.

“The funeral home wants paying in about a week. Probate takes months. That's the whole reason the beneficiary line matters.”

• •Many cemeteries near major metros are closed to new casket burials.
• •Families often drive hours to the nearest open one.
• •A private plot runs $3,000 to $7,000 before anything else.
• •Transport of remains across state lines adds cost fast.

“If the one near you is full, Linda's either driving three hours to visit, or buying a plot out of pocket.”

• •Traditional burial: $9,000 to $15,000.
• •Cremation with a service: $4,000 to $7,000.
• •Add vault, transport, obituary, death certificates, headstone engraving.
• •Most families pay it within 7 days, on credit cards or a GoFundMe.

“The average family covers this with a credit card. That's the part I'd like to fix for you today.”

• •Needs based, for wartime veterans with limited income and assets.
• •It pays monthly for care, not for burial.
• •Ownership of a small life policy generally doesn't disqualify them.

“That's a living benefit, it helps with care. It doesn't put a dime toward the funeral.”