But what about the Military Spouse? In many cases, military spouses have little or no life insurance. Should they? The answer is usually yes.
For young families, there are two primary concerns: child care and income replacement. A child care contingency plan is very important. If a servicemember has young children and loses his/her spouse, how will he/she provide quality child care, especially if faced with military duties and deployments? The quick answer is to rely on parents or siblings to help out. However, this is often not practical. The next quick answer is to leave the service -- usually a bad decision. High quality care such as a full-time nanny is a good plan, but expensive. Having sufficient life insurance coverage for the spouse can provide an excellent source of funds for quality child care.
The second issue is income replacement. With or without children, many military spouses work today, and the family relies on both incomes to support the family lifestyle. Funds for mortgages, private school tuition, automobiles, etc. are often provided based on both incomes. What if the spouse income were lost? Could the servicemember continue to afford the lifestyle that the family has grown accustomed to? Here again, spouse life insurance coverage could provide the funds necessary to replace the lost income.
How much coverage is needed? The military spouse will often need more life insurance coverage than the servicemember. This is because extensive survivor benefits are in place when the servicemember dies. These benefits come directly from the government and not from individual life insurance; no such benefits are in place if the servicemember's spouse dies. To help you estimate your coverage needs, there is a Life insurance Needs Analysis Calculator available at the Navy Mutual Aid Association Website: click on "Tools."
What type of insurance should be considered? Child care protection is a temporary need. The need will end when the children are old enough to care for themselves. So this is the ideal situation for term life insurance, which for a young spouse can be very inexpensive. Note that Servicemembers Group Life Insurance (SGLI) now provides up to $100,000 of coverage for the servicemember's spouse. However, that amount is inadequate in most circumstances, and an individual policy to replace or supplement the SGLI coverage is usually necessary. Income replacement protection may or may not be temporary depending on the family's overall financial plan. In this case, term insurance or permanent insurance (whole life), or a combination of both may be desired.
As stated before, term insurance provides excellent coverage for temporary needs. Whole life insurance with its tax-deferred cash value growth can be an important part of your overall financial strategy. Some whole life plans have Long Term Care Options which can be very valuable especially for female spouses whose need for long term care protection is usually greatest. You may want to consult a life insurance professional to discuss what is best for your family. To learn more about life insurance, there is a Life Insurance Tutorial available the Navy Mutual Aid Association Website: click on "Library" in "Member Resources."
In many cases, a family can be more devastated financially by the death of the spouse than by the death of the servicemember. However, most military families fail to adequately insure the military spouse. The Navy Mutual Aid Association (serving the Sea Services, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard), at 1-800-628-6011, and the Army-Air Force Mutual Aid Association (Serving the Army, Air Force and National Guard), at 1-800- 522-5221, have been insuring the family protection needs of military families for over 125 years. Both of these non-profit organizations have counselors available that can discuss life insurance options for your family.
http://www.military.com/NewContent/0,13190,072204_Spouse,00.html?ESRC=family.nl
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