Do you know this?

[broncovet]

"If" you are disabled by VA and "do not" have the 10,000 VA life insurance, at no cost to you,  you should get it ASAP, if eligible.  Follow the links to see if you are eligible:

https://www.va.gov/life-insurance/

Also, if you have your 10,000 VA life insurance, its also like a bank account you can draw on.  As an example, if you have had the 10,000 life insurance for 10 years, you could withdraw (that is get a "loan" from your life insurance proceeds) for $1000 or more.  Yes, you would pay interest on the loan, "but" you would never have to pay it back (the amount borrowed, plus interest, would be deducted from the 10,000 upon your death. ) 

Bottom line:  If you dont have it, get it, and if you do have it, and need money, consider the consequences of borrowing on your life insurance.  It may be a relatively painless way to get money you need NOW vs, after you are gone.  Also, lets say you borrow 1000, 2000, or even 5000 from your life insurance policy, AND you "come into money" 2 years down the road, you can pay it back and restore your family's full life insurance proceeds. 

"Unless" there was a compelling reason, I would not recommend "cashing in" your life insurance policy.  (A compelling reason may be that you have cancer and not long to live, and you want to use the money). 

Instead of "cashing in" leave your options open by borrowing the max from your policy.   You have the option of paying it back or not..at your discretion, in your time. 

VA life insurance sends me a notice each year, around my birthday, as to how much I could borrow, or cash in the policy for.  The cash value of the policy grows each year.  After about 20 years, you can cash it in for the full face value, about 10,000. 

You can likely do the same with "other than VA" whole life insurance policies, too:  Borrow, or cash it in. 

In a nutshell whole life insurance is "owned" insurance, while  term insurance is "rented" insurance.  Like a car, if you own it you can sell it, or get a loan on it.  But you cant get a loan on your rented apartment. 

Edited October 16, 2020 by broncovet

[deedub75]

10 minutes ago, blahsaysme2u said:

its also my understanding, that you need to have this insurance in place already before you can apply for the waiver. so like for me i am only 90% right now so i would need to get the insurance before my 2 year countdown runs out. if i get my 100% any time after that because of increases in SC i would be eligible for the waiver.

but if i knew i was going to get a new SC to bump me to 100% or was counting on it to, i could theoretically wait to get the insurance and apply for the waiver all at the same time.

am i understanding this correctly? 

my questions are the different tiers and levels of insurance. i have no idea what to choose?!?!?! should dont we get financial counseling someplace to help us with this?

It doesn't have to already be in place. I applied for it in April when I got some new disabilities granted and they applied the premium waiver at the same time.  

[blahsaysme2u]

well yeah cuz you got a new disability SC. thts what i was saying. but just getting an increase in current SC, you cant get it. 

[deedub75]

1 minute ago, blahsaysme2u said:

well yeah cuz you got a new disability SC. thts what i was saying. but just getting an increase in current SC, you cant get it. 

No, you mentioned getting to 100%. If you get to 100% you wouldn't have to already have the insurance in place to get the waiver. I was already 100% but I didn't apply for the insurance at that time. Once I got new grants the window opened up for me again so I applied for it. 

It's not cheap insurance so the only reason I got it is because the premiums were waived. 

[blahsaysme2u]

please read again. 

21 minutes ago, blahsaysme2u said:

its also my understanding, that you need to have this insurance in place already before you can apply for the waiver. so like for me i am only 90% right now so i would need to get the insurance before my 2 year countdown runs out. if i get my 100% any time after that because of increases in SC i would be eligible for the waiver.

so this is saying, i would have to have the insuracne in place before the 2 year mark is up, before any increases in current SC's to get me to 100%. 

i then elaborated on a hypothetical that if you are getting a new SC then you dont have to worry about the 2 year mark.

23 minutes ago, blahsaysme2u said:

but if i knew i was going to get a new SC to bump me to 100% or was counting on it to, i could theoretically wait to get the insurance and apply for the waiver all at the same time.

 

[GBArmy]

Blah I guess it kinda begs the question -why would you want to wait. You have 2 years to apply for the benefit. If/when you get to 100% s-c, you apply for the waiver. Why not just get the insurance while the window of a new disability is open? The only reason I would think is if it is about the premiums you have to pay for before you get the 100% and the waver.

[deedub75]

Just now, GBArmy said:

Blah I guess it kinda begs the question -why would you want to wait. You have 2 years to apply for the benefit. If/when you get to 100% s-c, you apply for the waiver. Why not just get the insurance while the window of a new disability is open? The only reason I would think is if it is about the premiums you have to pay for before you get the 100% and the waver.

I see what Blah is saying. It would have to be a new grant to get to 100% to get the waiver. If it's an increase to get to 100% then the waiver doesn't apply.  

In my case, I was already 100% but my 2 year window had closed to apply for the insurance. I then got new grants in April which reopened my window so I was able to apply and get the waiver.