Kate Horrell

If you're thinking about leaving the military, you need to be thinking about life insurance.

Here’s why: you can’t make smart transition decisions without knowing what risks you can actually cover - and how you will cover them. Your financial capacity depends on what protection you have in place. Lose SGLI, and everything shifts.

Many people approach retirement by focusing on the job, or the house, or the location.

But they haven’t answered:

Can I replace my income if something happens?
Will I even qualify for coverage after I separate?
How much will it cost outside the military system?

Reality check:
Your health, age, and timing matter. Waiting until after separation can limit your options—or make coverage significantly more expensive. More importantly, your Survivor Benefit Plan decision may rest, in part, on your capacity to get life insurance.

Life insurance isn’t just another checkbox. It defines:
How much risk your family is carrying
How flexible your career choices can be
What your financial plan actually looks like

Before you decide what comes next, figure out what safety net you can build.
Everything else depends on it.

Some resources: https://lnkd.in/ePFMhwaZ

https://lnkd.in/ejMXn8Cd

I hear this constantly from veterans: "I should have filed when I got out. It's too late now."

They think they missed a window that doesn't actually exist. Or that it's going to be way too hard.

There is no statute of limitations on filing a VA disability claim.

Whether you separated five years ago or forty years ago, you can still file for a service-connected condition.

Many people leave thinking they aren't "hurt enough" or that the process is reserved for combat injuries.

Then a decade passes, the back pain gets worse, and they assume the door closed behind them.

If you have service-connected conditions you never claimed, find a VA-accredited Veterans Service Organization.

They will help you build a claim for free.

Stop leaving money on the table because of a deadline someone made up.

What happens if your pay doesn't hit next month?

It sounds like a nightmare scenario, but between DFAS errors, admin mistakes, and PCS gaps, pay issues are a reality.

As my wise friend Rob says, "You have not seen your last pay problem." That's likely true whether you're brand new to the military or have been retired for decades.

When the paycheck is short, the bills don't wait.

Build a dedicated buffer account that holds at least one month of your essential expenses.

This isn't your emergency fund.

It’s your "finance messed up" account.

Even a small monthly allotment to a separate savings account will add up over time.

In the military, you can't just walk into HR and get a manual check by Friday.

Corrections take one or two pay cycles—sometimes longer.

Having that buffer means you aren't raiding your TSP, borrowing from your parents, or leaning on credit cards while the system catches up.

If you’ve dealt with a missing entitlement or a PCS pay gap, how long did it actually take to get fixed?

Service members frequently default to transferring their Post 9/11 GI Bill to their kids without running the numbers on using it themselves - or for their spouse.

But the power of increasing a parent's income can far outweigh the value of the GI Bill in 10 or 15 years. By transferring it, you commit to extra service time and bet that 10 or 15 years from now, the benefit will still align with your child's plans.

Kids change their minds.

They get scholarships.

Some skip the traditional college route entirely.

A degree or credential that increases your household income even modestly over a full career creates a financial impact that usually outweighs the cost of your child’s tuition—which can be covered by 529 plans or federal aid.

The instinct to sacrifice for your kids is noble, but it isn't always the best math.

Sometimes the most effective way to provide for them is to invest in your own earning potential first.

You might find that using the benefit now is the better move for the whole family.

Truth: The fastest way to understand military benefits: schedule a free session with a certified financial counselor on base.

Gathering your recent Leave and Earnings Statement, other income, expenses, and debts.

Bringing this information to a professional helps map out a clear path to long-term financial security for your family.

Taking an hour is usually a simple, straightforward process.

Ignoring how these systems work typically means leaving money on the table and spending years trying to adjust later.

Have you been thinking about taking the Military Qualified Financial Planner exam this summer? Come to our prep course after MilMoneyCon in Savannah next month!

Application - Military Qualified Financial Planner - MQFP® Application Process Thank you for your interest in the Military Qualified Financial Planner – MQFP® certification program. The MQFP® […]

Quick question: does your spouse know where all the accounts are?

Between deployments, training rotations, and regular PCS moves, a military family's financial footprint can easily become scattered across different institutions.

You Military Family's Confidently Prepared Life Binder is a printable tool to keep it all organized. https://www.katehorrell.com/confidently-prepared-life-binder/

This is definitely a case where a little advance preparation can save a lot of frustration in the future.

Quick question: when did you last review your beneficiaries?

This is one of those tasks that typically gets done once and then forgotten for years. You fill out the forms when you first enroll in SGLI, open a TSP account, or set up a life insurance policy, and then life moves on. But life changes too. Marriage, divorce, new kids, loss of a family member. Any of those can make your current beneficiary designations outdated.

Here's what matters: beneficiary designations on accounts like SGLI, TSP, and private life insurance policies generally override what's written in a will. That means even if your will says everything goes to your spouse, an old beneficiary form naming an ex-spouse or a parent from years ago will usually take priority. This catches a lot of military and veteran families off guard.

One thing you can do today is pull up your milConnect account or log into your TSP and just verify who's listed. It takes about ten minutes. While you're at it, check that your contact information for each beneficiary is current too, because outdated addresses and phone numbers can slow down claims processing significantly.

This is especially worth doing during any major life transition, but honestly, a quick annual check is a solid habit for anyone.

When's the last time you actually looked at yours?