It's recommended that you secure civilian life insurance well before you leave the military. There are two main reasons for this. First, military out-processing and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) disability process may turn up medical surprises. These may make it expensive or impossible for you obtain civilian insurance. Second, if you are retiring, you’ll need to choose whether to purchase the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP.) You can’t make a smart SBP decision if you don’t know how much civilian life insurance will cost. For more details and tips, visit this Paycheck Chronicles article.