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Life Insurance is Important

Life insurance is an essential part of your financial strategy. Having a life insurance policy in place provides peace of mind for you and your loved ones by helping to ensure that their financial future is secure.

What is life insurance?

Life insurance is a contract between you (the insured) and an insurance company (the insurer). You pay premium payments in exchange for the insurance company taking on the risk of you passing away, and promises a lump sum payout if you die. This payout is known as a death benefit, and is paid to chosen beneficiaries after your death.

A life insurance death benefit can be used to cover a range of things, including final expenses and funeral arrangements, as well as bills, college tuition, debt, and other financial obligations.

Who needs life insurance?

Life insurance is an integral part of financial planning for anyone that wants to protect their family’s future in the event that the unexpected should happen. There are any number of life-changing events that current and former Civilian Federal Employees should consider when re-evaluating their life insurance needs, including getting married, starting a family, buying a home, and more.

What types of life insurance are there?

The two most popular types of life insurance are term life insurance and whole life insurance. Term life insurance is temporary protection and only provides coverage for a specific period of time. There is usually a maximum age above which coverage will not be offered or at which coverage cannot be renewed.

Whole life insurance (or permanent insurance) is a general term used to refer to various forms of life insurance policies that build cash value and remain in effect for the entire life of the insured (or until age 100) as long as the premium is paid.

Explore helpful resources, designed to help answer any life insurance questions you may have.

Life Insurance Needs Analysis

Life Insurance 101:

Back to the Basics

How Do I Get It?

WAEPA Offerings

Pregnant woman and husband looking lovingly at unborn child.

Group Term Life Insurance

Group Term Life Insurance is a smart option to plan for your financial future. WAEPA can help protect you and your loved ones for years to come.

Group Term Life Insurance* is a type of life insurance where one contract covers multiple people or a group of people. This allows for group rates for each policy issued under a single contract.

Group Term Life Insurance: Quick Decision

With QuickDecision underwriting, eligible applicants can apply for Group Term Life Insurance coverage online and receive a decision in 30 minutes or less

QuickDecision underwriting is available to applicants under age 50 applying for up to $1M in Group Term Life Insurance, and applicants under age 60 applying for up to $750,000.

New Federal Employee: Guaranteed Issue

New Civilian Federal Employees can take advantage of this exclusive offer as they begin their time in Federal service.

New Federal employees can enjoy up to $100,000 in guaranteed coverage when they apply within their first year of hire. No medical exams or labs required.

Associate Membership

Spouses of WAEPA members can apply for their own coverage and enjoy exclusive member benefits with an Associate Membership.

Associate members are eligible for up to $1.5 million in Group Term Life Insurance from WAEPA. This is a smart option for you and your spouse if you’re seeking higher coverage amounts and benefits than dependent coverage.

Automatic Benefit Increase Rider

WAEPA offers an Automatic Benefit Increase Rider as an optional add-on to a Group Term Life Insurance. When added, this rider helps keep your coverage aligned with your growing life insurance needs.

Current and former Civilian Federal Employees under age 50 can add the Automatic Benefit Increase Rider to a new Group Term Life Insurance application. This rider increases a benefit amount by $25,000 annually, for up to 10 years, with no additional medical underwriting required.

Chronic Illness Rider

The Chronic Illness Rider is a living benefit that can be added to a Group Term Life Insurance policy to enhance your coverage.

This rider allows Feds under 65 to collect up to 50% of your Group Term Life Insurance benefit to help cover the cost of care that comes with a chronic illness.

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Group Term Life

Are you prepared for life’s storms? With more than 80 years of experience, WAEPA helps provide current and former Civilian Federal Employees with peace of mind.

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Chronic Illness Rider

Adding a Chronic Illness Rider to your Group Term Life Insurance will help plan for the care a chronic illness can require. This living benefit can help enhance your coverage for added peace of mind.

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Automatic Benefit Increase Rider

Your life insurance needs may look different in 5, 10, or even 20 years. Adding an Automatic Benefit Increase Rider can help ensure your coverage keeps up with your changing needs.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much life insurance should I consider?

Financial advisors recommend having enough life insurance to cover ten times your salary, but individual life insurance needs differ based on your family’s overall financial wellness plan. The best thing to do is think about your current expenses, your plans for your family’s future, and what might happen if you were to die unexpectedly.

Don’t I already have life insurance through my work?

Civilian Federal Employees are automatically offered FEGLI through their benefits package. However, because there is no underwriting process with FEGLI, rates can be higher than an individual would find with an alternate policy. No underwriting process mean that the young, old, healthy, and sick are all covered without examining their risk factors. Due to this, WAEPA’s rates compare favorably to FEGLI across multiple ages and coverage amounts.

When is the right time to get insurance?

Life insurance is an important part of your overall financial wellness plan, but it gets more expensive as you get older, so it is beneficial to purchase it when you are young and your risk factors are low. It is also important to evaluate your life insurance coverage after “life changing events” such as getting married, starting a family, and buying a home.

What do I need to know before buying life insurance?

Prospective WAEPA members seeking to purchase life insurance need to determine what coverage amount is right for them based on their ability to pay the required premium, serve their individual financial needs, and protect their family’s financial future. Once you’ve determined the coverage amount for your needs, it’s a simple application process to apply for a WAEPA policy.

Are there any factors that don’t affect the cost of life insurance?

Yes, race, color, religion, creed, national origin, ancestry, and sexual orientation (among other factors) will not impact the cost of life insurance.

Some of the insurance terminology is confusing – where can I go to better understand?

Visit our FAQ section on life insurance terminology for definitions on key terms.