Life insurance is a major concern for many people. Whether you work in a risky environment or not, it is always better to take precautions when it comes to the well being of your loved once. Federal employees usually have special benefits that manifest themselves in many shapes such as special health and life insurance, recruitment bonuses, leave and holidays programs and so on. For a long time FEGLI has been the main choice of life insurance for federal employees. However, given the increased popularity of WAEPA, a lot of federal employees are having troubles finding the best choices for them. Today we are going to present you with the advantages and disadvantages of these two insurance options.
FEGLI is a term life insurance program that has been active since 1954. One of the main benefits of this insurance program is that all employees are eligible for the basic policy. Furthermore you are automatically enrolled in the program once you start working in the federal field. You are free to cancel your policy whenever you want but you will lose your benefits. On that note your insurance is automatically canceled if you stop working for the government. A lot of people stick with the basic choice because it is very cheap but the benefits are also relatively small. It is advised that you either upgrade your policy or you combine it with another type of life insurance. Optional life insurance for federal employees comes with three choices with coverage starting from $10 000. Both accidental death and dismemberment are included in the basic program as well as option A but if you are also looking for insurance for a family member you will have to choose the most expensive option.
FEGLI is a national program and the contract rules obey by the national laws. On that note, the laws that are only specific to certain states cannot override the conditions in the life insurance policy. For example, if a state law dictates that family members are entitled to all the benefits upon the death of a person and the FEGLI policy has a different beneficiary(ex wife) the money will go to the policy beneficiary.
WAEPA is a non-profit organization that was created in 1943 as a way to provide life insurance for civilian people who were working for the government in overseas programs. Over the years it has suffered numerous modifications and is now available to a wider range of people. However, unlike FEGLI, WAEPA does not accept all federal employees. If you have serious health problems you may not be illegible for this type of insurance. Furthermore, the premiums can and in most cases do increase as you get older. On the plus size, you can keep WAEPA even if you stop working for the government. When it comes to life insurance for federal employees, WAEPA offers more benefits and bigger coverage than FEGLI at lower premiums. Even if the premiums increase in time, insurers who are under 60 years old pay smaller premiums than FEGLI.
Choosing between FEGLI and WAEPA can be a hard choice but it mainly depends on the personal needs of each individual. If you see yourself working for the government for the rest of your life and you are comfortable with the FEGLI benefits and premiums, than this is the right choice for you. On the other hand, if your situation is rather uncertain and you are looking for a cheap insurance you should consider WAEPA.