It has long been known that Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance Option “B”…better known as FEGLI Option “B”…is generally not a good deal for healthy federal employees. What has not been widely discussed is whether FEGLI Option “B” is a demonstrably worse proposition for healthy women.
In the commercial market place, life insurance rates for men are 30%-50% higher than those for women due to standard mortality tables. No such rate consideration is afforded women under the FEGLI Option “B” rate structure. That means that women are paying more than they need to for similar coverage or getting substantially less coverage than they could get for the same premium, outside the FEGLI program.
Reviewing the “same benefit” comparison of $500,000 illustrates that a female with average health could reduce her FEGLI Option “B” costs by 35% initially and 77% over twenty years…a guaranteed $75,000 savings over twenty years. These savings would increase to $84,000 or 86% for women in excellent health.
Reviewing the “same premium” comparison of a $1,000 premium illustrates that a healthy women, age 45, can increase her FEGLI Option “B” benefit from $500,000 to $1 million and still reduce her twenty year costs by 70%…she can double her benefit and still save $40,000…guaranteed!.
AllFeds.com has recently added a new thirty year comparison where the savings can be unbelievable…a 54 year old female in excellent health with $500,000 FEGLI Option “B” can save $325,000 over the next thirty years…guaranteed!
So here’s the question…if your HR office came to you with the option of doubling your current FEGLI Option “B” coverage or reducing your twenty year costs by 50-80% and the new policy was completely portable when you left the government…would you be interested?
Please note that while there are considerations other than cost, women need to do their research regarding these substantial discounts outside the government. It is not unusual for federal employees to lock in guaranteed savings well in excess of $100,000. Those savings add $400 – $500 to your monthly retirement!
So, do women pay too much for Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance Option “B”….you make the call!