Basic life insurance and optional life insurance
There are two types of life insurance plans offered to eligible employees:
- Basic life insurance. Eligible employees automatically receive basic life insurance equal to one times your annual salary to the max of $50,000. The City pays the full cost of this benefit.
- Optional employee life insurance. Eligible employees may purchase additional life insurance coverage equal to one, two, three, four, or five times your annual salary. The maximum coverage amount is $500,000.
Group life insurance certificate
Optional life insurance premiums
You can elect to pay for optional life insurance coverage using either pre-tax or after-tax payroll deductions. Premiums are based on the rate chart below. If you are enrolled in optional life coverage, the premium is based on your age at the end of the calendar year and coverage is based on your salary at the beginning of the calendar year. If you elect to pay for optional coverage with pre-tax dollars, federal law requires that you pay income tax on the value of life insurance in excess of $50,000.
| Optional group term life insurance rates | |
|---|---|
| Your age as of December 31 |
Cost of coverage per
$1,000 of life insurance
|
| Less than age 25 | $0.060 |
| Age 25 but less than 30 | $0.060 |
| Age 30 but less than age 35 | $0.080 |
| Age 35 but less than age 40 | $0.090 |
| Age 40 but less than age 45 | $0.108 |
| Age 45 but less than age 50 | $0.180 |
| Age 50 but less than age 55 | $0.330 |
| Age 55 but less than age 60 | $0.430 |
| Age 60 but less than age 65 | $0.695 |
| Age 65 but less than age 70 | $1.270 |
| Age 70 and over | $2.060 |
Calculating your premium
If you are currently enrolled in optional life insurance, you can check your premium by looking at your pay stubs in COMET (Main Menu > Employee Self Service > Payroll > Paychecks). The monthly premium for optional and dependent life insurance deductions are taken from the first paycheck of the month.
If you are not enrolled and would like to estimate your monthly premium, use the formula below.
Your salary $______x (1, 2, 3, 4, or 5) =$______ (rounded to next $1000), divided by $1000 = $____ x rate from chart = estimated monthly premium.
Dependent life insurance
If you enroll for optional life insurance, you may also elect to purchase life insurance coverage for your eligible dependents. Eligible dependents include your spouse to age 70 and children born to you or legally adopted by you up to age 19. Grandchildren are not eligible for dependent life insurance coverage. Dependent life insurance equals $5,000 for each covered dependent. The monthly cost for this coverage is $1.60 and is deducted from your paycheck on an after-tax basis. The cost is the same regardless of how many eligible dependents are covered.
Enrolling for optional life insurance
Eligible employees may enroll for optional life insurance coverage within 31 days of the date they are first eligible for benefit coverage. Employees who have been employed by the City of Minneapolis longer than 31 days may apply for optional life insurance on an after-tax basis. If you want to apply for optional life insurance, you will need to complete a General Benefits Inquiry ticket through CityLife. Evidence of good health is required to apply for optional life insurance or to increase the coverage amount after you are first eligible. If you wish to apply or increase your coverage, you will need to complete a General Benefits Inquiry ticket through CityLife. Within 2 - 3 weeks you'll receive an email from our insurance company, The Standard, with a link to complete the application. After you've completed the application, The Standard will review your application and let you know if your dependent life insurance is approved or denied.
Changing life insurance and beneficiary elections
Options for changing plan elections are based on whether you purchase optional life insurance with pre-tax or after-tax payroll deductions. You can change your beneficiaries at any time by completing a request through CityLife.