How to Get Cheap Term Insurance
Life insurance is something most people don’t think about until they get married, start a family or buy a home. Suddenly you wake up and realize that you are an adult with adult responsibilities.
When you have a spouse or children you want to make sure they are financially secure in case you are not around to provide for their financial needs in the future.
By finding affordable life insurance coverage you can still have the money needed in your family’s budget to save for college and your retirement.
Finding a low-priced life insurance policy that offers the right amount of life insurance coverage is the main concern of any first-time life insurance buyer, as well as those simply looking for a better deal on protection for their family.
Tips to Get the Cheapest Term Life Insurance
Shop and Compare Rates – Make sure you check on pricing from several insurers because the cost of life insurance can vary quite a bit among insurers.
Choose the Right Term – You may have the option of choosing coverage for a term (duration) of 10, 15, 20 25 or 30 years. Make sure to choose the length of coverage you need so you don’t pay a higher premium for coverage that lasts longer than you need.
Don’t Over Buy – Don’t buy more life insurance coverage than you really need.
Don’t Wait – The younger you are when you buy a policy, the lower your cost.
Stay Healthy – Improve your health by exercising, lowering your weight and cholesterol levels and quit smoking.
Reduce Your Risk – Don’t take part in high risk activities that raise your rate for life insurance like mountain climbing, sky diving and other extreme sports.
Be Honest – Answers all questions on the quote request form truthfully to get the most accurate price on your life insurance.
Don’t Buy from Your Friends or Relatives – Buy from an experienced professional, not someone new to the insurance industry who may not fully understand which insurers offer the most affordable plan for someone with your health status or condition.
Don’t Buy from One-Company Local Agents – Don’t buy life insurance from an agent that only represents one insurance company. You will only find the best deal by comparison shopping among several insurance carriers.
Check Financial Stability of the Insurer – The financial strength rating of an insurer is an indication of the insurer’s ability to pay their claims based on a review of their financial well-being by an independent rating agency.
Bundle Coverage If You Can – If you already have auto or home insurance you may want to ask about adding life insurance from the same insurer and find out if you will get a discount since you already have other insurance coverage with that insurer.
Cheapest Life Insurance Companies
The cost of life insurance can vary quite a bit from one life insurance company to another due to different loss experience, classes of people insured, and underwriting and pricing guidelines.
However, there are several insurers that are competitive across most types of risk, including young adults, seniors and smokers.
Some of the cheapest life insurance companies include:
For example, Transamerica is very competitive for Smokers while Prudential insures people with HIV, and AIG offers affordable rates for people with diabetes. And, Banner Life is competitive for young adults and people under 50.
Term insurance is generally cheaper because the coverage is only provided for a specific period of time.
In many cases, the insurance company will never pay out a death claim on term insurance policies because you will outlive the duration of your term, and the policy will expire.
However, term life premiums can and do rise with age, if you choose to renew your policy when it expires.
Whereas whole life premiums remain steady for your entire lifetime.
Many factors can affect your life insurance rate. Your age, the kind of health you’re in, personal lifestyle habits, and even your occupation can get you a higher or lower rate for coverage.
Among the things that life insurance companies consider when looking at your history is your gender.
Women almost always pay less for a life insurance policy compared to men.
Life Insurance Actuaries who analyze statistics related to insurance have concluded that men are at higher risks for diseases and unsafe behavior like driving recklessly and drug and alcohol abuse.
The greatest difference in death rates between the men and women is when you are in your early twenties. After that, things begin to even out more between the genders. This means that generally, insurance companies see women as a better risk than men for life insurance, and charge them less for their coverage.
Reminders About Life Insurance Quote Comparisons
Keep in mind: The actual price of your life insurance policy is highly dependent on you, the individual being insured.
To really know which insurance carrier will offer you the best price, you’ll have to shop around and go through the quote process yourself.
Life Insurance Coverage Gets Cheaper The More You Buy
For both smokers and non-smokers the coverage cost per dollar of life insurance goes down as the death benefit goes up.
This means, the average cost per $1,000 of life insurance costs less above certain amounts of coverage, for instance, over $250,000 or over $500,000.
Young People Get More Coverage For Their Money
The life insurance premiums for 25 year olds are significantly lower than those for 30 year olds and 40 year olds.
For example, the average monthly premiums across five insurers for a 25-year-old male’s 20-year, $500,000 policy is $27, compared to $46 for a 40-year-old.
While there are always exceptions, in general, the younger you are, the healthier you are, and life insurance companies are willing to insure you for less money.
Since most term life policies have level premiums (meaning that the premium stays the same throughout the duration of the term), buying at a young age also allows you to offset more of your future insurance cost by rolling it into your early-year life insurance premiums.
Smokers Pay High Rates for Life Insurance
In many cases, the premiums for 30 year old smokers are almost twice as much as what they are for 40 year old non-smokers, even though they are 10 years younger.
Other Ways to Save on Life Insurance Premiums
Insurance companies price their life insurance policies according to all sorts of risk factors – things like your age, physical build, medical history, driving record, and even "risky" hobbies or high-risk jobs.
While there’s nothing you can do about your age or your family health history or genes, quitting smoking or losing weight before you apply for life insurance may help reduce your premiums.
Improving your credit score will also help as will paying your insurance premiums annually instead of monthly.
Shop Around to Save Money
Beyond improving your health or credit score, the best way to save money on the cost of your life insurance policy is to shop around for the same coverage from different insurance companies.
Each company has its own unique formula for calculating your personal risk and the price associated with your risk factors.
Compare Life Insurance Rates from Top Carriers
Ways to Find The Best Low Priced Life Insurance
Price isn’t everything, even if you are trying to find life insurance on the cheap. Your policy should be able to meet your needs when you need it most – or else, what’s the point?
Make sure you consider the following when shopping for cheap life insurance plans:
Financial Stability – You never want to worry about your insurance company’s ability to pay out a claim should the need arise. Consider the AM Best financial strength rating of insurers to determine their financial stability.
Conversion Option – While the best cheap life insurance will always be a term policy, the option to convert it to a permanent or “whole life” policy can be invaluable, especially if you’re diagnosed with a terminal illness. It’s possible a terminal illness could make it impossible for you to get a new life insurance policy after your current one expires, leaving your dependents vulnerable if you outlive your term. The option to convert your policy can preserve the death benefit for your dependents.
Guaranteed Renewability – Sometimes it makes sense to extend the term by just a year or two, rather than convert to a permanent policy (maybe your financed your mortgage and now owe payments for longer than you originally planned). In these cases, term life insurance can be “renewed” for an extra year at a time. Granted, this extension will likely include a steep price increase, since renewal is typically only used when the insured’s poor health prevents them from getting a new policy to replace the one that’s expiring. But even though it’s expensive to use, guaranteed renewability is crucial if you develop health problems.
The Two Most Important Keys to Getting Cheap Life Insurance
Why is Term Life Insurance the Cheapest?
A life insurance policy is usually either: Term or Whole Life.
Whole life insurance provides guaranteed lifetime life insurance protection and builds cash value inside your policy.
Term life insurance costs so much less than whole life because it is temporary life insurance for a period of 30 years or less, it is not an investment, it does not build cash value, and you only pay for life insurance while you need it.
Whole life can cost 2 to 3 times more than term life insurance protection.
What Affects Your Life Insurance Rates?
Your actual cost of life insurance is based on several factors, including the type and amount of life insurance you buy.
In addition, your own personal risk factors affect your premiums, including your age, gender, health, driving record, tobacco use, hobbies, occupation, lifestyle and family health history, among other things.
However, your age and health are the two most important factors affecting your cost of life insurance.
Basically, the younger and healthier you are when you buy your life insurance policy, the lower your annual cost of coverage.
Compare Life Insurance Rates
Top Pick – JRC Insurance Group
JRC Insurance Group helps you shop, compare and save on life insurance. Regardless of your age or health background, we'll shop our 40+ insurance companies and find you affordable life insurance you need to protect your family and fit your budget. Compare the best life insurance rates for savings up to 73%. Get Your FREE Quote
One Dollar Life Insurance Coverage
Disclosure: Compensated Affiliate