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The Best Age to Buy Life Insurance

You likely purchased car insurance when you bought your first car, and home insurance when you got your first home, so why don’t you already have life insurance?

Unlike other insurance types, figuring out when to get life insurance isn’t so cut and dry.

When you decide to get life insurance, it can be pricey, but it’s worth the investment. As well, if you’re looking to maximize your investment, we’ve got you covered.

The Ron Johnston Insurance team has been providing insurance services to Ontario residents since 1977. We are industry experts, so read on for our advice on when you should buy life insurance.

Now Is the Best Time

If you don’t already have it, the best age to buy life insurance is your age right now.

There’s no need to panic if you don’t get life insurance when you’re young, but be aware that the cost of premiums gets higher as you get older. The question is, though, how much higher?

Let’s pretend that our friend “John Doe” is looking to buy life insurance for the first time. He’s a healthy, non-smoking male looking for $500,000 in a 20-year term life coverage. Let’s examine John’s rising premiums as he ages.

Age: 30

Monthly Premium: $28

At 30, John is still relatively young, just started his career, and doesn’t have any dependents yet. He’s got good health and makes good lifestyle choices, so there aren’t too many personal details that will raise his premium costs.

Age: 40

Monthly Premium: $45

In just 10 years, John’s monthly premium has almost doubled. He decided to buy life insurance because now he has a couple of kids to think about.

His back aches occasionally, but he doesn’t have any significant health issues that will impact his monthly premium.

Age: 50

Monthly Premium: $117

John’s premium is now four times what it would have been if he had bought life insurance at 30. He doesn’t get to the gym as often as he did when he was younger, and his metabolism has slowed down.

As a result, John has put on a little extra weight that may affect his health.

Age: 60

Monthly Premium: $379

John is now just five years away from retirement, and his premium is higher than ever. He has high blood pressure and gets a senior discount when shopping. Now John has advanced in age and deteriorating in health, thus raising his insurance costs.

Talk to a broker about insurance services when you feel like you could use life insurance. Waiting for a couple of years (or even months) could add up to thousands of extra dollars paid out throughout your policy.

How Insurance Costs are Calculated

When you talk to a broker about insurance services, they’ll want to know what risk you pose to them before giving you insurance. Insurance costs will be determined by assessing multiple points in two categories: your personal details and policy details.

Personal details include:

  • Age
  • Career path
  • Smoking status
  • Family medical history
  • Health
  • Gender
  • Lifestyle choices

Policy details include:

  • Length of term
  • Coverage amount
  • Insurance type

Your Life Insurance Options

When someone says “life insurance,” they could be referring to one or more different types of life insurance. There’s critical illness insurance, variable life insurance, mortgage life insurance, and many more.

It can be confusing trying to remember all the different options. Your broker or insurance services provider can help select the best policy, but look at the two most common ones below.

Term

Term life insurance is precisely what the name suggests: insurance for a set term. Terms can be obtained in quantities of 10-, 15-, 20-, or 30-year increments. Simply get a larger policy when the coverage runs out, or when you have some more money to spend on insurance.

Perfect for: Anyone who wants to buy sufficient coverage while saving money. Setting a term policy that expires when their kids are old enough to make their own income is a great idea for parents.

This way, your children don’t go into debt trying to cover funeral costs in the event of your untimely death.

Whole Life

This is insurance that is meant to last for your whole life. You may also hear it referred to as permanent insurance. You’ll likely pay a higher monthly premium, but your account value will be higher, as part of your premium accrues interest at a fixed rate.

Perfect for: Individuals who are willing to pay extra for guarantees. Unlike term insurance, your premium won’t go up, and your death benefit will never go down. Cash value growth is also guaranteed.

Benefits of Buying Young

Not everyone will be able to afford the life insurance policy that they need in their 20s or even 30s. It can be hard to find extra room in your budget with car payments, school loans, and other bills, but it’s worth the investment if you can.

Remember that the younger and healthier you are, the lower your monthly premiums will be. Besides lower rates, here are some of the other pros of buying life insurance when you are young:

Protect Your Future

You may not have children now, but a life insurance policy can help your future kids in the event of your early death.

Life insurance can provide supplemental income, be used for funeral costs, and cover any outstanding debts you may have when you pass.

Even if you never have kids, there are other loved ones in your life to consider. A life insurance policy can be the difference between your last gift to them being a mountain of debt or an accumulation of savings.

Easier Approval Process

Statistically speaking, you are less likely to die or have chronic health issues when you’re young.

Simply put, insurance companies won’t approve you for a policy if the likelihood of them paying a costly payout is high. Insurance brokers use a process called underwriting to assess your risk to them.

They look at things like your family’s medical history and your health, usually with a health exam. Insurers will be more willing to approve your application if it looks like you’ll be around and healthy for a long time.

Buy Now

We can’t stress it enough: for anyone interested in buying life insurance—now is the best time! For more information on all of our insurance services, call Ron Johnston Insurance at (705) 325-6200 to speak to one of our brokers, or click here to email us.

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