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- Life insurance is an important protection for your loved ones if anyone relies on you for financial support.
- The cost of life insurance tends to go up with age, so signing up now can save you a lot of money compared to waiting.
- Changes to your health, your family’s health, and your lifestyle can drive up the cost of life insurance, but your rates won’t go up once you lock them in.
- Life insurance will never be cheaper than it is today. Lock in your rate with Policygenius »
There are many things that get better with age, but life insurance isn’t one of them. The cost of life insurance tends to rise with your age, so the best rate you can ever get for life insurance is likely the rate you’ll get today.
If you plan to get life insurance in the future, you are far better off signing up now than procrastinating and signing up later.
I was approved for life insurance in December 2014 and pay $78.76 per month for a $1 million policy. If I were to sign up for life insurance today, however, I would likely pay a lot more.
Here are three changes that have taken place in my life since 2014 that would lead to higher life insurance rates today.
I’m older
When it comes to life insurance, there is one change that will happen to you every single year that can raise your insurance rates. Your age is an important factor in life insurance costs, and every year you delay can make the cost higher.
In 2014, I was 29 years old. Today, I’m 35. While it’s morbid to think about, being six years older means I’m six years closer to death. That increase in risk for the insurance company translates to a higher monthly premium for the same policy.
My family health
While I love my family, they are not doing any favors for my life insurance rates. A history of family health conditions including cancer and diabetes pushes my rates up. Since I applied for life insurance six years ago, my father was diagnosed with prostate cancer. In the eyes of an insurance company, that makes me riskier as I’m more likely to get cancer in the future.
I’m doing a lot to monitor and protect myself from the terminal diagnosis my dad received. But the insurance companies just see it as more risk. If I were applying for new insurance, I would pay more because of it.
I learned how to fly
For my birthday in 2015, my in-laws bought me a one-hour introductory flight lesson. That fateful hour hooked me on aviation. I eventually booked many more flights of my own and earned a pilot’s license. That’s a lifestyle factor that further increases rates if I were to get new life insurance today.
Flying planes is one of a list of activities insurance companies consider risky. If you are a pilot, rock climber, skydiver, race car driver, use recreational drugs, or engage in any activity that involves jumping off of high places or diving deep underwater, you could wind up with a bigger life insurance bill.
How much I saved by getting life insurance when I did
I tried a handful of life insurance estimate tools this morning to compare what my rates would be today. The estimate tools are not always completely accurate, as they don’t include information from a life insurance medical exam and other application details. But based on the questionnaires I completed, my current life insurance cost could be hundreds or thousands of dollars more per year.
Term life insurance rates lock in when you sign up, so getting insurance today guarantees your rate for the future. While I did choose to start flying planes, I didn’t ask to get older or expect my dad to get cancer. Because my life insurance would cost so much more today, I’m thrilled I signed up when I did.
Lock in your lowest life insurance rate today with help from Policygenius »
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