When you’re young, you may not think you need life insurance, and even if you do, it isn’t the top priority in your life. So days go by. Days turn into months and years. When you finally decide it is time, it can be surprising how much it costs to start a life insurance policy. It is even more surprising (and kind of upsetting) to find out how much less it would have cost you 15 years earlier. If you are still in your twenties, we want to help you avoid having that “shoulda coulda woulda” moment years down the road.
It will be worth it.
If you’re already years down the road and you’re contemplating how you’re going to fit a new life insurance policy into your budget, we want to help you with that as well.
It is doable.
It can’t be stressed enough that if you have anyone in your life who depends on you, financially, you should have life insurance. Your kids may be off to college or starting their own lives but if you are married and your half of the household income accounts for half of the life you and your spouse maintain, you should have life insurance.
So let’s talk numbers.
It is true that the longer you wait, the more it will cost you to establish a life insurance policy. Generally, premiums you can expect to pay stay fairly stable into the mid-30s, but once you hit 40 things are a little different. Based on a $500,000, 20-year policy, averaging the cost for males and females at age 35 you’re at about $25 a month. For a forty-year-old, that average shoots up to about $35 a month. By age 45, that average is over $50. From there on every five years that dollar amount increases drastically. We’ll let you just take a look at this table for reference.
Remember that there are other factors involved – personal habits, family history which may alter these figures. If you’re 60 years old and still skydiving and whatnot, well that is going to require a conversation. In any case, the information in the link above is a good starting point, so you have an idea of what to expect going into a meeting with an agent about life insurance.
Also remember that we started with the premise of a 20-year policy. If you are closer to the age of our skydiver here, then you are also closer to retirement age.
Well, maybe.
If you’re living life to the fullest, you may very well be nowhere near ready to call it a career. But generally speaking, at that age you may feel that going with a shorter term (lower premium) plan makes the most sense for you, especially if you are planning to collect a pension at retirement. Horihan Insurance agents know that you know what’s best for you, but we’re here to give you the most knowledgeable, experience-based advice we can offer before signing you up for a plan. If you are ready to have a frank discussion about life insurance our nearest Horihan Insurance agent is ready, willing and able to work with you to make sure you get the most affordable and comprehensive coverage that you can get.
It really is never too late.