Life Insurance at Any Age

Life insurance offers peace of mind for your family and loved ones if you were to pass away unexpectedly. If you’re wondering if life insurance is worth it, think about anyone in your life who depends on you to provide support. If the answer is yes, you may want to consider purchasing a life insurance policy.

If you have ever wondered “at what age should I get life insurance?” the answer depends on your personal situation, your finances, and who might be depending on you.

When should I get life insurance?

There are two aspects to this question: one, consideration of the people who depend on you; and two, the factors that an insurance company considers when pricing out a premium quote for life insurance.

Considering the first aspect of “when,” if you have young children and your family depends on your income for living expenses, you should get life insurance as soon as possible. In fact, if there is anyone who relies on you to provide the “basics”—money for shelter, food, or essential medical expenses—you might want to get a life insurance policy and add the person who depends on you as the named beneficiary.

On the second aspect of “when,” life insurance is most affordable when you are young and healthy. That’s because just like other forms of insurance, life insurance is based on risk. The risk of sudden death is lower when you are young and healthy, and your premium cost will reflect that lower risk. As you get older, your risk of death increases—so your premium will take that additional risk into account. So, it makes financial sense to get a life insurance policy when you are younger, as it is likely to be more affordable.

Life Insurance in Your 20s

In your 20s, your need for life insurance will depend on things such as your marital status, whether you have children, or if there is someone else depends on your support for basic living expenses, such as a disabled relative or a non-working parent. If you are in your 20s, single, and no one is relying on you to help with expenses, your need for life insurance is low.

However, if you have a spouse, partner, or family member who would be placed in a dire financial position if you were to pass away suddenly, you might want to consider purchasing a life insurance policy. In your 20s, premium costs will be low, and if you are healthy it should be relatively easy to secure a policy.

In the unlikely event of your death, your beneficiary could use the life insurance payout to cover things such as burial costs, medical bills, and to pay the rent or mortgage until they are able to get back on their feet after suffering a loss.

Life Insurance in Your 30s

Life insurance is designed to offer policyholders financial protection, and this can be particularly important as people begin to build families and purchase homes in their 30s. Life insurance for 30-year-olds is an age bracket at which people are still considered to be quite healthy, so it’s still fairly easy to secure a policy with an affordable premium cost.

Each family is different, and that means the need for life insurance will vary too. A family of three (two adults and a child) where both adults are working and have roughly equal salaries will have different life insurance needs than a family of five (two adults and three children) where one adult works and the other provides care full-time at home to young children.

When thinking of purchasing a life insurance policy, consider how family finances would be affected if one or the other parent were to pass away suddenly. If the primary earner dies, how will bills get paid? In both of the examples above, the family’s finances will be affected, but in the case of the family of five, if the breadwinner passes away, the non-earning parent could potentially be in a bad financial position very quickly.

It’s also important to consider purchasing life insurance to cover a full-time caregiving parent. If that parent passes away, the remaining parent would have to figure out how to adjust the living situation without giving up work—which may mean paying for full-time help or childcare services.

In your 30s, you may also be carrying debt that should be considered when you are estimating how much life insurance to get. Mortgages, car payments, student loan payments, and credit card balances add up. Having a life insurance policy means that an unexpected death won’t mean unpaid bills and the possible loss of a home.

Life Insurance in Your 40s

As a family grows and gets older, needs change and midlife life insurance should reflect these shifts. With children in school, a full-time caregiving parent may decide to enter or re-enter the workforce, which can change the reasons behind securing a life insurance policy and might have an impact on how much coverage you choose to purchase. Other life changes matter too, and should be considered.

For example, your housing needs might have changed—as kids got older, perhaps you moved to a larger home with a higher mortgage and tax payments. Student activities, school tuition, and college expenses might now need to be considered. On the other hand, if both parents are now working full-time, perhaps the need to replace a single wage-earner’s income has decreased.

With changing variables, even if you already have a life insurance policy, you might want to look at how much coverage you have and how much you need, to see if there’s a discrepancy.

Life Insurance in Your 50s

Depending on the ages of children, your life insurance needs may change again when you’re in your 50s. If you were younger when you had children, perhaps they are now out of college and starting out on their own—securing jobs and paying their own bills. Or, they could be just finishing high school and about to start college—in which case, you might want to make certain that your life insurance policy would cover educational expenses were you to suddenly pass away.

Even if you do not have children, a life insurance policy might still make sense in your 50s. This is especially true if your household relies on two incomes. A life insurance benefit can also help to cover medical and burial expenses, or to assist a spouse or partner adjust financially to having only one income to support a household.

Remember that in your 50s, it could be harder to secure a life insurance policy for the first time. As people age, the risk for serious health issues increases, making life insurance premiums more expensive. You can still usually get life insurance at this stage in life, but you may find you’re eligible for less coverage, or the premiums will be higher, or both.

Life insurance as a senior

If you are 65 or older, you might think that life insurance is unnecessary, but again, the need for coverage depends on your unique family situation. The question of should seniors have life insurance is, once again, heavily dependent on individual variables.

Financially dependent children or grandchildren, concerns about covering any final medical or funeral expenses, or a desire to protect assets are all good reasons to continue carrying life insurance as you get older.

How do I get a quote for life insurance?

The simplest way to get a quote for life insurance is to contact the experts at Rate Insurance. No matter what stage of life you are in, talking to life insurance professionals will help you to get a sense of how much coverage you may need, and what your premium costs will be. Protecting your loved ones is an important goal. Reaching out to Rate Insurance is an important first step to securing peace of mind.

Disclaimer:

*Savings, if any, vary based on the consumer’s profile and other factors. Contact your insurance agent for more information. Restrictions apply.

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