When you’re prepared to compare life insurance quotes, you might be curious about how to find low-cost life insurance. The most economical option for a life insurance policy is typically term life insurance, but which provider offers the best deals?
To find the most affordable life insurance provider, we examined the term life insurance quotes from 24 leading insurers.
Best Cheap Life Insurance Companies 2023
- Corebridge Financial – Great for Choices of Term Lengths
- Haven Life – Great for Life Insurance Buyers Under Age 45
- Midland National – Great for Living Benefits
- Pacific Life – Best Cost for $1 Million Term Life
- Penn Mutual – Great for Older Buyers of 30-Year Term Life
- Principal – Great for High Issue Age
- Symetra – Best Overall for Term life Insurance Rates
What Is the Cheapest Type of Life Insurance?
Since term life insurance is usually the least expensive kind of life insurance, we concentrated on it for our analysis. It provides you with a set premium for a predetermined amount of time, like 20 years.
You will typically have the choice to continue the policy at a higher premium each year after this level term period ends. These renewal rates, though, have the potential to rise too high very fast. To avoid paying high renewal premiums or having to look for a new policy, it’s best to purchase the appropriate length of coverage from the beginning.
How Much Is Life Insurance?
According to an analysis by Forbes Advisor, a male age 30 can purchase a 20-year, $250,000 term life insurance policy for an average of $13 per month ($159 per year). A 30-year-old woman’s equivalent policy costs $12 per month, or $1,142 annually).
What Factors Determine How Much Life Insurance Costs?
The type of life insurance you have, as well as your age, gender, and overall health, all affect how much your life insurance will cost.
The following are the primary variables influencing life insurance rates:
- Years old. The cost of a new life insurance policy increases with age. A comparable policy purchased at age 30 may cost up to 200% less in term life insurance at age 50.
- Amount of death benefit. The cost of coverage increases with the amount of life insurance payout. Compared to a $250,000 policy, a $500,000, 20-year term life insurance policy will cost roughly 50% more. However, the policy pays out twice.
- gender. Because they typically live shorter lives than women, men pay more for life insurance. For example, 30-year-old men will pay roughly 19% more than 30-year-old women for a $500,000, 20-year term life insurance policy.
- medical background. In addition to reviewing your medical history, life insurance companies frequently demand a medical examination.
- way of life. Your life insurance quotes may go up due to factors like your driving history (such as a DUI conviction), your criminal record, dangerous occupations and hobbies, and nicotine use (including smoking, patches, and gum).
- Duration of term. Although you will lock in your rate for fewer years, a shorter term will be less expensive. Although a 30-year term covers you for three times as many years, it costs roughly 90% more than a 10-year term.
How Much Life Insurance Do I Need?
To determine the amount of life insurance you require, deduct any assets that can be utilised by your family from the total amount of debts you wish to have paid off after death. Financial obligations can include debts from credit cards, future college tuition, a mortgage, and income replacement. Savings and any current life insurance you may have are examples of assets.
How to Get Affordable Life Insurance
If you shop around and apply for a policy in the proper manner, you can find affordable life insurance quotes.
Buy a Term Life Insurance Policy
When purchasing life insurance, you primarily have two options: permanent life insurance and term life insurance. For a predetermined amount of time, like 10, 20, or 30 years, a term life policy offers fixed rates. 40-year term life policies are provided by two companies: Banner Life and Protective Life. Conversely, a permanent policy may offer coverage for the rest of one’s life.
A term life policy is the least expensive option for life insurance if cost is your top priority.
Term life insurance can offer affordable coverage during critical life events, like your mortgage or your children’s college graduation.
Buy Life Insurance Sooner Rather Than Later
When calculating the premium you will pay for life insurance, insurers take into account two important factors: your age and your health. You will pay less for coverage the younger and healthier you are.
Purchase life insurance as soon as possible if you want it at a low cost. For the duration of your policy, you will be locked in at the discounted rate for life insurance. Your rates cannot increase after you obtain life insurance due to changes in your health or other circumstances.
All too frequently, individuals believe they have time to improve their health or find extra money in their budget before purchasing an insurance. The more years you wait to apply, the higher the quotes you receive for life insurance.
Additionally, as you get older, you run the risk of experiencing health problems that will drive up the cost of your life insurance.
Create a Ladder of Life Insurance Policies to Get More Coverage for Less
The amount of coverage you purchase is one of the variables that affects the cost of life insurance. To save money, you shouldn’t compromise on coverage. To safeguard those who rely on you for financial support, you must have an adequate amount of life insurance.
By employing a tactic known as laddering, you may be able to reduce the cost of coverage once you determine how much life insurance you actually need.
Rather than purchasing one large policy to cover you for several decades, you purchase several smaller policies that expire at different times to build a life insurance ladder.
It can allow you to start out with more coverage—perhaps when your kids are young or you have a larger mortgage—and then gradually reduce it as your need for life insurance grows.
For instance, you could purchase 10-year, 20-year, and 30-year term policies with $200,000 worth of coverage each instead of a 30-year term policy with a $600,000 benefit. You would have had combined coverage worth $600,000 for the first ten years. As your term policies expire, you will have less coverage overall, but you will also pay less over time.
Avoid Unnecessary Riders
Usually, when you purchase a life insurance policy, you can choose to add riders, which are extra features. You can add coverage for your minor children, riders to your life insurance policy that waive premium payments in the event of your disability, and much more.
Even though the additional coverage might be alluring, if you don’t need the riders, you can obtain less expensive life insurance.
Avoid Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance If Possible
A certain problem Because you can’t be turned down and there is no medical exam required, a life insurance policy seems convenient. These factors make it an extremely costly method of purchasing life insurance. The life insurance company must charge a high premium because it does not have any information about you.
Going through the traditional application process, which entails answering health-related questions and possibly undergoing a life insurance medical exam, will usually result in a much better rate if you’re in reasonably good health.
Today, there are a lot of competitively priced no-exam life insurance options available because of technology that can quickly evaluate your personal data from third-party sources. No-exam life insurance policies are available at competitive rates from companies like Transamerica, Pacific Life, and Brighthouse.
Shop Around for Life Insurance
Obtaining a life insurance quote is simple and cost-free. It is important to note that the life insurance quotes you obtain online are only preliminary estimates and to compare rates from a minimum of two companies. After the application process, many people find that their final quote is higher because the life insurer has had a chance to evaluate all of the information about them.
Better yet, deal with an independent insurance broker who has access to multiple companies and can advise you which ones to contact for the most affordable life insurance quotes given your age and health.
Lower Your Death Benefit
Since having life insurance is better than having none at all, you should think about reducing the amount of coverage you purchase if you are unable to afford a policy with the death benefit amount you have chosen.
For example, the cost of life insurance is typically higher for users of nicotine products than for non-users. Let’s imagine that you smoke and that you are unable to pay for a $50,000 life insurance policy. If you truly need that much life insurance, you should think about getting a policy with a $250,000 death benefit. A policy with a lower life insurance death benefit may be more affordable for you to purchase, giving your beneficiaries at least some financial stability in the event of your death.
Improve Your Health
Your health information is one of many factors that life insurance companies consider when determining your rate. Enhancing your health can reduce the risk of certain conditions that can cause an early death, such as smoking cessation, weight loss, and maintaining healthy blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Lower life insurance quotes are correlated with better health.
Group and Free Life Insurance
Another way to obtain inexpensive or even free life insurance is through group life insurance. You get basic coverage without a medical exam, and it’s typically provided through your place of employment.
Because the employer frequently pays all or most of the premium, group life insurance is typically less expensive than individual life insurance. However, unless the policy is portable, you will normally forfeit your group life insurance coverage if you quit your job.
Pros and Cons of Group Life Insurance
Pros
- Simple to enroll in at work.
- Convenient: basic coverage requires no medical exam.
- Usually at no cost to the employee or very inexpensively.
Cons
- Usually, coverage is dependent on employment.
- small death benefit payments.
- not worth money.
- If you wish to purchase more than the base amount, you might be required to submit medical information.
Methodology
We assessed 24 providers of term life insurance using the following criteria:
- Price (100% of score): We gave this category full weight since it is the main consideration for consumers looking for inexpensive life insurance. Our rankings are based on how much each company charges for term life insurance to customers between the ages of thirty and forty. We examined rates for term lengths of 10, 20, and 30 years, and coverage amounts of $250,000, $500,000, $1 million, and $2 million. Your age, health, and other variables will affect your personal rates.