Life insurance serves a purpose at any age, even when you are over 65 years old. While getting older makes it a bit more difficult to find coverage, there are still many insurance options for people in this age group. The application process and market is a bit different for older applicants though. If you [...]
How Seniors Can Get Affordable Life Insurance
We all know the point of life insurance is to help our loved ones financially when we pass away.
Whether we pass suddenly at a young age, or after illness in old age, having life insurance to take care of the expenses of death, burial, and living after our passing for our family is just smart planning.
We want our beneficiaries, whether it be our spouse, children, or someone else, to not have to worry about money in their time of loss, particularly for funeral planning.
When our beneficiary is our spouse, we want them to be able to afford to continue the lifestyle they were accustomed to, be able to pay the bills, and be able to live comfortably after our passing.
Not Enough Coverage
Most people plan ahead and have a retirement portfolio that includes a life insurance policy. Often, we select those whole life policies when we are middle aged and believe we will have enough coverage for when we pass. However, most of us fail to take into consideration the increase in cost of living and more importantly, the increase in funeral expenses. The average funeral these days can cost around $10,000, and that price is always increasing.
A healthy 40 year old purchasing a policy, might not consider what can happen with inflation in 40 more years, should they live to be 80 years old or more. We also have unexpected things happen in life that may cause us to need more money for our loved ones after our death then we planned.
Additional Life Insurance For Seniors
To help cover the difference in what expenses and survivor benefits we want our loved ones to be able to take care of, and what a current life insurance policy is worth, term life insurance is a good option. Seniors can choose term life insurance from their current carrier or through a special plan from AARP (American Association of Retired Persons). The terms are set for a smaller period, say 5 or 10 years, but can provide enough additional coverage to help family members pay for funeral expenses or living expenses, beyond what other life insurance policies will cover.
Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance for Elderly
For some seniors with pre-existing health conditions, it may be tough to get affordable term life insurance coverage. Another option that you have is guaranteed issue life insurance. These type of policies will have a graded death benefit which means the policy will have to be in-force for at least 2 (maybe 3) years before your heirs would get the full death benefit. They are also much more expensive. The plus side is that they are very easy to get. One company, Presidential, only asks for basic questions to be able to get coverage.
Senior term life insurance is relatively easy to purchase. A policy can be bought for any amount but typically runs anywhere from $2500 to $50,000. The premiums are based on several factors including age, health of the individual, how much coverage is desired, and the length of the term of coverage. Depending on what current coverage one has, choosing senior term life insurance can be a great way to ensure that beneficiaries do not have to struggle financially after our passing.
