Life insurance serves a purpose at any age even when you are over 65 years old. There are millions of people over the age of 65 who assume that they no longer need life insurance. In some cases, this might be true, but there are a lot of situations in which life insurance is still extremely vital.
While getting older makes it a bit more difficult to find coverage, there are still many insurance options for people in the 65-year-old age group. A lot of older applicants are surprised to see just how affordable a life insurance policy can be. You shouldn’t have to spend a fortune to get a life insurance policy that will sufficiently cover you and your family.
The application process and market are a bit different for older applicants though. If you are interested in life insurance for people over 65, there are a few key pieces of information you should know beforehand.
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Life Insurance Uses
As you get older, some of your life insurance riders need to go away. For example, once you are 65 or older chances are you no longer need insurance protection to support your children. But you still may have people who rely on your income (if you’re still working), and it’s vital that they have the resources they need if you do have anyone dependent on your salary. Even if you don’t have someone who relies on your paycheck, don’t assume that you don’t need a life insurance plan. However, there are still a number of benefits to staying insured.
Eventually, everyone dies and this can be fairly expensive. Not only will your heir need to pay for your funeral, but they may also need to cover your unpaid debts. With life insurance, you make sure everything is taken care of. If you were to die, your family could be left with thousands of dollars in debt. It’s vital that your life insurance policy is able to pay off all of those debts and give your family the resources that they need. Before you purchase a plan, you’ll need to add up all of your debts like your mortgage, your car payment, student loans, etc. Not having enough life insurance could easily leave your family struggling to pay expenses.
In addition, people are living longer these days and many find they need to work past age 65. If your spouse is still depending on your income, you’d want life insurance to replace this income should you die.
Lastly, you can use life insurance to provide an inheritance to your heirs. This is a great way to support your children and grandchildren by giving them extra money for a home or their education.
If you want to leave a legacy to your loved ones, you’ll want to ensure that you have a life insurance plan. While you want to leave your family with your hard-earned money, Uncle Sam is going to want his portion as well. Your inheritance can quickly be cut down because of taxes and fees.
Term Versus Permanent
When you look for life insurance, you’ll have the choice between two main types of policies: term and permanent. Term insurance is temporary coverage for a set number of years. If you die during this time, your heirs receive the death benefit. If you don’t your coverage expires. These plans are usually sold in 5, 10, 20, or 30-year terms, but you can purchase them in just about any length of time depending on your needs. Permanent coverage lasts your entire life. So, provided you continue to pay your premiums each month for the coverage, you’ll never have to reapply for a new plan. For anyone that is worried about losing coverage in the future, these permanent coverage options are a great choice.
Because term plans have an expiration date attached to them, they are going to be cheaper than permanent policies. If you’re looking for the most affordable coverage, term life insurance is the way to go.
The right policy for you depends on your goals. If you just want to extend your coverage for a few years, maybe until you finish working or to pay off your debt, the term is a better choice. Keep in mind that once your coverage expires, it will be very difficult to buy another policy. Most insurance companies refuse to sell insurance to people above a certain age.
If you want to leave behind a death benefit for sure, then permanent coverage is a better choice. Permanent insurance is better for covering certain needs like your final expenses or an inheritance. In this situation, you’d be better off buying a smaller permanent burial insurance policy than a larger-term one. Your heirs would be better off receiving some money for sure than to gamble on possibly receiving money from temporary coverage. As you can see, each type of policy has its advantages and disadvantages that you have to weigh based on your life insurance needs
Here are a few examples of what a $250,000 policy would cost for term and universal life insurance.
| $250,000 | 10 Yr Term | 15 Yr Term | 20 Yr Term | Universal Policy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male | Banner $108.50/mo | North American $145.25/mo | Minnesota Life $208.78/mo | Protective $383.02/mo |
| Female | Banner $68.69/mo | Banner $92.53/mo | Minnesota Life $128.92/mo | American General $304.94/mo |
Applying for a Policy When Over 60 Years Old
Applying for life insurance when you are 65 or older is pretty similar to applying at a younger age such as applying for life insurance at 50 years old. You’ll need to contact a life insurance company and put together an application. On your application, you’ll need to list how much coverage you want and answer some health questions.
From there, it depends on the amount of insurance you want to buy, your age, and your health, such as if you are seeking life insurance with diabetes. For smaller policies of only a few thousand dollars, you may be able to qualify just with your application. For larger policies, you will likely need to meet a nurse or doctor for a health exam. If you have any health problems, you might also need to take a medical test like an EKG.
Guaranteed Coverage
If you don’t qualify for a normal life insurance policy, you still could buy guaranteed coverage life insurance. These policies are designed for older Americans who have health issues. When you apply for guaranteed coverage, you won’t have to take a medical exam. Many policies don’t look at your health history either.
In exchange, you can only purchase a limited amount of life insurance, usually $50,000 or less. The coverage will also be more expensive than traditional life insurance and likely will have a waiting period of a few years. What this means is if you die during your policy’s waiting period, your heirs will only receive a percentage of your death benefit; they won’t receive the whole thing. Once you outlive this period, you’ll go to full coverage.
These types of policies work well for anyone who can’t be accepted for traditional coverage, but they should be a last resort because of how expensive they are. When it comes to knowing that your family would be protected if anything were to happen to you, peace of mind is priceless.
Finding the Right Choice
Many different life insurance companies sell to the 65 and older market so you’ll have plenty of options to choose from. This can sometimes be a bit overwhelming as it’s not always easy to figure out which company is best for your needs. Working with an independent life insurance broker like our company can help.
Working with an independent agent has several different benefits, but the main ones are that it will save you not only time but money as well. Because there are so many different companies, each will view your application differently. Each company has drastically different rates for people over 65. Finding the perfect company could be the difference in thousands of dollars on your policy.
Without working with one of our agents, you could spend days calling different insurance companies to receive rates. You would be answering the same questions dozens of times. Don’t waste your time talking to different insurance agents, let us take care of bringing you all of the lowest possible rates.
Our company works closely with applicants over 60 years old so we know this market very well. We can not only assist you in completing your application, but we can also find superior companies that will have the best options for your particular situation. Since we aren’t working for any one company, we’ll be able to give you an unbiased opinion of your options.
To learn more about getting life insurance over 65 years old, please call us. Or, you can get free quotes by filling out the online application form. Our agents want to ensure that you and your family are getting the insurance protection that you deserve. You shouldn’t have to go without a policy just because of your age.
the life insurance quote form you provide does not allow “height” to be accepted.
Please provide quote. thank you.
Just rates please. No subscription for future emails.
I need to get quotes for my mother-in-law it was 65. If need be can I get it for her and pay on it to cover any funeral expenses or anything like that in the future??