Finding Life Insurance When You Are Over 50

by Darwin on July 15, 2014

How do I go About Finding Life Insurance if I am over 50?

Not everyone who is buying life insurance is young, in fact there is a tendency amongst some people not to buy it when they are younger.  So if you are over 50, and you are thinking that life insurance is a good idea, what should you do?

Many life insurance policies on the market today are targeted at people who are over fifty years of age; these policies have their strengths and their weaknesses.

What is good, and what not so good, about an over 50s life insurance policy?

This question is going to depend on how healthy you are overall; just because you are older does not necessarily mean your health is poor.  The problem is that you will be paying for the health problems of others.  Over 50s life insurance policies have a popularity because there are no medicals involved, and if you apply you are guaranteed to be accepted.  All of this comes with higher premiums to pay.

If your health is bad this a price that can be worth paying to have the security of insurance behind you.  But if your health is good you may get better premiums with a normal term life insurance; it is certainly worth investigating.

What are my Options to Over 50s Life Insurance?

The answer to this question could depend on why you are looking to get life insurance in the first place.  Quite often the need to get insurance at a later time of life is to do with the growing number of adult children who are already facing financial difficulties in their lives and would struggle greatly with additional financial costs should their parents die.  The parents in turn feel a responsibility for this, hence the need for a life insurance policy.

Of course there is also the consideration of care costs which can be very high, depending on how long someone resides in a care facility.  These costs can take up all of someone’s money leaving nothing for use when the person dies.

Long term care insurance can provide some mitigation against these costs, although it can be expensive to purchase.  Recently a further option has come to the fore; a hybrid of the long term care insurance and whole life insurance.  Payments are by regular premium or a lump sum, and the amount payable on death is usually twice that paid in.  If there is a care requirement prior to death the policy will normally pay out up to six times the amount that has been paid in.

Some insurers will guarantee an amount payable on death; this is something worth considering as care costs can soon mount up and any amounts taken for care are normally subtracted from the amount payable on death.  Hybrid policies can have high associated costs, and it may be necessary to complete a waiting period before any care costs are met, but they are an option when considering over 50s life insurance.

 

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