subject: Life Insurance for Seniors - Is It Worthwhile? [print this page] Life Insurance for Seniors - Is It Worthwhile?
However, life insurance becomes necessarily exponentially more expensive as you age. Is it worth buying a life insurance for seniors policy after you hit 55?
Average Premiums
The average life insurance premium for:
50 year old
Male
Non-smoker
Professionally employed
With no health issues
For a $750,000 death benefit
Averages at around $1600 per year, and $1000 per year for females. However generally, every year after 50, life insurance for seniors gets more expensive.
The usual strategy to offset the rapidly increasing cost of life insurance for seniors is to progressively reduce your death benefit to keep your premium steady.
Consider: Your health issues
For seniors that have health issues, it can be prohibitively expensive to take out a new life insurance policy, and some insurers will refuse to cover you.
Your best strategy is to take out a policy when you are younger and in good health, and stay with the same insurer. Australian laws generally prevent life insurance companies from cancelling your policy, as long as you keep up the premiums and they are still following the guidelines of the PDS (Product Disclosure Statement).
Consider: Your debts
As Australians work later and later into life, and costs of living increase, it is not uncommon to find that seniors are still paying off a mortgage at 60. If you're still paying off debts, life insurance for seniors is a very sensible form of protection.
Consider: Funeral insurance as an alternative
If you have health issues and are on a limited income, you can still make life easier for your family by taking out funeral insurance. Even the simplest of funerals usually cost upwards of $8,000, and while funeral insurance may not offer the same level of benefit as life insurance for seniors, it certainly takes a load off your family's mind at a very difficult time.
Consider: Insuring one half of a couple
For senior couples, many make the decision to insure the 'cheaper' spouse. If you are both in good health, this would usually be the female. You might also choose to take out life insurance for seniors on the younger spouse, the one with less health issues, or the one on fewer medications. In this way you have less impingement on your lifestyle, while still having all the benefits of a seniors' life insurance policy.
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