Your 50s are here and life is rich. You may have started a business, your kids are out of the house or close to it, and you are at your prime income earning potential.
Buying life insurance over 50 years old has never been easier thanks to the many innovations in the life insurance industry. It may be harder to get the best term life insurance rates than when you were younger, but know that there are still plenty of options available.
And the good news is you can still qualify for 30 year term life insurance up to age 58. So if you are looking to lock into life insurance for a long time, that will still be possible.
Further, you can always consider another type of life insurance, such as whole life or universal life, to make sure you have coverage the rest of your life.
How Much Does Term Life Insurance Cost for a 50 Year Old?
The cost of term life insurance for a 50-year-old can vary widely based on a number of factors, including the applicant’s age, gender, medical history, lifestyle, and the amount and length of the coverage. Other factors that can affect the cost of term life insurance include the insurance company’s underwriting guidelines, the financial stability of the company, and the policy’s terms and conditions.
In general, term life insurance premiums tend to be more expensive for older individuals because they are considered higher risk due to their age. However, the cost of term life insurance can still vary significantly based on the individual’s specific circumstances.
To get a sense of the cost of term life insurance for a 50-year-old, we’ve provided the following tool which will generate “generic rates” you may encounter provided that you are in good health.
The following term life insurance rates for ages 50-59. All quotes are from top rated insurance companies for both a male and female in excellent health, are subject to change and must be qualified for.
It is also important to remember that when requesting quotes, you will typically be asked to provide information about your age, gender, medical history, and the amount and length of coverage you are seeking. You may also be asked about your lifestyle, including your occupation, any hazardous activities you engage in, and your use of tobacco or alcohol. Each of these factors can play a role in determining what price you might pay when purchasing your next life insurance policy.
About Term Life Insurance
One of the most common types of life insurance policies that an “average 50 year old” will apply for is called a term life insurance policy. These types of life insurance policies are quite popular because they are typically the most afforadable “types” of life insurance policies one can qualify for and are usually quite easy to understand.
Term life insurance explained:
Term life insurance is a type of life insurance policy that provides a death benefit for a specific period of time, known as the “term.” If the policyholder dies during the term, the death benefit is paid to the beneficiaries listed on the policy. If the policyholder does not die during the term, the policy expires and does not provide any financial benefit.
Term life insurance is typically purchased to provide financial protection for a specific period of time, such as the term of a mortgage or the length of time a family member will depend on the policyholder’s income. It is often a more affordable option than permanent life insurance, which provides coverage for the policyholder’s entire life.
When purchasing a term life insurance policy, the policyholder selects the term length and the amount of coverage they want. The premium for a term life insurance policy is typically based on the policyholder’s age, gender, health, and lifestyle, as well as the term length and amount of coverage.
Term life insurance policies may be renewable, which means the policyholder can choose to renew the policy for an additional term after the initial term expires. However, the premium for a renewed policy will typically be higher due to the policyholder’s increased age.
It is important to carefully review the terms and conditions of a term life insurance policy to understand how it works and whether it meets your needs and financial goals. It is always a good idea to shop around and compare quotes from multiple insurance companies to find the policy that is right for you. It may also be helpful to speak with a licensed insurance agent or broker to get advice on finding a policy that meets your needs.
Term life insurance application process:
The process for applying for term life insurance typically involves the following steps:
- Determine your coverage needs: The first step in the process is to determine how much coverage you need and how long you need it for. This will help you choose the right policy for your needs.
- Shop around: Once you know how much coverage you need, you can start shopping around for quotes from different insurance companies. It’s a good idea to get quotes from several companies to compare prices and coverage.
- Complete the application: Once you’ve chosen an insurance company and a policy, you’ll need to complete an application. The application will ask for personal and financial information, as well as medical history.
- Undergo a medical exam: Many insurance companies will require you to undergo a medical exam as part of the application process. This exam will typically include a blood and urine test, as well as measurements such as height, weight, and blood pressure. That said however, it may be possible to forego this process by applying for a no medical exam term life insurance policy, provided you meet the minimum health requirements.
- Wait for approval: After you’ve completed the application and medical exam, the insurance company will review your information and determine whether to approve your application. This process can take several weeks.
- Pay your premiums: If your application is approved, you’ll need to pay your premiums in order to keep your coverage in force. Premiums are typically paid on a monthly or annual basis.
Final Expense Insurance
Not everyone age 50 and older can qualify for ordinary life insurance. For those with health issues, final expense life insurance is a great option.
Final expense insurance, also known as burial insurance for seniors, is whole life insurance coverage that provides fixed premiums, fixed death benefit and guaranteed cash value growth.
Burial Life Insurance or Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance explained:
Guaranteed issue life insurance is a type of life insurance policy that is available to almost anyone, regardless of their health or medical history. This means that you are guaranteed to be accepted for coverage, even if you have a pre-existing medical condition or have been declined for coverage by other insurance companies.
Guaranteed issue life insurance policies typically have a few key characteristics:
- Limited coverage: These policies typically have lower coverage limits compared to other types of life insurance policies, often in the range of $5,000 to $25,000.
- High premiums: Because the insurance company is accepting a higher risk by offering coverage to anyone, regardless of their health, the premiums for guaranteed issue life insurance policies are typically much higher than other types of policies.
- No medical exam required: Since you are guaranteed acceptance for coverage, you are not required to undergo a medical exam as part of the application process.
- Graded death benefit: These policies often have a graded death benefit, which means that if you pass away within the first two or three years of coverage, your beneficiary will only receive a portion of the death benefit (typically this portion is very small, as these types of life insurance policies are not designed to pay any death benefit for natural causes of death druing the first two to three years). If you pass away after the waiting period, the full death benefit will be paid out.
Guaranteed issue life insurance can be a good option for people who have difficulty getting coverage through traditional life insurance policies due to health issues or other factors. However, it’s important to keep in mind that these policies have lower coverage limits and higher premiums than other types of policies.
Sample $25,000 final expense whole life insurance quotes from top rated companies.
All whole life rates shown below are fixed and will stay the same for your lifetime.
| Age | Level | Graded | Guaranteed Issue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | 64.80 | 82.09 | 108.85 |
| 51 | 67.83 | 84.41 | 117.10 |
| 52 | 71.06 | 89.02 | 124.67 |
| 53 | 74.48 | 93.65 | 131.77 |
| 54 | 78.05 | 98.28 | 137.96 |
| 55 | 81.55 | 102.91 | 143.46 |
| 56 | 85.36 | 107.55 | 147.58 |
| 57 | 89.33 | 112.16 | 151.25 |
| 58 | 93.07 | 119.11 | 154.46 |
| 59 | 96.97 | 126.06 | 156.75 |
Sample $10,000 final expense whole life insurance quotes from top rated companies.
All whole life rates shown below are fixed and will stay the same for your lifetime.
| Age | Level Benefit | Graded Benefit | Guaranteed Issue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | $27.92 | $36.90 | $44.09 |
| 51 | $29.12 | $38.83 | $47.39 |
| 52 | $33.52 | $40.75 | $50.42 |
| 53 | $34.25 | $42.94 | $53.26 |
| 54 | $34.97 | $45.12 | $55.36 |
| 55 | $35.70 | $47.30 | $56.90 |
| 56 | $35.95 | $49.21 | $58.55 |
| 57 | $37.54 | $51.22 | $60.01 |
| 58 | $39.04 | $52.31 | $61.31 |
| 59 | $41.84 | $54.22 | $62.21 |
About Final Expense Insurance
Final expense insurance is usually cash value whole life (however the cash value accumulation on these smaller policies tends to be very small). The policy’s premium payment is fixed for your lifetime. Further, the death benefit is locked in and never changes.
And since it is whole life, the policy builds cash value that can be used to borrow against, pay premiums for a time, or use to buy paid-up life insurance.
Do People Over 50 Need Life Insurance?
There are many reason life insurance when you are older still makes sense.
Income Replacement:
Life insurance in your 50s might simply be needed because you are planning on working until age 65 or 70, so you want coverage in place that will protect your income if you were to die prematurely. In that case, a 10 or 15 year term life insurance policy makes a lot of sense.
Estate Planning:
Life insurance is a tax favored vehicle. The death benefit is paid to your beneficiary income tax free. So life insurance over 50 makes a lot of sense if you are looking to provide liquidity for your estate or want to make sure you leave your kids with a legacy.
Business Succession:
Life insurance is great at providing liquidity for a business so that the family inheriting the business has time to pay down any existing debts, and wait for a proper buyer to come along.
Alternatively, the family might be interested in continuing the business, so life insurance provides liquidity while the new owners take time to transition into their new role.
Burial and Final Expenses:
Sometimes all you need is to make sure your burial and final expenses are paid so you don’t leave debt and the financial burden of a funeral to your loved ones.
A final expense insurance policy provides peace of mind knowing that your debt and funeral are paid for.
Other Types of Life Insurance
Most people over 50 choose term life insurance because it is the cheapest life insurance for 50 year olds. However, just because something is more affordable does not mean it is necessarily better.
There are various types of life insurance that people over 50 can qualify for.
Life insurance over 50 options include:
- Term Life Insurance
- Universal Life Insurance
- Whole Life Insurance
Term Life Insurance
As mentioned above, term life lasts for a specified time, the “term” of the policy. After the term expires, the policy can usually be renewed, but the premium typically increases. Over time the premium is too expensive and most people have to let the policy lapse.
For people 50 and older needing term life insurance, you can get up to 30 year term life at age 58. Other term lengths available are 10, 15, 20 and 25 year terms.
Universal Life Insurance
Universal life insurance is a type of permanent life insurance that offers flexible premiums and death benefits. It combines the protection of term life insurance with the ability to build cash value, like whole life insurance.
Here are some key features of universal life insurance:
- Flexible premiums: With universal life insurance, you have the ability to adjust your premiums and coverage amounts within certain limits. This can be helpful if your financial situation changes and you need to adjust your coverage or premiums.
- Cash value accumulation: Universal life insurance policies build cash value over time, which can be used to pay premiums or borrowed against. The cash value is typically invested in a variety of financial products, such as stocks, bonds, and money market funds.
- Flexible death benefits: Universal life insurance allows you to adjust your death benefit within certain limits, which can be helpful if your coverage needs change over time.
- Policy loans: You may be able to borrow against the cash value of your universal life insurance policy, although this will reduce the death benefit and may also accrue interest.
Universal life insurance can be a good option for people who want the flexibility to adjust their premiums and death benefits over time and the ability to build cash value. It’s important to keep in mind that the cash value of these policies may fluctuate based on the performance of the underlying investments.
Guaranteed universal life.
Guaranteed universal life insurance is a type of permanent life insurance that offers flexible premiums and death benefits, similar to universal life insurance. However, unlike universal life insurance, guaranteed universal life insurance has a guaranteed level premium and death benefit for a specified period of time, often until a certain age, such as age 90 or age 100.
Some key features of guaranteed universal life insurance include:
- Flexible premiums: You have the ability to adjust your premiums and coverage amounts within certain limits, similar to universal life insurance.
- Guaranteed death benefit: The death benefit is guaranteed to be paid out to your beneficiary as long as premiums are paid, regardless of the performance of the underlying investments.
- Guaranteed level premiums: The premiums for guaranteed universal life insurance are guaranteed to remain the same for a specified period of time, often until a certain age.
- Cash value accumulation: These policies may also accumulate cash value over time, similar to universal life insurance.
Guaranteed universal life insurance can be a good option for people who want the flexibility to adjust their premiums and death benefits over time, but also want the security of a guaranteed death benefit and level premiums. It’s important to keep in mind that the cash value of these policies may fluctuate based on the performance of the underlying investments.
Indexed universal life.
Indexed universal life insurance is a type of permanent life insurance that offers flexible premiums and death benefits, similar to universal life insurance. However, rather than investing the cash value in a variety of financial products, indexed universal life insurance policies link the cash value to the performance of a stock market index, such as the S&P 500.
Some key features of indexed universal life insurance include:
- Flexible premiums: You have the ability to adjust your premiums and coverage amounts within certain limits, similar to universal life insurance.
- Death benefit: The death benefit is paid out to your beneficiary as long as premiums are paid.
- Cash value accumulation: The cash value of these policies is linked to the performance of a stock market index, rather than being invested in a variety of financial products. This means that the cash value may fluctuate based on the performance of the index.
- Caps and floors: Indexed universal life insurance policies often have caps and floors, which limit the amount of potential gain or loss in the cash value. The cap is the maximum amount of potential gain, while the floor is the minimum amount of potential gain.
Indexed universal life insurance can be a good option for people who want the flexibility to adjust their premiums and death benefits over time and the potential for cash value growth linked to the stock market. It’s important to keep in mind that the cash value of these policies may fluctuate based on the performance of the underlying index, and that there may be caps and floors that limit potential gains or losses.
Variable universal life.
Variable universal life insurance is a type of permanent life insurance that offers flexible premiums and death benefits, similar to universal life insurance. However, rather than investing the cash value in a variety of financial products, variable universal life insurance policies allow you to choose how to allocate your cash value among a selection of investment options, such as mutual funds.
Some key features of variable universal life insurance include:
- Flexible premiums: You have the ability to adjust your premiums and coverage amounts within certain limits, similar to universal life insurance.
- Death benefit: The death benefit is paid out to your beneficiary as long as premiums are paid.
- Investment options: With variable universal life insurance, you can choose how to allocate your cash value among a selection of investment options, such as mutual funds, stocks, and bonds. This means that the cash value of these policies may fluctuate based on the performance of the underlying investments.
- Higher potential for growth: Because you have the ability to choose how to allocate your cash value among a selection of investment options, there is the potential for higher growth with variable universal life insurance compared to other types of permanent life insurance.
Variable universal life insurance can be a good option for people who want the flexibility to adjust their premiums and death benefits over time and the ability to choose their own investment options. It’s important to keep in mind that the cash value of these policies may fluctuate based on the performance of the underlying investments, and that there is the potential for higher growth but also higher risk.
Whole Life Insurance
Whole life insurance is a type of permanent life insurance that provides coverage for the entirety of the policyholder’s life, as long as premiums are paid. It also includes a savings component, known as the cash value, which grows over time and can be used to pay premiums or borrowed against.
Here are some key features of whole life insurance:
- Permanent coverage: Whole life insurance provides coverage for the entirety of the policyholder’s life, as long as premiums are paid.
- Fixed premiums: The premiums for whole life insurance are typically fixed and do not increase over time.
- Fixed death benefit: The death benefit is fixed and does not decrease over time.
- Cash value accumulation: The cash value of a whole life insurance policy grows over time and can be used to pay premiums or borrowed against. It is typically invested in a variety of financial products, such as stocks, bonds, and money market funds.
Whole life insurance can be a good option for people who want the security of permanent coverage and the ability to build cash value over time. It’s important to keep in mind that these policies often have higher premiums than term life insurance policies.
Have some questions about life insurance over 50?
At IBUSA, we will take the time to answer all your questions and provide you with multiple options based on your specific criteria.
Whether you are considering term life, universal life, whole life or final expense insurance, we represent dozens of the top life insurance companies.
Give us a call today to see how we can help you find the best life insurance based on your unique criteria.
