Get a quote
The cost of life insurance premiums ultimately depends on many factors including your age, gender, weight, if you’re a smoker, the amount you wish to take out, the period you plan on taking it out for, whether you’re a healthy weight, have an illness (terminal or not) and whether or not you work in a hazardous environment.
It is difficult to calculate the average cost of a life insurance policy as there are hundreds of insurers, many types of policies and different outcomes in medical exams. The best way of getting idea about how much you can expect to pay for a policy is by using an online life insurance calculator.
How much does life insurance cost?
On average you can expect to pay around $10 to $60 per month for a term policy. Of course, the actual amount of your premiums can vary significantly depending on a variety of factors. There are several ways to find detailed information on how much life insurance costs including using online quote tools and contacting qualified insurance brokers. Before signing any sort of policy, you will want to have it looked over by an attorney or your accountant.
Is life insurance worth it?
Whether you are already decided or not you should always figure out first how much coverage you should get. You should be weary as in many countries the government can take a big chunk of the payout from your beneficiary/s as a source of income tax. Everyone should aim at incorporating a term or whole life policy into their retirement plan as this provides safety for the ones you love in the future and gives them a head start.
Protecting your family and loved ones
The cost for an entire family would be quite high and in most cases unnecessary. Usually, it’s the breadwinner whose life should be insured. Whilst it’s unusual to insure children, in some circumstances this situation is warranted. You may think that taking out a policy on your children would be relatively cheap, however the price of insuring children can be more than you would pay for an adult policy. On the other hand, life insurance costs for seniors (over 50) becomes quite steep so you must really ponder whether the cost is really worth it. If you plan on taking out the policy for your entire life for an indefinite period (until death, regardless of age) you may want to compare the difference in paying for a term policy vs the cost of a permanent life policy.
Complications which can increase the price of a policy
Passing your medical exam is quite a simple an easy thing to do unless you are terminally ill and expected to pass away very soon where you may find it impossible to find coverage before the unfortunate happens. Some insurance companies are more stricter than others and take into account more factors before they write up a policy for you. The cost of life insurance for smokers is sure to be higher but you shouldn’t find it hard to find a company to do up a policy for you just because you smoke tobacco. It’s no secret that companies charge more the older you get. You may find it hard to purchase a term policy after a certain age. You should research how much life insurance costs by age so you won’t be surprised if you’re over 50 and you are paying higher premiums than your son or daughter. The cost of life insurance for overweight people is not as steep as for smokers but close to it, it should be in your interest when speaking to your insurance broker what the weight limits are of an increase in premiums so you may have yourself re-examined to secure a lower premium when you manage to shed some of those unwanted pounds. Many insurance companies offer no exam policies but the cost of no exam life insurance is usually quite higher as the companies know you are a greater risk to them.
Including a life insurance policy in your budget
The easiest way to give yourself an idea of how much this is costing you is figuring out the monthly cost of your life insurance and annual cost of life insurance policy and calculating whether or not you are able to afford it and if the risk of these premiums is going to hinder your life enough to outweigh the benefits of payouts to beneficiaries. You should aim at finding a policy where the broker fees are at an absolute minimum. The cost of renewing your policy depends on the company and you are more than likely to have to sit the medical exam if it’s been a while since you were covered.
What happens in the event of your death?
If are not covered by a policy at the time no beneficiaries will be handed a payout, it’s that simple. In the event that you are covered by a life insurance policy your policy provider will hand out a payment to your beneficiaries once they have conducted an investigation into your death to determine if there was any fraud involved.
When you pass away and complications of not getting a payout
When you die your life insurance company must be notified and they will launch an investigation into your death. The cost of a life insurance investigation mainly depends on how much you were covered for as they can suspect there may be fraud in your policy.
Types of life insurance and average premium cost
Term life insurance
Being a pure form of coverage, a term policy is simply buying a payout in the event of a death. There is no cash value and no investment involved. The contract remains in effect for an agreed period (5, 10, 15 or even 35 years). There can be options to renew with some policies. The average cost of term life insurance is cheaper than policies which involve an investment component
Universal life insurance
These types of policies are very flexible in terms how much is paid toward premiums. They center on a cash account. The price and frequency of premiums, face value and cash value can vary over time. Owners can choose their average cost of universal life insurance and any amount paid over the cost of insurance is credited to the cash value. However, there is no opportunity to control investments
Variable universal life insurance
VUL policies enable the owner to invest and build cash value. There is no term involved, the policy lasts throughout the insured’s lifetime. The premiums paid toward the average cost of variable universal life insurance can be increased/decreased and can be invested at the owner’s discretion
Whole life insurance
This policy can be purchased for a whole lifetime (unlike term contracts). It involves a cash value. Once there are enough funds built up the average cost of whole life insurance can be paid for with the investment earnings. Initially they are more expensive than term policies.
Select a country below
 United States |
 Canada |
 United Kingdom |
 Australia |