Before you purchase a life insurance policy, take a little time to understand the best types of life insurance so you know you buying the best policy to cover your family. Your own budget, needs, and financial plans will figure into your decision. It is never a bad idea to speak with a qualified life insurance agent, or even a couple of agents. But some of these financial professionals will want to sell their own products, or have their own ideas about what is best for everybody. In order to make sure you find the policy, or combination of policies, that really work for your family, be sure and do some of your own homework!

If you want life insurance to cover a mortgage, you will probably want a term policy. You can purchase varying terms, like 10, 20, or 30 years, that are close to the amount of years you have left to pay on your home. Some mortgage life insurance policies have a return of premium rider attached, which allows you to get all of your premiums refunded at the end of the policy if you have not collected the death benefit. This is attractive for many people, because they do plan to survive the length of the life insurance contract, and this way they can have a large cash payday! Imagine paying $50 a month for $20 years, and then getting back $12,0000 in cash! Some people even buy decreasing term life insurance which features a decreasing death benefit, to match the decreasing mortgage balance, and of course,  lower premiums.

You can still find term life insurance for seniors, though the policy terms may be shorter, and the insured person will need to be in reasonably good health. A 10 year term policy for a fairly healthy 70 year old, should still be affordable. This may be attractive, especially if the senior still has a business or income to cover for the next decade. You can even find seniors term policy with no medical exams, and very short underwriting applications.

Many seniors look at burial policies, which are really small face value whole life insurance. These never expire, as long as the policy is kept in force, and are great ways to plan for funerals and other final expenses. These come in simplified issue, for seniors with no major health issues, and guaranteed issue, for those with health challenges. Try to qualify for simplified issue life insurance if you can, because those policies have immediate death benefits, and lower premiums. However, a guaranteed life insurance policy can be a great deal for those with major health issues, and they usually refund the premium even if the senior passes away to soon to qualify for death benefits. Guaranteed policies usually replace underwriting applications with a 2 to 3 year waiting period in order to get the full death benefit. Just make sure you understand the difference between simplified issue and guaranteed issue before you choose a seniors life insurance plan.

If you are looking into this type of whole life or burial policy, check into: whole life insurance explained before you buy! And be sure to compare final expense insurance rates too.

Share This