Life Insurance For People Over 50

Find Affordable Life Life Insurance In Middle Age and Retirement

Is there still a need for life insurance after age 50?

As we get older, our lives should get simpler so we do not need coverage. We hope that children will grown up, homes will get paid off, and our savings will be sufficient to cover our future needs. Does this sound like your life?

Of course, things do not always work out the way financial planners tells us they will when we are younger. And most of us have had job losses or financial downturns that caused savings to stop growing. Many people have kids later in life, so they still need support when parents are in middle age. Beyond that, with financial troubles, many older kids are returning home, sometimes with their own kids! And that mortgage that should have been paid off in 15 or 30 years may still be outstanding because of a refinance or move!

Many of us would benefit from life insurance over 50, 60, or 70!

Of course, a lot of us did have coverage before. We may have had term life insurance policies that expired, or we may have had some group coverage at a job where we no longer work. But now, just as we are older and more expensive to cover, we find that our policies are not in force any longer.

So can we still find coverage over 50, 60, or 70?

Older people, after age 50, and even well into retirement years, can still find a policy. Of course, the choices will depend upon the individual's location, general health, budget, and some other factors.

In general, a fairly healthy 70 year old should still be able to find a 10 year term policy, but could not expect to find a 30 year term. At this age, a better choice may be a whole life insurance policy. Of course, an older person may have to accept a lower face amount to keep the premium rates affordable, but almost every middle aged or older person should be able to find coverage.

Senior life insurance policies, sometimes called final expense, are smaller face value whole life policies that have been designed to provide affordable coverage for older people. Simplified issue senior life policies ask few health questions, and older people can qualify.

These type of guaranteed issue life insurance policies will take everybody within the age range, but be careful. The premiums will be higher than simplified policies, and they also may not have an immediate death benefit. Since they do not use health questions to qualify an applicant, they use a waiting period. It is common to see a 2 - 3 year waiting period until the whole amount of the policy will be in force. Before that, they may pay out a percentage of the total death benefit, or they may return the premiums with some specified interest rate. Despite this, a guaranteed issue policy may be a good option for some seniors and their families.

Who Buys Senior Life Insurance?

Some older people purchase a policy themselves. Sometimes, other family members like grown kids, will purchase a policy for their parents. They do this as a way to plan for the future when their parent is not around.