How to Get Low Cost Life Insurance

Everyone wants to spend less on insurance, but reducing your cost takes time and often relies on you changing your lifestyle. But, there are also some simpler ways to lower your premiums...


This page:

  • Explains factors determining the low cost of life insurance.

  • Suggests some tips that may help lower your premiums

Premiums can vary by as much as 50%. Visit eFinancial, where you can fill out a short form, select a plan, and receive a true personalized quote in minutes. Click here to start.

Use InsureME to compare additional term life and whole life quotes, and get expert advice from an agent in your area, who can help you design a plan that's right for you. Click here to fill out a quick form.

The cost of life insurance depends upon a few factors:

  • the risk you pose to the insurance company.
  • the policy's death benefit
  • the type of insurance you choose

Obviously, getting the lowest cost life insurance depends upon your standing within these categories.

Let's tackle each, one at a time.

Your risk

Your habits, your lifestyle and your health all factor into the risk you pose to your insurance company and, therefore effects the cost of your life insurance premiums. It stands to reason, then, that making improvements in these areas can reduce high premiums, sometimes significantly.

  • Bad habits like smoking and drinking raise premiums.

Although easier said than done, a sure fire way to get low cost insurance is to quit. After two to five years of moderate drinking and no smoking your insurance prices will decline.

  • Serious medical conditions inflate the price of insurance tremendously.

Insurance companies lump applicants with specific illnesses into a single group without taking into consideration each individual's situation. The result - everyone with a particular medical condition, no matter how serious or minor it is, is quoted the same price.

If your illness is not in the critical stages, take the time to locate an insurance company that treats every application on an individual basis. You'll most likely never get low cost life insurance, but this approach will definitely lower your cost.

  • Risky environments lead to higher insurance prices too.

Life insurance companies take into consideration your occupational hazards as well as risky hobbies - like flying or, in this day and age, any extreme sport. Leading a fairly risk-free life is key to finding affordable rates.

If you maintain a healthy and safe lifestyle, you pose little risk to the insurance companies, and your price for life insurance should reflect that. Make sure you take full advantage of the cost breaks insurance companies offer. Look into policies with a risk category called Preferred Risk. These policies are often a much better deal - offering the same coverage for a much lower price.

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Low cost life insurance is not impossible to find. Compare rates for free at Netquote, and you might be surprised by how little you could end up paying.

Type of insurance policy

A single life insurance policy instead of several small ones will save you money. You may be juggling quite a few life policies at once - an employee group policy along with an individual policy you've purchased or a policy started for you as a child could all be maintained in your name.

Although you might think it makes more financial sense to have several policies with small death benefits and lower premiums, consolidating them saves you money.

Looking to spend less?

Shop around for one policy with a death benefit worth the combined amount all the current policies in your name.

Merge your life insurance policy with you spouse's policy.

A First-To-Die policy covers both spouses. The death benefit is paid to the surviving spouse when either one dies. Often the premiums are much lower than if you buy two individual policies. We recommend this alternative as a money saving device.

The death benefit

There is little you can alter in terms of the death benefit. You should never decrease the amount of coverage if it means jeopardizing your family's security. However, there is one trick to access low cost life insurance.

Round up to the nearest $250,000 if your death benefit is near a multiple of this figure. You should probably fiddle abound with the coverage amount, checking out how each plan varies by increasing your death benefit by increments of $1,000. Often, once you reach a certain amount, the premium rate drops significantly. You can also call the insurance company and request this information, which is probably a better way yon spend your time.

Word to the wise

No matter how tempting it may be, do not provide any false information on your life insurance application. If the insurance company discovers any distortion of the truth, your policy can be canceled and your premiums will not be reimbursed. Insurance companies can use cause of death (if it is smoking-related yet you claimed to be a non-smoker) as grounds for not honoring a policy. They can also use citations for DUIs or DWIs as justification for increasing premiums or denying continued coverage. If your health is adversely affected by smoking or drinking, we suggest you quit now and reap the 20% - 30% savings.


Next: Finding those elusive low life insurance rates

For more help . . .

Getting the lowest possible premium on your life insurance is almost like an art form. There are many variables to consider, and to get the right balance of term length, benefit amounts, and policy riders and illustrations, you need to take a careful step-by-step approach to the buying process.

Our free life insurance course is designed to help you do just that.

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