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Compare life insurance for people over 65
You can still get life insurance after 65, but expect limited options and high premiums.
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Life insurance isn’t just for the young. While your children may no longer be financially dependent on you, you may leave behind other expenses when you die, such as outstanding debt or funeral expenses. Life insurance can help take the financial burden off of your loved ones when you’re gone.
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What's in this guide?
- How does life insurance help people over the age of 65?
- Compare life insurance for adults aged 65 or older
- What life insurance policies offer cover for people over 65?
- What kind of life insurance can I get if I'm more than 65 years old?
- How to compare life insurance quotes for people over 65
- Bottom line
How does life insurance help people over the age of 65?
While everyone’s needs may be different, some typical expenses that life insurance can cover for people 65 and over include:
- Outstanding debt. There may be money owed on your mortgage or other personal debts that have still not been paid, which may be passed on to your spouse or co-signers when you die.
- Medical expenses. You may have existing medical expenses that will pass on to your spouse or family to cover when you pass.
- Funeral expenses. The average cost of a funeral is around $10,000. Many life insurance policies will offer final expense insurance to help cover the costs of a funeral so your family won’t have to pay.
- Family expenses. If you leave your spouse behind, consider whether they might need help paying for living expenses without your half of the income from your 401k, Social Security payouts or other income.
Compare life insurance for adults aged 65 or older
What kind of life insurance can I get if I’m more than 65 years old?
Your best options are: term life insurance, critical illness insurance and burial insurance.
Term life insurance for people
Term life insurance is ideal for seniors if they think they’ll only need to be financially insured for the next 10 to 15 years or so. If you can pay your debts and get your investments in order within that time frame, you may not need to worry about how to leave money behind to your loved ones. If you think you’d need to be insured longer for financial reasons, term life may not be the best fit.
Here are some questions to consider:
- Are you at risk of developing a chronic illness? With a critical illness or accelerate death benefit rider, you can get a portion of your benefit before you pass if you’ve been diagnosed you with a terminal illness.
- Will you pay off your debts in the next decade? You can opt for a 10 or 15-year policy if you only need to be financially insured for the next decade and have plans to set up your family financially before then.
- Do you want to leave an inheritance? A life insurance policy can help you can leave money behind to your children to help them when you’re no longer around.
- Do you want to cover the costs of your funeral in advance? An advanced payment of a portion of the sum-insured can be paid to nominated beneficiaries to help them cover immediate expenses following death.
- Do you want to donate to a non-profit? Perhaps there’s a cause or foundation that’s close to your heart, and you want to give a charitable gift even after your gone to show your support.
Critical illness insurance
People over age 65 may consider adding critical illness to their life insurance plan — either as an additional or standalone policy. Seniors are typically more susceptible to sickness and critical illness can offer protection for up to 40 different medical conditions. Conditions covered can include heart attack, stroke, coma, out of hospital cardiac arrest and loss of independence. Some of the features and benefits you can get from policies include:
- Advanced benefits. Some policies will provide policy owners with an advancement of the benefit following the diagnosis of a specified condition.
- Tax free payout. Claims are paid to the policyholder without being taxed, providing a larger lump sum to be used however the policy owner sees fit.
- Peace of mind. If your family has a history with a certain condition, it may be wise to get critical illness insurance in case anything happens to you. This will provide financial relief for any loved one you’ll leave behind.
- Covers many conditions. It’s important for policyholders to review the conditions covered before applying. While there are many conditions included in the policy, there are also many medical events that may not pay out.
How to compare life insurance quotes for people over 65
In addition to the benefits, features and price of the policy being applied for, there are some key things to look out for when comparing quotes on life insurance policies.
- Benefit amount. What’s the maximum amount of coverage you can get? And how much do you need?
- Cost. Does the policy value match the amount you’re paying? Are there expensive extras that you don’t need? Are the premiums level or rising?
- Waiting period. How long does it take for the payout to get to your policy beneficiaries?
- Maximum entry age. What’s the cut-off age for applying?
- Free look period. How long do you have to cancel and get a refund?
- Claims process. What is the insurance provider’s claims process?
- Policy renewal. What’s the maximum age you can renew coverage for?
Bottom line
To get the best life insurance package, compare different life insurance policies and learn about any exclusions that may apply.
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