Life Insurance Cost Of Waiting
It’s not uncommon for me to meet with a client who tells me they plan to get life insurance “down the road,” when they are older or feel they will be in a better financial position to afford it. But what these clients don’t realize is that waiting may cost them in the long run.
When you are young and healthy, you can typically qualify for a life insurance policy with a very low premium. But as you age, the likelihood of you becoming ill or dying increases, and that can dramatically increase your life insurance rates.
Additionally, many life insurance policies have a waiting period, which is the time frame between when you apply for coverage and when your death benefit becomes active. During the waiting period, your beneficiaries do not receive any payments from the insurance company.
The biggest reason that people decide to delay purchasing life insurance is because they are concerned about their health. They might worry that a pre-existing condition will prevent them from being able to obtain coverage or that their health will decline over the course of their application process.
Unfortunately, this is exactly what happens to many people. The average person has a 320% higher chance of needing long-term care services before they apply for life insurance, which will significantly increase their premiums. Waiting also increases your chances of having your application declined by insurers. For these reasons, it’s best to act now and buy a life insurance policy before the need for this type of protection arises.