Over 50 Thinking About Life Insurance? Here’s Your Real Options
When you’re aged over 50, it’s hard not to think about life insurance.
Chances are the thought has crossed your mind in the past six months. Life insurers actively target this age group in their advertising, so every time you log into your social media accounts, you’ll likely see some form of financially related product advertised in your feed. It’s because even though the life expectancy in the UK for both males and females has risen, your presence in this world will come to an end someday, and it is crucial to protect your family’s future, and insurance companies know about it well.
The most pushed plan is the over-50s plan, but what you’re shown and what you buy are entirely up to you. The lazy option is to take the easiest route: the over-50s plan. It’s made that way and marketed attractively because it is a guaranteed sum with no medical. It sounds great on the surface, but is it? Well, if you’re in reasonably good health, it’s probably not.
Compare Over 50 Life Insurance Cover – Insurance Hero Will Beat Any Quote
You could pay £15 per month for a guaranteed over-50s plan to get £4,000 in cover.
Unless you need that cover, for example, if you can’t pass the medical required for whole-of-life cover, you’ll likely lose money compared with a different life insurance product.
If you are in good health and don’t really need the guaranteed element with no medical, £15 a month in whole-of-life cover could get you a policy worth £10,000 and up.
Your options aren’t nearly as restricted as you may have been led to believe
Having any health condition doesn’t disqualify you from getting life insurance. It only affects the premiums you pay.
You may find yourself hindered because your line of work involves a dangerous career like scaffolding and working in all weathers, having a heart condition, being an ex-alcoholic or being one of the millions of Britons diagnosed with high cholesterol. Every insurer treats applicants as individuals and caters to a range of circumstances.
And it doesn’t cost you anything other than your time to find out if you would be accepted for any policy, with no obligation to take any policy out with any insurer.
Why wouldn’t you find out the facts before committing to losing money that would go to your loved ones?
The difference between £4,000 and £10,000 is nothing to be sneezed at. What’s more, that’s based on conservative figures. Guaranteed plans for people in their over 50s can be upwards of £40 per month with some insurers, although that will mostly be for those in their older age bracket.
Doing the math to work out the potential total cost of a life insurance policy and your returns
A little math can help you make an informed financial choice for your loved ones.
When you consider any type of life insurance, estimate, as best you can, what you’ll pay in and weigh it against what the insurer will pay back to your family.
Consider the age you expect to live to, taking your family history into account. At what age did your parents pass? Were there specific medical conditions involved? If so, were those hereditary or lifestyle-related? And at what age did that happen? Are you proactively staying healthy by eating a balanced diet and sticking to a regular exercise routine?
If you expect to live to 85 and buy insurance at 55, that’s 30 years of coverage you plan to pay for.
30 years is 360 months, so any monthly premiums you’re quoted, multiply that by 360, and that’s the total cost of your policy if you do live for thirty years past the start date of the policy.
In practice, a quote may be £11.75 per month for £15,000 of cover. That would require a £4,230 pay-in. The return on investment would be £10,770. To save that amount over thirty years, you’d need to save £29.92 per month.
You could save £29.92 per month into a savings account, invest it somewhere so your family would receive £15,000, or find a life insurance policy that costs you less than £29.92 monthly for the same or higher amount of cover.
Depending on your current health status, a monthly premium of around £30 would return much more than £15,000—much, much more.
For some reason, one of the questions consumers ask about life insurance is how much it costs for £100,000 cover? Our research showed that Brits highly overestimated the costs of life insurance, thinking that a £100,000 policy would cost £51 per month.
The average cost is £10.31, so a £51 monthly premium would buy you five times more in life insurance; for example, a non-smoker in good health could get as high as a £500,000 policy for that premium.
In Conclusion:
Guaranteed over 50s plans suit those who need the guaranteed element. The only way to know that you need that guarantee is to find out if you can pass the medical requirements for a whole life or term life insurance. It costs nothing to find out, but it can cost you in the long run if you don’t do your research.
Or let us do the fact-finding for you.
… We’ll compare the whole market, doing the essential research to give you the facts you need to make an informed financial decision based on your circumstances. There are no restrictions, obligations, or up-front fees.
Moreover, impartial advice is always provided, and your questions are welcome. If you’re considering any life insurance products, our expert advisors are on hand to provide advice, and there’s no charge for that either.
Related Reading:
Life Insurance Over 50 Quotes: A Guide
The State Of Over Fifties Life Insurance Cover
Over 50s Cover Vs Income Protection: Some Food for Thought
Steve Case is a seasoned professional in the UK financial services and insurance industry, with over twenty years of experience. At Insurance Hero, Steve is known for his ability to simplify complex insurance topics, making them accessible to a broad audience. His focus on clear, practical advice and customer service excellence has established him as a respected leader in the field.
