Guide to Finding the Best Life Insurance for Seniors

The best life insurance for seniors differs from person to person. It should be tailored to your age, financial situation and physical health.

“You want to look at your own personal financial situation,” said Susan Greenhalgh, AFC®, president of Mind Your Money LLC, to RetireGuide.

Typically, insurers won’t sell life insurance to most people 70 and older. And people who’ve waited into their 50s or 60s should look at whether a life insurance policy is right for them.

“If you’re over 65, there’s a couple of things you need to consider – first, you really have to know why you’re buying and second is your budget,” said Eric Estevez, an independent insurance broker and expert contributor to RetireGuide. “If you give those two answers to your broker or agent, they’ll be able to give you some options.”

Suppose you have a spouse or children with limited income and resources, special needs or other conditions and circumstances that could leave them in a financial pinch when you’re gone. In that case, those are major considerations in deciding whether to purchase life insurance and what kind to buy.

“There are a lot of factors that go into buying life insurance when you’re older or retired,” Greenhalgh said. “I would say the number one question to consider is if you have anyone who is depending on you for your income.”

Life insurance riders are amendments to a standard insurance policy. They can enhance your coverage to better tailor it to your needs.

Riders give you options to include benefits that are not included in the basic policy.

If you are considering life insurance, you should compare several types of policies from several life insurance companies.

You will want to compare industry ratings from J.D. Power, the Better Business Bureau and A.M. Best. These can tell you how financially stable the company is and how other clients have rated its service.

An insurance advisor can also help you with the options that may best work for you.

You can check with several different insurance companies about the different types of insurance it offers. Then compare those policies with one another.

Or you can go through an independent insurance agency or broker.

Independent insurance agencies sell policies from many different insurance companies. Independent online brokers also sell policies from different companies. In each of these cases, insurance professionals can compare similar types of insurance from different insurers.

Life insurance premiums are more expensive as you get older. But that doesn’t always mean that coverage is out of reach for people nearing retirement or newly retired.

“Depending on your health, there are some very, very fair premiums on life insurance,” said Buller. “If you’re still in your 50s, you can still get a term policy which is very inexpensive.”

“Most of the time, seniors think that life insurance is too expensive or they think that they are too old to get life insurance,” Buller said. “They need to definitely reach out to an advisor and really find out what their options are.”

There are several factors insurance companies use to set their rates. The right combination of positives for you may mean that you can find a policy that works for you.

Be sure to plan ahead and know that you can keep up payments on any policy you consider. Life insurance is a long-term commitment.

“Be aware of whether the premiums can go up and how much they can go up,” Greenhalgh said. “If you start out with a policy with very affordable premiums – are those premiums still going to be affordable 10 or 20 years down the road.”

Most types of life insurance – especially if you are older – require that you take a medical exam. This is part of the underwriting process – methods companies use to determine how much risk they face in selling you a life insurance policy.

But guaranteed issue life insurance requires no medical exam. But there is a trade-off when you opt for life insurance that does not require a medical exam – a higher premium.

Insurance companies take a greater risk of insuring anyone without having them pass a medical exam.

“The insurance companies are going to make that cost up somehow,” Estevez said. “So if they’re going to guarantee you life insurance without medical tests, they’re going to get their money for it.”

And there can be a big difference in what you get compared to other types of life insurance.

“If you are not healthy, there are products out there that are guaranteed issue that are final expense insurance,” added Buller. “If you compare a $100,000 term policy or a guaranteed issue $20,000 final expense policy, they’re going to be about the same price.”

These are some of the most frequently asked questions from seniors considering life insurance.