Life insurance is very important and worth paying for. However, that doesn’t mean you should pay a cent more than explicitly necessary. Here are some tips that can help you save money when shopping for a life insurance policy.
1 – Don’t procrastinate
Life insurance gets more expensive the older you are, so the best time to get a policy is usually now. That’s because even though the price of a new policy goes up with the age of the person insured, your premiums don’t increase as you grow older. This means that if you buy a life insurance policy in your 20s, you’ll still be paying the same amount in premiums by the time you’re 50. Assuming it was a long-term insurance policy or even whole life insurance.
This also means that if you intend to have a family, you can plan ahead and get life insurance before you have actual dependents. Get a 40-year term insurance policy in your 20s, and if you have kids in your 30s, they might be finished with college by the time your policy runs out.
2 – Compare prices
Trying to compare insurance rates between different providers may sound like a pain, but Insurance Hero makes this easy. It is one of the many price comparison tools that allow you to simply fill up a form and start browsing different insurance policies that match what you’re looking for. This allows you to cross-shop between different providers, comparing not only prices but also the benefits and perks that are part of different policies.
Price comparison tools are also a good way to learn about specialist life insurance policies, which may also sweeter deals. For example, there are life insurance policies that don’t require a medical exam, and policies that let you pay lower premiums as long as you can meet certain fitness goals.
3 – Don’t over-insure
The main purpose of life insurance is to make sure your dependents will be financially stable if something happens to you. This means that while there are some good rules of thumb you can use the amount of your insurance coverage out there, the real number of how much life insurance you need comes down to your unique situation and what you can afford.
Experts generally recommend that you get a life insurance policy with a payout worth somewhere between 5 to 10 times your annual salary. But the higher the payout of a policy, the more you’re going to have to pay in premiums. On top of that, if your spouse or your kids are already making money and can take care of themselves, you likely don’t need a massive policy.
4 – Pay annually
Details vary between policies. But there are usually fees associated with paying your premiums every month. And if you’re able to pay our life premiums for the year in a lump sum once a year, you can avoid these fees. You might even be able to negotiate a small discount by promising to do so.
5 – Stop smoking
Different companies have different ways to deal with former smokers. But as a general rule, it is possible to quit smoking long enough that it allows you to qualify as a non-smoker when getting an insurance policy. And that can have a huge impact on how much you’ll pay in premiums. So if you’ve been thinking about quitting smoking, you now have another reason to do so.