Best Life Insurance Rates for 53 Year Olds

As you enter your early-to-mid fifties, your priorities shift. 

You may start thinking about retirement, downsizing your home or seeing your family through life milestones, such as weddings and births. If you’re like most Americans, you probably aren’t thinking about prioritizing your life insurance. 

At this age, life insurance should be at the forefront of your mind. Think about it: you probably bought a policy in your late twenties or early thirties when you were starting a family. If you purchased a 15 or 20 year term policy, 53 might put you at the point where your policy either needs to be renewed or converted to whole life. So why are most Americans going out of their way to avoid thinking about their life insurance policies?

The answer is simple: life insurance is not a fun thing to think about. If you do think about life insurance, what are the first words that come to mind? Confusing, stressful and expensive are some of what we hear every day from clients in your very position. 

The phrase we want to address today is “expensive”; life insurance does not have to be expensive or a hassle. 

In fact, in this article we are going to reveal some trade secrets to help you earn the best premium every time. All it takes are four simple steps! Let’s take a look: 

Step 1: Review

Your first step to finding your perfect life insurance policy is to review your needs and how they have changed over time. 

Think back to when you first bought your life insurance policy: why did you purchase it?

For most people, life insurance is purchased at a time of great life changes. 

You might have just gotten married before purchasing your previous policy. Maybe you bought a house, started a family or you were paying off your students loans. 

If you had children, they were probably factored into the size of your policy. Perhaps you added a bit extra to help fund their future education. If you went to a good agent, you probably also considered all of your debts and factored interest into your policy as well, to cover these debts should you pass away. 

Now that we are thinking about your old policy, let’s take a look at it. 

Do you still have the same needs you did twenty years ago? The odds are good that your needs have changed drastically. This is why your first step to getting the best premium possible is to always review your old policy. 

Once you have taken a good look at your old policy, consider how your needs have changed. 

For most individuals in their fifties, their children have grown and paying for an education is no longer necessary. Additionally, during these years, your mortgage may be paid off, along with your student loans or other debts. 

This means you can get away with purchasing a significantly smaller policy, so that you aren’t paying too much for a large size you no longer need. 

Step 2: Update

Step 2 goes hand-in-hand with Step 1. After reviewing your policy, it is time to update your needs. 

To do this, you should sit down with a reputable agent and write down all of your current financial needs and expenses. These include anything that may be impacted if you were to pass away. You should update your current policy size based off of your updated financial calculations. 

The next thing you should be sure to update are your medical records. As you age, it is only natural that life insurance companies will view you as a higher risk. This means you should be sure to provide your agent and your insurer with the most updated medical records you can find. 

This is especially important if you were considered high risk in the past. 

Were you a smoker or overweight? Did you have a high risk disease? Any updates in your health should be communicated in detail. This way, underwriters can make the most accurate assessment of your risk and rate you accordingly. If you are still worried about what your rating may be, have your agent write you a strong cover letter, detailing any positive changes in your health. This way, underwriters will have a better picture of your current risk. 

Remember: the more detail you can give, the more accurate your rating – and the lower your premiums – will be. 

Step 3: Compare

After you have updated your insurance needs and assessed your risk, it’s time to compare the companies that will give you the best rating!

This step is probably the most difficult of the four, because it is the most time-consuming. We’ve taken the liberty of compiling some basic information on risk for individuals rated “premium” or “standard” at the age of 53, so that you have a basis for comparison:

Life Insurance rates for a 53 year old Male Preferred Non-Smoker (with exam):

Face Amount 10 year 15 year 20 year

$250k $39 $52 $65

$500k $70 $97 $122

$750k $105 $142 $180

$1 million $126 $184 $233

Life Insurance rates for a 53 year old Male Standard Non-Smoker (with exam):

Face Amount 10 year 15 year 20 year

$250k $69 $80 $103

$500k $114 $152 $197

$750k $169 $224 $292

$1 million $212 $282 $337

Life Insurance rates for a 53 year old Female Preferred Non-Smoker (with exam)

Face Amount 10 year 15 year 20 year

$250k $30 $37 $47

$500k $54 $67 $88

$750k $79 $97 $128

$1 million $96 $125 $167

Life Insurance rates for a 53 year old Female Standard Non-Smoker (with exam)

Face Amount 10 year 15 year 20 year

$250k $45 $57 $74

$500k $79 $107 $141

$750k $116 $156 $207

$1 million                          $151 $198 $266

Now that you have a basic understanding of what your premiums could be for these risk classes, you can estimate what could potentially pay for your premium. 

Instant Quote forms are excellent tools to help you with your estimate, but remember that the more detail you provide your insurance company, the more accurate your premium prices will be.   

Pro tip: We know this step is difficult and requires a lot of your hard-earned time, so we recommend finding an agent to help you! A good agent has the basic on-hand knowledge of which insurers will offer you the best prices for your unique life insurance needs, and will be able to narrow down your choices for you. 

Step 4: Ask

We are here to help at every step of the way and if there is something you don’t understand about your life insurance premium or policy, you should never  be afraid to ask! 

A good agent will always answer your questions honestly and accurately, and can help direct you the the right resources for future reference. We believe that knowledge is power, particularly when it comes to protecting your loved ones and their financial future. 

Give us a call today and find out how we can help you find the best policy to suit your needs!