Life Insurance Rates for 59 Years Olds: Why You Should Always Choose Medically Underwritten Life Insurance

As you near your sixties and beyond, a bigger concern about life insurance is whether or not you will be able to qualify for term life coverage at your age. These concerns only worsen if you have a high risk disease or condition. 

We get a lot of questions from clients who have seen companies like Colonial Penn advertising life insurance without a medical exam. This is called “guaranteed accepted life insurance” or “no exam” insurance, and it targeted toward older individuals. This is because, as you age, the greater your risk for developing a high-risk disease naturally becomes. 

Companies selling guaranteed issue life insurance capitalize on this risk increase, making individuals believe that they will be declined for life insurance coverage elsewhere. 

If you have been told you cannot get life insurance coverage due to your risk or your age, give us a call immediately so that we can help talk you through your options. 

The Lure Of Coverage No Matter What

Let’s say that you are a healthy individual nearing your sixties. This is what your premiums could look like:

Life Insurance rates for a 59 year old Male Preferred Non-Smoker (with exam):

Face Amount 10 year 15 year 20 year

$250k $64 $92 $116

$500k $119 $171 $223

$750k $178 $256 $334

$1 million $223 $329 $427

Life Insurance rates for a 59 year old Male Standard Non-Smoker (with exam):

Face Amount 10 year 15 year 20 year

$250k $106 $140 $186

$500k $189 $265 $362

$750k $284 $393 $544

$1 million $362 $495 $705

Life Insurance rates for a 59 year old Female Preferred Non-Smoker (with exam)

Face Amount 10 year 15 year 20 year

$250k $46 $61 $83

$500k $87 $113 $156

$750k $127 $169 $231

$1 million $160 $220 $297

Life Insurance rates for a 59 year old Female Standard Non-Smoker (with exam)

Face Amount 10 year 15 year 20 year

$250k $71 $97 $130

$500k $126 186 $252

$750k $193 $276 $347

$1 million $230 $341 $462

Not bad; however chances are high that, if you are reading this article, you would not fall into the Preferred or Standard categories. If your age, health, hobbies or occupation mean that you are facing high premiums and declines, we can understate why the promise of coverage no matter what is appealing. 

Guaranteed accepted, or no exam, life insurance does not require its applicants to undergo a traditional medical exam for coverage. Frequently, this type of insurance also doesn’t require applicants to answer any questions regarding their health.  

The problem with guaranteed accepted insurance is that – no matter what – you will end up paying significantly more than the above premiums, for a benefit that is significantly smaller. 

Why You Should Think Twice Before Considering This Coverage

You’ve probably heard the phrase “there’s no such thing as a free lunch.” It is a colloquialism used to mean that there is always a catch, and it rings especially true with guaranteed issue life insurance. 

The principle behind this coverage is simple: anyone who applies for coverage is provided with coverage. The problem with this is that it is the job of life insurance companies to take on the most amount of risk (in the form of clients) while still allowing the company to remain profitable. 

Traditional life insurance companies are able to do this by assigning a risk class to applicants and charging them premiums accordingly. 

But what happens when a carrier provides coverage to everyone, including those who pose a great risk? 

You guessed it! Either one of two things happens:

1. That carrier must charge a lot more money in order to ensure that it remains profitable.
2. The carrier cannot sustain the amount of risk it takes on and ends up going under. This means you could be paying for coverage your loved ones will never receive.  

Neither option is too appealing for those seeking coverage. 

We see the first scenario a lot. Because applicants are not charged according to their risk, guaranteed issue life insurance companies must charge a high premium in order to remain profitable. The worst part? Your death benefit is severely limited, so you could end up paying the rates of someone in the above “Standard” category would for a million dollar policy – for a quarter of the death benefit!

This is what allows guaranteed accepted companies to make their money: you pay more than your death benefit. A lot more. 

Another downside to this type of coverage? Waiting periods. 

The fine print of guaranteed issue life insurance often requires applicants undergo a waiting period of 1 to 3 years. During this time, you are paying your premiums, but should you pass away before the waiting period expires, your beneficiaries may not receive the death benefits you paid for. 

No Matter Your Risk, You Have Options

The first thing we want you to know is that there are many carriers out there who will cover your and your risk with a medically underwritten life insurance application. It is simply a matter of seeking an agent who knows which carriers have a strong history of insuring cases like yours.

If you are afraid that your medical exam will result in a decline, give us a call. All too often, we see clients who overestimate – and overpay for – their risk. There are alternatives, even if you are declined, but it is always beneficial to seek the help of an expert.  

One of the biggest mistakes we see our clients make is thinking that their age disqualifies them for coverage. This is, simply put, no longer a norm in the life insurance industry. 

In fact, with certain carriers, you may be able to renew your term life insurance policy well into your late sixties and early seventies! This is because age and risk are no longer synonymous. As technology and health breakthroughs increase, so does the average human lifespan and quality of life. 

This means that you no longer need to live in fear that your age is a deterrent in finding affordable coverage. 

Give us a call today so that we can help you assess your risk and find the right carrier and cover age for you!