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Life Insurance Needs After 50 Years Old

By Marilyn Katz

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 07May2009 Word count: 539 Viewed: 530 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

Life Insurance after 50 - Affordable Life Insurance for Middle Age and Retirement

Why do people over 50 need life insurance?

As we enter middle age and retirement years, it may seem like our lives should be simplified so we do not require life insurance. In theory, kids should be grown, mortgages should be paid off, and we should have the savings to cover our needs. Does this sound like your life?

Of course, things do not always work out the way financial planners tells us they will when we are younger. Job losses and other financial setbacks mean that savings do not accumulate the way we hoped they would. Many people have kids later in life, so they still need support when parents are in middle age. Beyond that, with financial troubles, many older kids are returning home, sometimes with their own kids! And that mortgage that should have been paid off in 15 or 30 years may still be outstanding because of a refinance or move!

Lots of people need life insurance in middle age and beyond!

Of course, a lot of us did have coverage before. We may have had term life insurance policies that expired, or we may have had some group coverage at a job where we no longer work. But now, just as we are older and more expensive to cover, we find that our policies are not in force any longer.

Can older people still find coverage?

Older people, after age 50, and even well into retirement years, can still find a policy. Of course, the choices will depend upon the individual's location, general health, budget, and some other factors.

In general, a fairly healthy 70 year old should still be able to find a 10 year term policy, but could not expect to find a 30 year term. At this life state, whole life policies may be better choices. Of course, an older person may have to accept a lower face amount to keep the premium rates affordable, but almost every middle aged or older person should be able to find coverage.

Senior life insurance policies, sometimes called final expense, are smaller face value whole life policies that have been designed to provide affordable coverage for older people. Simplified issue senior life policies ask few health questions, and older people can qualify.

Guaranteed issue policies will take all applicants under the age limit (usually 80), but have a couple of disadvantages. The premiums will be higher than simplified policies, and they also may not have an immediate death benefit. Since they do not use health questions to qualify an applicant, they use a waiting period. It is common to see a 2 - 3 year waiting period before all of the face value will be paid to the beneficiaries. Before that, they may pay out a percentage of the total death benefit, or they may return the premiums with some specified interest rate. Despite this, a guaranteed issue policy may be a good option for some seniors and their families.

Who Buys Senior Life Insurance?

Some older people purchase a policy themselves. Sometimes, other family members like grown kids, will purchase a policy for their parents. They do this as a way to plan for the future when their parent is not around.

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