The term "Senior" or elderly has been greatly expanded in meaning over the last few decades.  Traditionally, senior status was tied to Medicare eligibility which as been age 65.  There has been a slow bleeding of the term downward to where age 55 may in fact be thought of senior (please forgive us in advance to any 55 year olds!).   Most people have a general idea that life insurance rates are tied to age so what if you find yourself needing  life coverage as a senior?

There are two main concerns for seniors purchasing life.  The first is eligibility and the second is price.  Let's start with the first.  Life insurance eligibility can be translated loosely as health status and history plus a few key lifestyle choices.  On average, health care costs double with each decades of a person's life.  Many issues that drive this health care cost increase also affect mortality which is the key concern to a life insurance underwriter.   Many illnesses become more likely as we age such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.  If you are a healthy senior, than this is not an issue.  The life insurance company will not discriminate against a person just for being older.  If you are a health senior, there is no reason you can't qualify for the best tier.  The life insurance rate is where age is reflected.  If you have health issues, which is much more common for seniors, there are some options we can investigate.  We have new hybrid term life insurance plans and even non-medical life insurance options available.  So essentially, if you are healthy, you can run your instant term life quote.  If you have significant health issues, non medical life insurance may be the best option and provide at least a certain amount of life insurance coverage, albeit it, at a higher price.  In between these two options, is the hybrid plan.  This is an interesting twist that's new to the life insurance market for the elderly where you can secure a limited amount of life insurance (typically Accidental) with the option to take a medical exam in 6 months to expand this to full coverage.  This is a great option that walks to middle of the line and is a great to lock in fast, coverage now with the possibility to expand.  We would be happy to walk through your situation to see what might be the best option. 

Now let's look at cost.  The driving factors that make term life insurance more advantageous to whole life are even more powerful for seniors or the elderly.   The cost of life insurance is tied to age.  The difference in cost for a base amount of term life coverage between a 55 year old and 65 year is significant.  If whole life insurance can be 10 times more expensive for the same amount of coverage, it quickly becomes a questions of affording enough coverage to actually address your needs.  Without a doubt, you will find life insurance brokers who try to sell you expensive whole life on the premise that there is a guaranteed benefit for your dependents when you pass away but quickly look at the difference in cost you will pay for that "guarantee" in your annual premium over one year not to mention 10 years.  Let's say you're looking at 10 years of term life.  The whole life " guarantee" for seniors only matters in year 11 and beyond.  That means you have to look at 10 times the annual difference in premium plus whatever investment that would make on a compounded basis during that time.  We've dealt extensively on this site with how to view the term versus whole life decision and the only difference for seniors who need life insurance is that the numbers have risen several fold due to age.   

Tying into our first question of eligibility above, your health status can affect the rate available.   Based on our experience, the hybrid option from RBC may "quote" higher than the standard term life insurance options but we have found that with health issues, the standard term life carriers will likely apply a higher tier.  If you have some health issues as a senior, we may end up getting a better rate through the RBC hybrid term life.  There are many options available to seniors or the elderly for term life.  We would be happy to help you with your situation and we'll try to bring our experience to bear so you can get the best life insurance coverage as a senior.