You can run an
instant quote across the web and you generally get a
page full of colorful plan names (with some twist on
"assurance" or "protect" built in), carrier logo's,
and a long line of term life rates. It can be
overwhelming especially on the rate side so it's
good to go into the process of
purchasing term life insurance
with a little knowledge on what drives term life
rates...and most importantly, how do you find the
best rate for you.
In general,
when you run your instant quote through out
term life insurance quote
engine, the rates you get are the best on market for
a given situation. The key phase there is
"given situation". What's included in this
bucket of facts is your age, gender, and health
class. All three of these details that drive
term life rates are important and obvious since they
all drive mortality risk. Age is an obvious
one. Gender is a little less obvious until you
consider that the average life span for men is
shorter than it is for women. The last one is
trickier to estimate.
Health Class is a
category of ratings that directly affect your term
life rates. It's pretty easy to correctly list
the age and gender but you should probably check out
our health class article to better understand where
your rates fall.
Back to the
term life rates that appear in your instant quote.
The rates listed on down the page are monthly
amounts you will pay to keep your policy in effect.
With insurance, you can usually pay quarterly or
annually and there can even be a savings in doing
so. The other advantage is that the policy is
less likely to cancel with a monthly billing that
might be missed or paid late.
You'll notice
that's there probably not too much difference in
cost across the spectrum. Term life has become
a commodity in today's world where the benefits and
rates have narrowed in the market. This is
good news. It means that you are likely to get
a good rate and more importantly, unlikely to pay
way too much for your coverage. We take this a
step further by allowing you to quote multiple
carriers and plans side by side for a given
term life amount
and length of term. It never makes sense to
quote just one carrier the way some insurance agents
do as there may be certain price points or plans
that work specifically well for your age/gender.
The biggest
impact on your term life rates is age. Your
rates will be locked in based on the age that you
apply for coverage. This is where the term, "Cost
of waiting" comes from. If you
purchase $500K for 10 years of term at age 35 versus
age 40, you could pay significantly more in waiting
the extra years. Also, you are at risk during
that first five years of paying $500K (in the form
of lost benefit) if the unforeseen happens. If
you're going to get term life insurance at some
point, there's absolutely no reason to wait.
It completely defeats the purpose of life insurance
and you'll end up paying more anyway. It's a
lose-lose situation.
Keep in mind
that the underwriter will determine the final health
class and rates. The quote gives you a good
base but be conservative in case something comes out
of the
paramedical exam or
application process and the carrier offers higher
term life rates than you originally anticipated. |