Life insurance should be a part of your investment portfolio and rightly so. Unlike other types of insurance, life insurance provides a clear payout to you or your beneficiaries, rather than to a third party. If you think about health insurance, the money is paid out to the hospital. Auto insurance, MTG protection insurance, and fire insurance all follow the same trend.
It follows then that when shopping for a life insurance policy, you would want to save money to maximize the benefit you derive from having the policy. In this article, we give you three quick ways to save money on life insurance.
- Buy Early
The reality about life insurance is that it does not get cheaper with time. Unlike buying last year’s iPhone, if you wait to buy life insurance, you will pay more. Buying early gets you when you are healthy and perhaps have not contracted the ailments that often follow closely on the heels of age. As such, many of the exclusions and other clauses in the policy will not apply to you.
Even if you are older, this should still not deter you from taking a policy. The rule of thumb here is the longer you wait, the more expensive the policy will be. To understand how this works, generate a quote using an online life insurance calculator based on your current age and another based on your age 10 years into the future. You will notice the difference is substantial.
- Compare Underwriters, Not Brokers
Comparing rates from broker to broker is pointless. You see brokers only give you the quotes they have been given by the insurance company or underwriter. They have no power to adjust these quotes. If you find an insurance agent promising to give you a better rate, keep in mind they have no power to give you anything less than what they have themselves been given.
Instead, get quotes from the insurances companies. This way you know how much each policy will cost. One thing you may want to consider here is the rates will not differ substantially. While you may save a little here or there, the substantial savings are in the type of life insurance you end up buying.
- Change Your Lifestyle
Now, this is perhaps the easiest and most difficult way to save money on your life insurance. If you are in poor health, you represent a considerable risk to the insurance company. They will, therefore, charge you higher premiums. On the other hand, if you are in decent shape, your premiums will come down.
One way you can save is by quitting smoking. Smoking carries an elevated risk of lung cancer, which can be fatal. A fact that insurance companies are alive to. If you indicate that you do not smoke, the extra premiums they charge smokers will not apply to you anymore. Losing weight, shifting to a healthy diet, and getting more frequent checkups can also lower your premiums.
Saving money on life insurance is about saving a nickel here and a dime there but eventually they all add up to substantial savings over time.
