Buying Life Insurance In Your 40s

If you are in your 40s and you have no life insurance, here’s some good news. Term life insurance is now more affordable.  Life insurance companies today insure people over 40 years of age at much lower rates due to improving life expectancy.

Most people postpone getting life insurance until middle age. Raising children and buying a house take center stage for people in their 30s. Now in your 40s, you shouldn’t delay any longer.

The more responsibilities and financial risks you have due to debts, the more imperative it becomes to get life insurance cover for your family’s protection.

Learn more about your life insurance options from leading Canadian insurance companies.

You can obtain a free life insurance quote with the help of our form on this page. Fill it out in less than 2 minutes. One of our partners will analyze your criteria and make you an offer.

Life Insurance is Critical for Individuals 40 years old and over

One of the reasons for increasing life insurance premiums is latent health issues.

High blood sugar, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, etc. are health conditions that start to manifest in people in their 40s.  You may not even know you have such a condition because they show no symptoms yet.

Get Insured While you are Healthy

It is best to apply for life insurance now when you are healthy.  You can also consider no medical life insurance to get coverage.  Once you have been approved for cover, you can always take a medical and request for review of your premium.

When you reach your 40s, the prices for life insurance dramatically increase every year.  But it will still be cheaper to get even a million dollar coverage now than much later.

Why you should buy Life Insurance Coverage

Are you the breadwinner of the home? Do you have a business with a buy-sell agreement? In these situations, obtaining life insurance now can provide huge savings.

Life Begins at 40

It is said that life begins at 40. At this stage in life, children are in school, you have a mortgage for a new home, credit card debts, and maybe a small business.  You are building a life for your family and accumulating wealth and significant financial risks.  It is at this point that you should have life insurance protection to make sure everything you have worked hard for won’t be wasted.

If something should happen to you, your spouse or partner may be saddled with a huge mortgage, not to mention living expenses for the family.  It is important to obtain life insurance for income replacement. 

If you need life insurance for mortgage protection or income replacement, it is important for you to determine how much debt you have and how much your family spends. This will help you determine how much insurance coverage you will need to buy.

Average Cost of Term Life Insurance for 40 and Over

People in their 40s are in the fun stage of life. At this point you begin to have a more stable career, more disposable income and a host of other new discoveries such as:

• We can’t take risks as we did when we were younger
• We can’t just eat what we want
• There’s such a thing as good and bad cholesterol

There are more happy topics that we have begun to discover such as high blood pressure, diabetes, elevated blood sugar, etc.

The good news is that at 40, we have not been diagnosed with any life-threatening conditions that would make us uninsurable. Before that happens, it is best to lock-in low premiums for term life or whole life insurance coverage.

To give you an idea, here’s what premiums look like for men in their 40s.

Sample 30-Year Term Life Insurance Rates for Males 40-49 years of age

**Average monthly rates for male, non-smoker

**Rates will vary depending on insurer

What Is the Best Life Insurance for 40 years old and above?

Because you are 40 years and over, you may be thinking it is time to obtain life insurance cover.  Like most people, you naturally want the best life insurance rates.

You will need to know what your best life insurance options are and the rates.  One of our partners can help you in your search.

Whole Life Insurance or Term Life Insurance Cover

You will need to consider whether you want whole life insurance or term life insurance.  Each type offers specific benefits.  For instance, whole life insurance is good for individuals who want lifetime cover to ensure that their loved ones will receive insurance benefits regardless of when the insured dies.

In contrast, term life insurance is more affordable but it covers you only for a specific period of time, generally from 10-30 years, and is designed to protect your family during periods of need.  This period would be the time when dependents count on you and your income for support or when you have a high level of debt.  Many term policies are convertible to whole life insurance before they expire.

As an example, Matt at 40 years old wants to obtain life insurance for $500,000.  If he buys whole life insurance, he could pay around $2,000 per year while for term life insurance he may have to pay $620 per year.

How are term life and whole life insurance different in benefits?

One important consideration is how these 2 types of policies work.

Both policies offer death benefits with one critical difference. With term life insurance, your beneficiaries receive death benefits only if the insured dies during the term covered.  If the insured outlives the term policy, he will not receive any benefits.

With whole life insurance, your premiums have a savings component which accumulates a cash value. If you decide to terminate the policy after 15 years, you can receive the cash value.  During your lifetime, you can also borrow against the policy. Like term life, death benefits are paid in lump sum when the insured dies.

For most Canadians, term life insurance is sufficient. But you will be happy to know that term life insurance can be converted to whole life insurance later on.

The important thing is not to delay your insurance cover so your family will be assured of insurance protection now.

What is the right Term Length for Life Insurance?

How long do you need cover? This question can be answered by evaluating some factors that people in their 40s should look at.

To determine your length of term, consider:

1. Age
2. Gender
3. Health Status
4. Financial Status

A 20-year term life insurance is ideal if your children are older, if you have savings and financially secure, and feel you won’t need insurance when you are 60 and older.

Your kids will be grown and independent after 20 years and you would have sufficient savings for income replacement.

Find Your Life Insurance with the help of our broker partners

Individuals 40 and over definitely need life insurance. But how do you choose the best one from so many life insurance companies?

Let us give you a great tip – you can base your choice primarily on price. Life insurance is a highly regulated industry and as long as you have an “A” insurer, you can be assured that your dependents will receive insurance benefits if something should happen to you.

The first step is to obtain a free life insurance quote from a Canadian insurance company.

You can save on life insurance premiums by taking a medical exam rather than applying for a no-medical life insurance.

Fill-out our free online request form to receive from one of our partners (they are all insurance brokers and insurers) a quote tailored to your insurance needs.