Are you between the ages of 40 to 49 and considering your options for life insurance? We’re glad you found us!

As an independent agency that represents more than 60 top-rated life insurance companies, we can help you find your best options for affordable life insurance Coverage.

In this quick guide we’ve explained the most common types of life insurance available for applicants between the ages of 40 and 49. We’ve also included some life insurance quotes by age and gender to help you estimate the cost of your policy.

Quick Article Guide:

1. Determining Which Type of Life Insurance Coverage Is Right for You
2. Term Life Insurance & Sample Quotes by Age and Gender – Ages 40 to 49
3. Whole Life Insurance & Sample Quotes by Age and Gender – Ages 40 to 49
4. Guaranteed Universal Life Insurance & Sample Quotes by Age and Gender – Ages 40 to 49
5. Insider’s Tips to Help You Save Money on Your Life Insurance Policy

Determining Which Type of Life Insurance Coverage Is Right for You

The three most common types of life insurance are term life insurance, whole life insurance, and universal life insurance. We’ll explain how each of these policies work and which family/financial situations they are ideal for.

Term Life Insurance:

Term life insurance is the least expensive type of life insurance available and the easiest to understand. It provides a set amount of coverage for a fixed period of time. A term life insurance policy is defined by two major components; the term, and the face amount.

The “term” of your policy is the amount of time that your rates and coverage are guaranteed. During the term of your policy, your rates cannot increase even if you develop health issues. Most life insurance companies offer 10, 15, 20, 25 or 30 year terms.

The “face amount” of your policy is the amount of money that will be left behind to your loved ones if you pass away while your policy is active. Most life insurance companies will offer their applicants a face amount of $100,000 to $5,000,000.

Term life insurance is not permanent coverage, it is very affordable because the vast majority of people outlive their policy. For this reason, term life insurance should not be purchased to leave an inheritance; it should be purchased to provide income replacement to your family. Most people purchase life insurance to provide protection for their family until a major life event has passed.

As an example: People often purchase a term policy to protect their mortgage by matching their policy’s term with the length of their mortgage, and their face amount with the balance of their loan. If you pass away before your mortgage has been paid off, the life insurance policy will provide your family with the money they need to settle the balance of your mortgage.

Term life insurance is also commonly purchased to secure money for income replacement, outstanding debts, college tuition, etc. When purchasing term life insurance, you want to select a face amount that is large enough to pay off all of your outstanding financial obligations. When selecting your term, make sure you select a term that is long enough to surpass all of your major financial obligations.

If you have more than one major life event you need to insure, you can also layer your coverage and purchase more than one policy. To learn more about layering term life insurance, please see our article, “Save by Layering Term Life Insurance Policies.”

Whole Life Insurance:

Whole life insurance is a form of life insurance that is primarily purchased to provide money for final expenses, small inheritances, or burial costs. These policies provide a small lifetime benefit, usually $50,000 or less, and do not require a medical exam for approval.

Because whole life insurance provides a small face amount at a high cost, most people in their 40’s avoid these policies. Whole life insurance does not provide enough coverage to protect a mortgage or provide income replacement, which is why they are more popular with retirees, or people who are 60 or older.

If you need a larger amount of permanent life insurance coverage, your best option is to purchase a Guaranteed Universal life insurance policy. Not to be confused with the outdated traditional universal life insurance that was popular in the 80’s and 90’s, guaranteed universal life insurance combines the longevity of whole life insurance with the affordability of term life insurance.

We will explain more about guaranteed universal life insurance in the next section.

Guaranteed Universal Life Insurance:

Guaranteed universal life insurance is a relatively new type of life insurance that works just like a term life insurance policy. Except, with guaranteed universal life insurance, you can guarantee your rates and coverage until the age of your choice; usually under the age of 90 or later.

Like term life insurance, with guaranteed universal life insurance, your coverage and the cost of your policy is guaranteed not to change. Unlike traditional universal life insurance, guaranteed universal life insurance does not have an adjustable cost of coverage that increases as you get older.

In addition, guaranteed universal life insurance does not require an investment. Your rates are fixed for the lifetime of the policy, regardless of any changes in the market. Guaranteed universal life insurance can be purchased until the age of 90, 95, 100, 105, 110, or 121, making these policies ideal for leaving an inheritance behind or money to cover the cost of your final expenses.

Financial advisors also commonly recommend these policies to people who have large estates that exceed the estate tax exemption. Guaranteed universal life insurance usually requires a medical exam for approval, but this allows the insurance companies to offer more competitive rates. In addition, most guaranteed universal life insurance policies offer anywhere from $50,000 to $5,000,000 of coverage.

Guaranteed universal life insurance is more expensive than a comparable term life insurance policy, but provides more coverage per dollar than a whole life insurance policy. If you’re debating between permanent coverage and term coverage, you may want to consider layering both types of coverage.

Here’s an example:
Two months ago we worked with a 43-year-old man named Rob who wanted to insure his income and the balance of his mortgage. Rob also has two daughters age 11 and 13, and he wants to make sure they have enough money for college tuition in case something happens to him before they graduate.

In the next 15 years, Rob needs the most coverage to secure the balance of the mortgage and his daughters’ tuitions. By the age of 58, Rob’s mortgage will have less than a year left, and both of his daughters will have moved out and graduated from college.

Rob will not need as much coverage at this point in his life, but he still wants to have some coverage to leave money behind for his family. Instead of purchasing one policy for $500,000, we recommended two policies. A 15-year term for $250,000 of coverage for his mortgage and daughters’ tuitions, and a $250,000 guaranteed universal life insurance policy until the age of 100.

This provides Rob’s family with $500,000 of coverage over the next 15 years when they need it the most. After 15 years, Rob’s family will still be protected with $250,000 of life insurance for the rest of Rob’s life. This strategy will provide Rob’s family with ample coverage and save money. Best of all, all of the companies we represent use the same exam requirements so Rob did not have to complete more than one medical exam for both policies.

If you’re not sure which option is best for you, feel free to give us a call at: 855-902-6494, and one of our experts will be able to help you determine which type or types of coverage are best for your unique situation. In the next section we’ve provided some actual quotes by age and gender to help you estimate the cost of your coverage.

Term Life Insurance & Sample Quotes by Age and Gender – Ages 40 to 49

Below we’ve provided some actual rates for male and female applicants in good health to help you ballpark the cost of your life insurance policy. The monthly rates displayed below are “preferred best”, and they are generally available to non-tobacco users in good health.

The majority of the life insurance companies we represent will offer their top rate class to healthy applicants who are up to 25 pounds overweight, and most life insurance companies will not penalize applicants for taking preventative medications for elevated blood pressure or cholesterol.

Term Life Insurance Quotes by Age for a Male – 10-Year Level Term, $100,000 to $500,000

Term Life Insurance Quotes by Age for a Female – 10-Year Level Term, $100,000 to $500,000

Whole Life Insurance & Sample Quotes by Age and Gender – Ages 40 to 49

If you’re shopping for lifetime coverage, we recommend avoiding term life insurance. Term life insurance is guaranteed for up to 30 years, which means your policy will expire before you reach the age of 80. Instead of purchasing term life insurance, you’ll want to consider whole life insurance or guaranteed universal life insurance.

Whole life insurance policies typically offer up to $50,000 of coverage, but for most people, this is not enough coverage for their needs. If you only need a small amount of coverage ($50,000 or less), whole life insurance is your best option. However, it’s important to note that whole life insurance is much more expensive than other types of permanent like guaranteed universal life insurance.

To illustrate the difference in cost between both types of coverage, we’ve provided whole life insurance quotes for $10,000, $25,000, and $50,000 below. If you’re are a non-smoker in fair or better health, a guaranteed universal life insurance policy will provide you more permanent coverage at a much lower cost.

Whole Life Insurance Quotes by Age for a Male – Level Cost to Age 100, $10,000 to $50,000

Whole Life Insurance Quotes by Age for a Female – Level Cost to Age 100, $10,000 to $50,000

Guaranteed Universal Life Insurance & Sample Quotes by Age and Gender – Ages 40 to 49

If you need lifetime coverage, we always recommend guaranteed universal life insurance over whole life insurance, especially in you’re a non-smoker in average or better health for your age. Because whole life insurance policies do not require a free medical exam, the whole life insurance companies must charge their policy holders a higher rate to stay profitable.

As an example: If you compare the rates for each type of coverage, you’ll see that the monthly cost of a $25,000 whole life insurance policy is roughly the same as a $100,000 guaranteed universal life insurance policy for an applicant between the ages of 40 and 49.

Guaranteed universal life insurance is almost always less expensive than whole life insurance, even if you have a few health issues. In fact, most of the top-rated life insurance companies we represent will overlook an applicant’s minor health issues like prescriptions for elevated cholesterol and/or blood pressure.

In the next section, we’ve provided some sample monthly rates for a guaranteed universal life insurance policy with level rates to age 90. If you need coverage that extends past the age of 90, rest assured, the majority of the companies we represent also offer level rates and coverage until the age of 95, 100, 105, 100 or even 120. These longer lasting policies are usually 10% to 15% more expensive than policies that offer guaranteed rates and coverage until age 90.

Guaranteed Universal Life Quotes by Age for a Male – Level Cost to Age 90, $50,000 to $250,000

Guaranteed Universal Life Quotes by Age for a Female – Level Cost to Age 90, $50,000 to $250,000

As you can see from the examples above, guaranteed universal life insurance is almost always less expensive than whole life insurance. Whole life insurance companies base your rates on your age and gender, and they charge everyone in your age bracket the same rate.

If you’re a cigarette smoker with health issues, whole life insurance may be competitively priced with guaranteed universal life insurance, but for the majority people, guaranteed universal life insurance is always a better option.

If you would like quotes for a specific amount of coverage, or if you have questions about how each type of coverage works, please feel free to give us a call at 855-902-6494.

Our experts are here to answer all of your questions, and provide you with the information you need to make an informed decision. You can also use our instant online quote form to compare rates from dozens of top-rate life insurance companies in less than a minute.

Insider’s Tips to Help You Save Money on Your Life Insurance Policy

If you’re considering life insurance, we always recommend working with an independent agent that represents multiple highly-rated companies. In the life insurance industry, there are two types of agents, captive agents and independent agents. An independent agent has the ability to compare rates and coverage from more than one company while a captive agent is only allowed to sell coverage from the company that employs them.

Every life insurance company has their own underwriting guidelines and pricing. Working with an agent that is limited to one company greatly diminishes your options for coverage, and you’ll likely end up overpaying for your policy. In addition, captive agents usually work for companies that specialize in home and auto insurance, not life insurance, so they tend to be less lenient with any type of health issues.

At Term Life Advice, we work directly with more than 60 top-rated insurance carriers that specialize in life insurance only. Having access to multiple companies and their underwriting guidelines allows our experienced agents to match our clients with the company that will provide the best coverage at the lowest price. In fact, we’re usually able to save our applicants as much as 35% on the cost of their coverage versus a local or captive agent.

Our agency is owner-operated and we’re licensed to sell life insurance in every state. Most importantly, our agency’s focus is customer service, not sales quotas and daily sales goals. If you would like to learn more about your available options for coverage, we can help.

Our consultative services are free, and we will save you time and money by comparing rates from numerous top-rated life insurance companies in one phone call. Call us today, toll free at: 855-902-6494, or click on the free quote button below to instantly compare rates dozens of highly-rated insurers.