It’s no secret that non-smokers pay less for their life Insurance, but how much does our health and lifestyle choices affect our life insurance rates?

While your risk or rate class has a large impact on your rates, it’s important to note that the cost of your life insurance is determined by more than just your overall health.

Other driving factors include your gender, age, and lifestyle choices. As an example, cigarette smokers typically pay 3 to 5 time more than non-smokers. However, contrary to what some believe, you don’t need good credit to qualify for coverage, and if you’re not a bomb dismantler, your occupation probably won’t affect the cost of your life insurance.

At JRC Insurance Group our experts recently compared rates from more than 50 top-rated life insurance companies to illustrate the average cost of life insurance by age and gender.

Quick Article Guide:

1. How Do I Determine My Rate Class?
2. Cost of Term Life Insurance By Age
3. Cost of Life Insurance By Term
4. Term Life Insurance Policy Costs
5. Cost of Whole Life vs Term Life Insurance
6. Is the Cost of Term Life Insurance Decreasing?
7. Obtain An Accurate Life Insurance Quote Today

How Do I Determine My Rate Class?

When you apply for life insurance, the life insurance company’s underwriter will evaluate your overall health to determine your rate class. Each company has their own guidelines for each rate class, but’s it’s important to note that some companies are more lenient than others.

SKIP TO RATES

For these examples, we’ve listed the average of approximately 20 top-rated company’s guidelines:

Non-Tobacco Rate Classes:

Standard Plus

• No cigarette use within 12 months
• Cholesterol of 300 or less with or without medication
• Blood pressure of 140/90 with or without medication
• Some minor health issues
• No more than 40-50 pounds overweight

Standard

• No cigarette use within 12 months
• Cholesterol of 300 or less with or without medication
• Blood pressure of 140/90 with or without medication
• Average health with age-related health issues
• No more than 50-60 pounds overweight

Tobacco Rate Classes:

Standard Tobacco

• Daily cigarette use
• Cholesterol of 300 or less with or without medication
• Blood pressure of 140/90 with or without medication
• Average health with age-related health issues
• No more than 50-60 pounds overweight

Now that you have a rough idea of your rate class, you can estimate the cost of your coverage in the next section…

Cost of Term Life Insurance By Age

Below we’ve compared sample rates for 20-year term, the most commonly purchased term length. During the term of your policy, your rates are guaranteed not to increase. These rates are for $250,000 of coverage for males and females between the ages of 30 to 70.

In addition to including the most common rate classes, we also compared the lowest rate available to cigarette smokers. Please note that daily chewers, cigar smokers, and vape users may qualify for lower rate.

$250,000 – 20-Year Level Term for a Female (Ages 30 to 70)

$250,000 – 20-Year Level Term for a Male (Ages 30 to 70)

Cost of Life Insurance By Term

With term life insurance, the longer your term is, the more expensive your policy will be. This is because the life insurance company is guaranteeing your coverage until an older age, when you’re more likely to have some health issues.

In the charts below, we’ve compared the annual cost a 10, 20, and 30-year term for a male and female in excellent health.

Annual Cost Of Life Insurance By Term for a Female

Annual Cost Of Life Insurance By Term for a Male

Term Life Insurance Policy Costs

Term life insurance is one of the most popular forms of insurance available due to affordability especially when compared to whole life insurance. As the Business Dictionary explains:

“Term life insurance policies tend to be the cheapest form of life insurance that can be acquired to provide a significant benefit on the death of an insured individual.”

Unlike whole life insurance, which is designed to provide lifetime protection, term life insurance provides a fixed amount of coverage for a set period of time. Below we’ve compared the monthly cost of a 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 year term for healthy applicants between the ages of 30 and 70.

Fixed Monthly Rates for A Male in Excellent Health – $500,000

Fixed Monthly Rates for A Female in Excellent Health – $500,000

Cost of Whole Life vs Term Life Insurance

In the table below we’ve compared the cost of $100,000 of whole life insurance to the cost of a $100,000, 30-year level term for an individual in “preferred” or slightly above average health.

Male – $100,000 Whole Life Vs. $100,000 Term

Female – $100,000 Whole Life Vs. $100,000 Term

As you can see from the rates above, term life insurance provides a significant saving over whole life insurance. This is one of the many reasons that we seldom recommend whole life insurance for males who are older than 55.

The savings is so pronounced that the amount of money saved by purchasing term life insurance instead of whole life insurance is almost equal to the policy’s death benefit. Once your term is ended you’ll be self-insured, and you can stop making monthly payments to keep your coverage active.

If your afraid you won’t be disciplined enough to set aside your savings each month, don’t worry. Many term policies will allow you to convert your term policy into lifetime coverage without completing a new health screening or exam.

Is the Cost of Term Life Insurance Decreasing?

The cost of life insurance is heavily influenced by the Commissioners Standard Ordinary Tables, or mortality tables that estimate an individual’s longevity. These tables have remained unchanged since 2001 when the insurance industry replaced the 1980 CSO tables that were referenced until that time.

Over the last decade or so, we estimate that the cost of term life insurance may have decreased by as much as 10% which may be due to companies using more recent CSO tables when determining their rates. However, when an approximate 1% per year reduction in life insurance rates is weighed against the increasing cost of coverage as we age, waiting to purchase life insurance is not advisable.

Obtain an Accurate Life Insurance Quote Today

At JRC Insurance Group, we work with over 40 top-rated life insurance companies that specialize in affordable term and whole life issuance products. We also offer guaranteed universal life insurance which works just like term life insurance (no investing) with guaranteed rates and coverage until the age of 85 or later.

If you’d like to learn more about your options for affordable life insurance coverage, or if you would like to obtain an accurate quote based on your age and health, please feel free to call us toll-free at 855-247-9555. Our impartial shopping services are free, and there is no cost to apply for coverage.

You can also request a free instant quote online to compare dates from dozens of highly rated insurers in less than a minute.