Why You Should Buy Life Insurance Now
No one likes to talk about death. Especially when you’re “young, beautiful and have your whole life ahead of you.” But the truth is everyone will die (cryptic but true), and everyone needs some form of life insurance, no matter how young you are. As someone who worked in the insurance industry I’ve witnessed and heard countless stories about people who waited too late to make that important purchase. So many twenty somethings make the horrible mistake of putting it off because they think they have time. Here are 4 reasons why you should get life insurance in your 20s.
It will never be cheaper
You know how your car insurance goes down as you get older and are presumptively more responsible? Well Life Insurance works the opposite way. The younger you are the lower assumptive risk you have of dying or having a life threatening medical condition and the better rates you can get. A 25-year-old will almost always receive a cheaper life insurance (and health insurance) rate then a 45-year-old (barring some pre-existing medical condition).
To prove my point I did a generic online quote of 2 individuals, both females 150lbs, 5’7, non smokers, the only difference? One was 25 and the other was 45. From 4 different companies the 45-year-old paid $64.00 more than the 25-year-old! That’s almost $800 a year!
You don’t know that you will be eligible later on in life
The best way to explain this one is by sharing a heart breaking example from my days as an insurance agent. Matt* was a 22-year-old minor league sports athlete, he was young and healthy. My boss had handled Matt’s mother’s insurance and kept encouraging her to have Matt come in and get life insurance. After months of follow-up from my boss, Matt finally purchased a policy. Not even 6 months after, Matt was diagnosed with a rare and terminal form of cancer. After he passed, his mother called my boss and told her how grateful she was that he had persisted that her son get life insurance because she was able to not only bury him but pay back her credit cards she’d used for his medical bills. If Matt had waited until he was diagnosed, I don’t know a single company that would have given him a policy. Life and health are fleeting. Young people get sick just like older people. Get it while you can.
You can get the payments over with
I purchased my life insurance when I was 22 years old. I purchased a 20 pay life insurance plan. A 20 Pay Life insurance policy basically means I will pay a set premium for 20 years and no matter when I die (before the 20 years is up or even 20 years afterwards) my beneficiary will receive whatever amount of life insurance I have at the time of death. My personal policy started with a benefit of $25,000 with the option to increase every few years.
As someone who isn’t currently married and doesn’t have children this is typically a good amount to start with. The two best parts of this plan are: if I don’t make any major changes I can stop paying my life insurance at age 42, and secondly as my life changes I will have chances to increase coverage as needed.**
No one is going to bury you for free
You don’t have children of your own or a spouse, so there will be no one to miss your income when you are gone and therefore don’t need life insurance right? Wrong. Even if no one is dependent on your income for survival, you parents (or other relatives) still have to bury you. Funerals are expensive. In the unfortunate event you pass before your parents, do you really want them to have to worry about how to pay for funeral expenses on top of grieving the loss of their child? Even the most basic funeral arrangements can cost $7,000 or more.
Schedule a meeting with your agent to see what options you have for life insurance. Don’t just let them sell you something, make them explain what everything means in detail getting a life insurance policy is important but selecting the correct one is even more important.
*Name changed to protect privacy.
** This is my knowledge and understanding of my own personal policy. Since I surrendered my Life Insurance License, I don’t feel comfortable describing all of the available options and advise you to talk to your insurance agent.
Edited by M.L. Scarbrough
Mary
This is so true. As someone who was diagnosed with cancer in my early 30s, I wish I had invested in life insurance earlier.
Dia
I’m sorry to hear about your diagnosis. During my time in the insurance industry it was hard having to deliver high quotes to people who waited and couldn’t afford it now.
Ev {ev's eats}
This is so very true and something that most young people don’t think about. I’m 25 and am very lucky to get life insurance through my job, but even if I didn’t I would definitely purchase a plan.
Sarah
This has been on my to do list for far too long. Need to get on with it!
Erica
This is a excellent topic. So many people don’t have it! I am always shocked by this. Not having health and life insurance can ruin you and or your family financially. If someone dies, the family is experiencing grief and won’t want to focusing on struggling to pay off your former debts.
You are right… the younger you get it, the less it usually costs. Get it while you are as young as possible.
Dia
Thats so refreshing to hear. Most young people (I’m 26) think it’s something they can put off or that it’s too expensive but their are affordable plans to cover your basic expenses.
Dia
Please do! It honestly doens’t take long at all to apply.
Dia
I agree! Thanks for stopping by. Not even just yuor debt but you don’t want your family to have to worry about how to lay you to rest. I’ve seen it a lot the past few years…someone will pass (usually someone in their twenties, married with a kid) and then their family has to resort to crowd sourcing just to afford the funeral it’s truly sad.
Just Plain Marie
I’ll be honest – my life insurance consists of a paid-off home, no debts and money in the bank. We might look into pre-arranging and paying for funerals in the near future. 🙂
Dia
Congrats on the paid-off home! That’s great one of the biggest reason I suggest it is so you don’t have to worry about your family losing their home or trying to pay any debt they may find themselves responsible for. I think it’s a great idea to looking into a small policy to cover funeral costs. I just lost my grandmother this past August and her small policy of $5,000 allowed us to have some piece of mind being able to bury her with out scrambling for money.
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