Average Life Insurance Rates for Seniors

Best Term Life Premiums from Ages 60 to 80

Oct 23, 2009 Daniel Workman

This comparison of average term life insurance rates shows much lower premiums for women ages 60 to 80 over senior males of the same age.

As consumers enter their retirement years, finding adequate life insurance coverage at affordable premium rates often becomes a higher priority.

One reason for a heightened need for life coverage is that employers typically provide much lower group life insurance amounts for retirees than active employees under their group benefit packages. In addition, older adults shop around more because renewal premiums for term life insurance become much more expensive after age 60.

This article presents average term life insurance premiums that were calculated based on the free rate comparison calculator available on Compulife’s Term4Sale website. Zip code 10014 was used to represent seniors in average health from densely populated Manhattan in New York City. Rates shown for 4 different age bands are the annual premiums that male and female non-smokers have to pay for a $100,000 term life policy during the stated policy terms.

Average Life Insurance Rates at Age 60

The average life insurance rate for a non-smoker male is lowest for a 10-year term policy. That $666 annual premium is 61.3% lower than the average $1,723 yearly cost for a fixed 25-year term.

1. Average annual premium for 5 year term … US$740 per $100,000
2. Average annual premium for 10 year term … $666
3. Average annual premium for 15 year term … $942
4. Average annual premium for 20 year term … $1,152
5. Average annual premium for 25 year term … $1,723

Like her 60-year-old male counterpart, a non-smoking female qualifies the lowest average annual rate for is for a 10-year term. However, the yearly $449 premium for a woman is almost a third less than the male 10-year rate and is 66.2% lower than the 25-year term life rate for females.

1. Average annual premium for 5 year term … US$468 per $100,000
2. Average annual premium for 10 year term … $449
3. Average annual premium for 15 year term … $651
4. Average annual premium for 20 year term … $821
5. Average annual premium for 25 year term … $1,328

Average Life Insurance Rates at Age 65

Compulife’s average rate comparison for 65-year-old men has similar annual premiums for 5 and 10-year terms. However, one can assume much higher renewal premiums for the 5-year term policy in its sixth year. Transamerica Financial was the only underwriter for 25-year term life included in the Compulife rate comparison for males at age 65. Transamerica’s 25-year term life rates are 45% less than the average premium that other insurers sell for 20-year terms.

1. Average annual premium for 5 year term … US$1,091
2. Average annual premium for 10 year term … $1,090
3. Average annual premium for 15 year term … $1,608
4. Average annual premium for 20 year term … $2,426
5. Average annual premium for 25 year term … $1,941

Female non-smoker rates at age 65 are on average lower than premiums for males at age 60 even though they are 5 years younger. All female term life rates are significantly lower than male premiums at age 65; the female premium for a 15-year term is nearly 60% less than the same policy term for 65-year-old men.

1. Average annual premium for 5 year term … US$649 per $100,000
2. Average annual premium for 10 year term … $663
3. Average annual premium for 15 year term … $1,038
4. Average annual premium for 20 year term … $1,627
5. Average annual premium for 25 year term … $1,727

Average Life Insurance Rates at Age 70

Policies for term life insurance issued at age 70 are more than double the premiums required for life insurance for male applicants age 60.

1. Average annual premium for 5 year term … US$1,598 per $100,000
2. Average annual premium for 10 year term … $1,821
3. Average annual premium for 15 year term … $2,989
4. Average annual premium for 20 year term … $3,656

At age 70, term life insurance rates for women remain more than 60% less expensive than those for men of the same age. Still, rates for 70-year-old females are about 50% higher than for women age 65.

1. Average annual premium for 5 year term … US$942 per $100,000
2. Average annual premium for 10 year term … $1,080
3. Average annual premium for 15 year term … $1,961
4. Average annual premium for 20 year term … $2,504

Average Life Insurance Rates at Age 80

The annual insurance rates for a $100,000 term life policy are 4 times more expensive for a male non-smoker at age 80 than at age 70. Compulife’s data shows that only two life insurance companies, Transamerica Financial and William Penn Life, sell 10-year term life products in New York to males or females age 80.

The rate for male non-smokers age 80 is shown below.

• Average annual premium for 10 year term … $7,115 per $100,000

The rate for female non-smokers age 80 is about 60% of the above premium for male non-smokers age 80. Then again, the female rate show below for age 80 is 4.5 times higher than at age 70.

• Average annual premium for 10 year term … $4,524 per $100,000

Findings from Review of Life Insurance Rates for Seniors

The sample term life insurance rates per hundred thousand are substantially lower for 5 and 10-year policy durations for applicants aged 60 to 70. While this is true for both males and females, consumers should be aware that annual premiums can spike dramatically at the end of each term when the insured joins a higher age band.

Further investigation and calculations show that a longer 20 or 25-year term life insurance policy purchased at age 60 or 65 offers significant savings over the renewal rates for shorter-term policies issued at older ages. This is true for both male and female applicants.

Also, the above sample rates show much cheaper premiums for senior women than men in all the above senior age brackets.

Why? According to latest estimates from the Central Intelligence Agency World Factbook, the average life expectancy is 80.69 years for American women but only 75.65 for U.S. men.

The copyright of the article Average Life Insurance Rates for Seniors in Insurance is owned by Daniel Workman. Permission to republish Average Life Insurance Rates for Seniors in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Life Insurance Needs Increase at Retirement	Average Life Insurance Rates for Males Over Age 60	Lowest Life Insurance Rates for Women Age 80
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