When is the best time to get life insurance?

If you have been reading for a while, you will know that I am pretty passionate about life insurance. Unfortunately there have been one too many people that I personally know who have been negatively affected by some form of health issue.

In every circumstance, if they had some form of insurance, they would have been paid, which would have alleviated some financial pressure.

It’s all well and good to say ‘could’ and ‘should’ but today I want to talk to you about the best time to get life insurance.

Now!

Of course I am going to say that, but let me give you actual reasons why.

You will never be younger than you are right now.

Profound right? The thing about life insurance, similar to health insurance, is that the costs increase as you age. The earlier you get in, the better chance you have of locking in a cheaper rate. Let me give you an example to put this into perspective.

A young 29 year old woman (who just happens to be turning 30 very very soon!), gets $500,000 worth of Life and Total and Permanent Disability Insurance. Right now, she would be paying around $390 per year.

If this women waits until she is 39 to get the same insurance, she would be paying $550 per year.

Here’s another:

The same women wants to get income protection for an income of $100,000.

When she is 29 the cost is about $785.

When she is 39 the cost is about $1,400 and that is assuming she is still healthy.

You never know what your health is going to do.

The increase in the above figures may not worry you, however prices like that are not guaranteed. As we age, we tend to have more health issues. Your ability to get life insurance is assessed based on your health. So, if in those 10 years, you are diagnosed with an illness or suffer an injury, your ability to get insurance may change. You could get what is known as a ‘loading’ meaning the premiums stated above could be increased substantially because all of sudden you aren’t as healthy as you used to be.

In a worst case scenario, you may not be able to get insurance at all. The longer you leave it, the more likeliness is that your health will deteriorate in one way or another. After all, we are all going to age, no matter how much face cream we try and slap on.

Because I am all about the facts today, here are a few stats:

1/3 of women and 1/4 of men will suffer cancer in their life time.

Over 60% of Australians will be disabled for more than 1 month over their working life.

Someone in Australia suffers a stroke roughly every 10 minutes.

If you think it isn’t going to happen to you, then you are wrong. No one chooses to have a car accident, or chooses to get cancer. Just because you are super healthy and go for a run every day doesn’t mean you are immune to health issues. We are human after all. We can’t control everything. Stuff just happens sometimes.

The job that you do, could dictate your ability to get insurance.

Some types of insurance, specifically Total and Permanent Disability and Income Protection are based on your occupation. The people with more dangerous occupations may be unable to get insurance all together.

If you are in a nice cushy job today (think office job or similar), then insurance is a lot easier to get for you, than it would be for someone who works in the mines. That’s not to say miners can’t get insurance, but usually there are restrictions on what they can get and it takes a little bit more work from the financial advisers end.

If you have any plans to change your job at some stage in the future, the insurance available to you may change.

When we are younger, life insurance is generally the last thing on our minds. If however you get it sorted sooner rather than later, it will be easier and cheaper to get, and you will know that you have the protection for the long haul. Each year that ticks by the price goes up and the window of opportunity closes.

• Please note that the figures are an example only based on a female non-smoker, professional with no medical issues and an average of the different insurance products on the market today. 

– This post is from our resident Financial Planner, Cara Brett. Check out her details in the About Us page. 

Post in: Insurance and Cara Brett