Life Insurance Rate Chart by Age: How Age Affects Your Premiums (2024)

FAQs

How does age affect insurance premiums? ›

Typically, the premium amount increases, on average, about 8% to 10% for every year of age; it can be as low as 5% annually if your 40s, and as high as 12% annually if you're over age 50. With term life insurance, your premium is established when you buy a policy and remains the same every year.

The increase in monthly premiums as you age is much smaller if you are young, compared to when you are older. For example, the average life insurance quote only increases by 6% between ages 25 and 30, but it jumps much higher between ages 60 and 65 — an average increase of 86%, or $275 per month.

The cost of life insurance is influenced by factors such as death benefit amount, type of policy, riders, age, gender, health, tobacco use, family history, lifestyle, and occupation.

Whole life policies are structured to pay death benefits to beneficiaries in exchange for regular premium payments, assuming premiums are paid and other terms and conditions are met. Unlike some other life insurance policy types, whole life premiums do not vary as you age.

You are subsequently charged a higher premium for the medical insurance plans. Remember that premium for health plans always increases with age. So, even your existing health plan premium rises with age.

Life insurance is no longer needed for many people once they reach their 60s or 70s. At this point they have retired, their kids have grown up, and they've paid off their mortgage and other debts.

Many people in their 60s and 70s may no longer need life insurance. They may have already paid off the house, stopped working, sent the kids off to care for themselves or accumulated enough assets to offset the need for life insurance. But sometimes buying or maintaining a life insurance policy over age 60 makes sense.

Young drivers ages 16 to 24 tend to have the most expensive car insurance. Drivers in this age group are often inexperienced and are more likely to get into car accidents and file insurance claims. As a result, car insurance companies often charge higher premiums to young drivers.

Anyone between the ages of 18 to 65 can opt for term insurance. However, your 20s is a good time to get into the insurance market and plan for your family's future. Since most people land their first jobs in their 20s and start earning a basic amount, they have relatively lower incomes and quite a few expenses.

Your credit score doesn't have a direct effect on your life insurance premiums. However, when you apply for life insurance, insurers will do a soft inquiry of your credit report and the same factors that hurt your credit score can also hurt your options for life insurance coverage.

Why did my whole life insurance premium go up? ›

Your whole life premium stays the same for life.

And with some other types of permanent coverage, the premium cost can go up later. But with whole life, the premium you pay when you take out your policy never increases.

Your insurer may ask if you have a family history of serious health conditions such as heart disease, cancer or diabetes. Your driving record. If you have DUIs, DWIs and major traffic violations on your record, your insurer might consider you a high-risk life insurance applicant and charge higher rates.

Experienced drivers are less likely to have accident claims, which means they cost less to insure. At Progressive, the average premium per driver tends to decrease significantly from 19-34 and then stabilize or decrease slightly from 34-75. At age 75, the average premium begins trending upward.

The younger. Similarly, the older your age is, the higher will be the health insurance premium.

Most whole life policies endow at age 100. When a policyholder outlives the policy, the insurance company may pay the full cash value to the policyholder (which in this case equals the coverage amount) and close the policy. Others grant an extension to the policyholder who continues paying premiums until they pass.

Age is one of a number of factors that insurers look at when calculating your premium – which is usually bad news for younger drivers who can be hit with much higher prices. Though as age is often a proxy for experience, premiums generally do come down the longer you've been driving (and driving well).

Each insurance company may vary slightly on what factors determine an insurance premium, but most insurers will factor in the age of your home and the construction materials used. Looking for a newer home and one built with favorable materials may lead to a lower insurance premium.