8 Reasons to Apply for Life Insurance Sooner Rather than Later

If you’re hesitating about getting life insurance—waffling over whether you should just get it now or wait—here are eight reasons to do it today:

1. It’s usually cheapest when you’re young. And frankly, you’ll never be younger than you are today. The price of life insurance is based on a number of things but chief among them is your age and health. The longer you wait, the more expensive it is likely to be. And, then, speaking of health …

2. Your health can change. Everything in life ebbs and flows, including your health. You may have left your doctor after last year’s annual exam with a clean bill of health, but problems can crop up, and it will be more expensive to get life insurance after a diagnosis such as diabetes or other health issues that can happen as we age. With that said …

3. 100% perfect health is not necessary to get life insurance. More than one in four people put off getting life insurance because they don’t think they’d qualify for coverage, according to the 2016 Insurance Barometer Study by Life Happens and LIMRA¹. But when a health concern like diabetes or high blood pressure is being controlled with the help of a doctor and medication, it’s still possible to qualify for life insurance.

4. If your health improves, lower rates may be in your future. Lock in your life insurance today. Then, if you lose the weight, or have several years without smoking—or whatever health improvements are on your list—you and your insurance agent can look at getting you better rates. But you don’t want to be without coverage in the meantime!

5. Accidents—and life—happen. We have all seen the fundraising accounts online helping families raise money when a parent was tragically killed in a car accident or died of an incurable disease. While the probability is low that something could happen to you—just over 139,000 people died in accidents in a single year in the U.S., according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2014)²—the truth is you just never know. That is what life insurance is for. 

6. Honestly, you don’t need to give up your latte to get it. No guilt trips needed when it comes to finding money for a life insurance policy. You may have heard, “Well, you spend a lot on coffee on the way to work each day. Give it up and get a policy.” Coffee’s important—keep your lattes. But so is life insurance. If you’re worried about “finding the money,” just know that life insurance agents are there to help you find a policy that fits your needs, and speaking of …

7. Get the help you need for free—really. A big advantage that is very often overlooked in the process is the assistance an insurance agent can give you. Helping people find insurance coverage that fits their budget is their job. It’s what they do. And sitting down with an agent or talking with them on the phone is free. Yes, free. But if you don’t want to talk to an agent…

8. Online term life insurance is a way to get coverage right now. Perhaps you already know exactly what coverage you want and need (because you’ve used a Life Insurance Needs Calculator like this one), or you’d rather just apply for coverage on your own. With an online term product, you could answer a few questions about your age and health, and you may be able to get coverage in less time than it takes you to figure out what you’re going to make for dinner.

¹2016 Insurance Barometer Study, Life Happens and LIMRA

²"The Odds of Dying," Laura Geggel, Live Science, Febuary 9, 2016