Senior Life Insurance: What Does It Offer?

Here’s What Senior Life Insurance Offers

It’s not cheap to die. At least for those left behind to pay for funeral and medical expenses. As a senior, you may opt to purchase a senior life insurance policy to remove that burden from your dependents and loved ones.

According to the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA), after-death expenses vary, but on average:

Funeral with Cremation Expenses – Average cost is around $6,000. Services can be as low as $1,000 to $3,000, but if you desire to include a variety of options to select from, a service could be as much as $8,000.

Funeral and Burial Expenses – The NFDA reports that the average cost associated with a funeral and burial is approximately $8,500, and that’s without “bells and whistles” like a burial plot, a more expensive casket, flowers, transporting the body and so forth

Should You Buy Senior Life Insurance?

Whether or not you buy senior life insurance coverage to pay for end-of-life expenses depends on several factors such as how large you want the payout to be, and, if you want, how much you wish to leave to help with other expenses.

Reasons you may not need it:

• You already have the funds set aside to pay for funeral expenses.
• Your family is no longer financially dependent on you.
• You won’t be leaving outstanding financial obligations.
• You already have long term care insurance.

Why you may want to purchase it:

• You have debt that will need to be paid off.
• Your survivors don’t have the means to pay for end-of-life expenses.
• You want to use the life insurance payout as a family trust or estate.

Does Poor Health Mean You Can’t Buy Senior Life Insurance?

The older you are when you purchase life insurance, the more it will cost. Other factors that include health, lifestyle, your profession and so forth. Benefit payouts differ based on the provider and the age you are when you purchase, but you may still be eligible up to age 70 for a term policy with smaller payout ($25,000 to $50,000).

Many providers don’t require a medical exam in order to buy senior health insurance. However, medical status documentation is typically needed and if you are in less than excellent health when you apply, a “graded” waiting period of two years or more while the benefit amount increases before reaching its full value.

If you are ready to consider senior life insurance, start with research, compare your options and talk with an insurance professional before you decide which provider to go with.