Buying term life insurance is a great way to protect your family in the unfortunate event of your passing. There is only one issue with your term life insurance policy. What do you do when it runs out and your still grabbing life by the horns? Here are a few considerations for you.
Go shopping if you are in good health
Your term life insurance policy is about to expire. You know you want to renew, but what do you do. You are in great health and plan on another long policy. First item up is you will most likely have to pass a medical exam. Let’s face it, you are not a young twenty something anymore.
Next up is to do some shopping around. You might like your current term life insurance provider, but there are many options out there. It has been at least ten, if not more, years since you last did some comparison-shopping. Time to do some research on any changes to the term life insurance market and explore some new companies.
Your health is dipping for the worse
When you go to renew, or buy new, your term life insurance policy you might have a bit of sticker shock. Take heed that your premiums will go up as your health goes down. The best thing to do is to convert your term life policy to a permanent policy.
Doing this conversion will take some skilled timing on your part. Check with your term life policy on how soon you have to convert to a permanent policy. Keep in mind some policies have a window of only the first 10 years.
The advantage to converting to a permanent policy during failing health times is there will be no medical exam. You can also buy a smaller policy, as the years of coverage you need is lower.
Bad health and bad deadline
Renewing your term life insurance during a period of bad health only leads to outrageous premiums. Sure, you don’t need to pass a health exam, but your premiums will cost that of a high-end sports car. Add the fact that the premiums will climb every year.
Here is a consideration for you failing health people. If you know for sure you are not going to pass the health exam, now would be a good time to change your term life insurance policy over to a cash-value policy. There is a small window to do this and as such planning on your part is necessary. This is your family that you are protecting.
One consideration to keep in mind when you renew your term life insurance policy is how long you plan on living. Your term life insurance broker might try to sell you a shorter 10-year policy. While this might have lower premiums, you will have to repay all kinds of fees when you renew for another 10 years. Do yourself a favor in this situation. If you need 20 years of term life coverage, buy the 20 years up front. You’ll be happier you did.
Similar Posts:
- Getting a Handle on Term vs. Permanent Life Insurance
- Why Term Life Insurance Rocks
- 5 Things to Remember when Buying Term Life Insurance
- Life Insurance No Medical, No Physical Or Doctors Exam
- Term Life Insurance for the Single Professional
