Savings is Possible with Life Insurance

While life insurance costs can be high for many people, there are ways to save when purchasing a life policy.

Which policy you should buy will depend on your given situation.

Some agents will recommend that you purchase a permanent life insurance policy which offers cash value features since the policies require you to save money. Other experts will advise you to purchase term insurance for the lesser premium and invest the difference.

According to the Society of Actuaries, there is a substantial difference in premiums when comparing term life versus permanent life. Premiums for whole life can run you five to 10 times more than the same amount of level term life, depending on the kind of level term being compared.

When it comes to "no-load' or "low-load', life policies have fewer expenses built into them, including agent commissions and fees as compared to other life policies. Translation is lower premiums for the insured. For variable life insurance, these decreased expenses mean a larger percentage of your premium goes to work for you instantly, permitting you to grow your cash value quicker.

Guaranteed Issue Policies

If you find yourself in good health, do not purchase a guaranteed issue policy because those policies prove riskier for the insurer and as a result, costlier than fully underwritten insurance policies.

In most cases, guaranteed policies are typically purchased by individuals who have trouble purchasing life insurance as a result of medical problems. Should you find yourself with medical problems, you are still likely to receive better rates by choosing an underwritten policy, for which you undergo a medical exam.

One factor to take into consideration is that high premiums, combined with a small face amount for the death benefit can make guaranteed issue life insurance a less desirable option. When it comes to a number of these policies, you may end up spending more money in premiums after only a few years than your beneficiaries may receiver from the death benefit.

Health and Smoking

As mentioned, health plays a big role in what you will pay for life insurance policies.

If you have health issues such as heart disease, diabetes or high blood pressure, your costs can be significantly higher, so a good health report is important.

There are also rate adjustments for smokers.

Smokers typically pay greater premiums than those who don't smoke and quitting the day before you apply for insurance will not work. Some insurers will only consider a consumer a 'non-smoker' only if they never smoked. Other insurers will require you to be "nicotine-free' anywhere from six months to five years to receive a non-smoker rate.

Should you smoke cigars, marijuana or pipes, however not cigarettes, you still will want to tell the insurer you're a smoker when you fill out the policy.

Keep in mind that insurers might want you to submit to urine or saliva tests in order to look for the presence of nicotine. Should you chew tobacco, you could end up being charged smoker rates for your life insurance policy.

Weight and Pre-Existing Conditions

When looking into life insurance, another item to keep in mind is your weight.

Even if you are healthy, if you're viewed upon as being overweight, you may very well be quoted higher rates.

Finally, if you are saddled with a pre-existing medical issue, you could be forced to pay higher rates.

The best way in that case to lower those rates is by demonstrating to the insurer that you have a record of bettering your health, staying up to date with your medications and being responsible when it comes to your health.

Once you buy a life insurance plan, note that you can still save costs following the purchase.

If you are placed in a rather expensive rate class, there is the opportunity to move down to a more affordable area.

Should you be paying higher premiums due to a specific health condition, contact your insurer to see if you can make application for a rate reconsideration in the event your health has improved and you've demonstrated better health over at least a one-year period.

Many insurers will in turn reevaluate your premiums if you have put together a history of decreasing your blood pressure, cholesterol or other controllable-rate increasing factors.