Best Life Insurance for Seniors over 60
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Life insurance can be a necessary investment even if you are over 60 years old, since your financial goals and needs may be changing. For this reason, it's important to reevaluate your existing policies and financial situation as you enter your later years so that you are adequately covered.
Some reasons seniors over 60 may consider purchasing life insurance if they still have unpaid debt, want to cover end-of-life expenses or want to leave an inheritance for their kids or grandchildren.
Best life insurance options for seniors
The best life insurance if you're a senior over 60 years old depends on your financial situation, health and life insurance needs. When entering your senior years, it's a great idea to think about the remainder of your life, whether you have enough life insurance coverage and if there are better options available.
Applicants in their 60s will find there are few eligibility restrictions for life insurance.
However, not every policy is right for your situation, and it's important to decide whether you need life insurance for short-term or long-term needs. A short-term policy, like term life insurance with lengths of 10 to 20 years, can be great if you are still working and need income protection. Longer-term life insurance, like a permanent policy, may be a better choice to cover final expenses like a funeral or burial.
We don't recommend standard whole or universal life insurance, as these types of insurance are expensive and are meant to be lifelong products that build cash value.
Since you would be in the later stages of your lifetime, you would not be able to take advantage of the cash value growth.
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Life insurance for income protection
You may still be working when entering your 60s, and if you don't have life insurance, then purchasing a policy to support those that rely on your income could be a great decision. The best life insurance option would be to buy a term policy that would cover the years that you are working. By aligning life insurance with your working years, you would protect your income so that any loved ones would still be able to receive compensation.
Life insurance for outstanding debts
Even at an older age, you may not have paid off all outstanding debt in your life — for example, a mortgage that you are close to finishing but still have some payments to make. If you were to pass away without life insurance, your dependents would be responsible for the remaining mortgage payments if they intend to keep your home. Instead, a life insurance death benefit can provide valuable coverage to pay off these outstanding obligations.
In this case, if you qualify, get a term life insurance policy that would cover the sum of your outstanding debts. The term policy would require you to take a medical exam, but you would be able to lock in cheaper premiums for the remainder of your life.
However, if you are sick, elderly or not in excellent health, a guaranteed whole life insurance policy would make the most sense. This type of life insurance has more expensive monthly premiums along with a typical maximum face value of $25,000 in coverage, but would be issued on a guaranteed basis. This means that you would not be denied coverage due to pre-existing illnesses, which can be a valuable policy feature for seniors.
Life insurance for final life expenses
After someone passes away, there is usually a multitude of costs associated with after-life expenses. This includes the cost for a funeral and burial of the deceased, which is often left for the children to pay, and typically costs around $10,000. Life insurance can be a useful tool to provide financial protection for your dependents if they wouldn't be able to pay these expenses themselves or would have difficulty affording them.
A permanent life insurance policy would be a good option for final expenses. Specifically, you can purchase a small guaranteed whole life insurance policy, which is designed to be for burial expenses. This policy would not require a medical exam, so if you are not in great health or have a pre-existing condition, you could still receive coverage.
Life insurance for senior veterans
All veterans who were enrolled in the Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance plan during their service have the option to convert this life insurance policy into Veterans' Group Life Insurance (VGLI) when they return from duty. This can be a good option early in your life. However, once you age into your senior years, you would be able to get better rates through other types of life insurance.
For example, for a 60-year-old male enrolled in the VGLI program with $400,000 in coverage, the monthly premium is $432, which is $226 more than a similar policy offered by Prudential. For this reason, if you are a veteran who recently turned 60 or are entering your older years, we recommend looking into an affordable term life insurance policy.
Life insurance eligibility for seniors over 60
For seniors over the age of 60 looking to buy term life insurance, there are restrictions on the size of the face value and the coverage length you can purchase. Each insurer has its own rules regarding which types of policies are available for purchase.
Typically, if you are trying to purchase term life insurance after the age of 65, you would be restricted to policy lengths of 10, 15 and 20 years.
Guaranteed and simplified whole life insurance products do not have any restrictions for those over 60, since these products are designed for seniors. However, life insurance providers have coverage limits associated with the product — face values typically range from $2,000 to $25,000.
Best life insurance companies for those over 60
The best life insurance policies for seniors are based on what is the most affordable and companies that have senior-preferred underwriting. Below, we have provided our recommendations for term and permanent life insurance companies for applicants over 60.
Best term life insurance: Protective and Haven Life
A cheap term life insurance policy to consider for those over 60 years old is the Protective Classic Choice product. This insurance plan is guaranteed level throughout the coverage period, which means that you pay the same premium until the policy ends. The death benefit has a minimum coverage amount of $100,000 and a maximum of $50 million.
Life insurance through Protective is the best choice if you are looking for inexpensive rates. However, the company has additional coverage length restrictions when compared to its competitors — only available with lengths of 10 or 15 years if you are over 65 years old.
Term life insurance through Haven Life provides some of the cheapest quotes for seniors, but it has more restrictive eligibility when compared with other companies. This is because a Haven Life term policy is only available if you are under 64 years old, and there is a maximum death benefit of $1 million for anyone over the age of 60. Even with these restrictions, if you can get Haven Life, then you would lock in a low rate for the entire coverage period. Note that policy term lengths are only available from 10 to 20 years.
Best guaranteed and simplified whole life insurance: MassMutual and Mutual of Omaha
MassMutual offers simplified whole life insurance that is available from 40 to 80 years old. This is a form of permanent life insurance, which means the policy would provide you coverage until you pass away. The plan is a simplified issue, meaning there is no medical exam required. Instead, you would answer some questions about your health and lifestyle. This can be extremely useful for elderly applicants who may have less severe health conditions like asthma.
Face values for MassMutual whole life insurance have a minimum of $2,000 to a maximum of $25,000 in coverage. This makes the policy ideal for end-of-life expenses, including funeral costs or debts that you may owe.
If you are older than 60, guaranteed whole life insurance through Mutual of Omaha could also be a great option. Guaranteed whole life differs slightly from the simplified issue policy offered through MassMutual because the plan doesn't require a medical exam or health questionnaire. For elderly and sick individuals, this can be a critical determinant for choosing a guaranteed policy. However, this policy has a higher premium, since the insurer doesn't have health information to accurately determine a price.
Mutual of Omaha also has an expanded range of age availability, with guaranteed acceptance policies offered to applicants between 45 and 85 years old. Furthermore, you can purchase up to $25,000 in death benefit coverage.