Whether you are buying life insurance for yourself or your partner, you want to stretch your dollar the furthest and make sure you are getting the best value.

But the question is — how do you find the best life insurance company coverage at the most affordable price?

Relax, we have you covered.

In this post, we will show you how to buy the best individual life insurance at the lowest possible price.

Why individuals need life insurance?

When you think of it, life insurance is a fairly simple concept. Its main purpose is to help you secure the future of those who depend on you financially.

Life insurance protects your loved ones financially should the unthinkable happen, and they suddenly lose you and your income. Proceeds from your life insurance policies can help your family take care of living expenses, pay off debt, and cover education costs.

However, life insurance is not just meant for income replacement and debt repayment.

You can also put a life insurance policy in place to take care of end-of-life expenses, like medical bills and funeral or burial costs. Business owners, on the other hand, buy life insurance policies to ensure their business can continue to thrive in their absence.

Last but not the least, individual life insurance policies can give you access to a sum of tax-free money that you can use while you are still alive.

When is the right time to buy individual life insurance?

The answer to this question is simple. Would your death impact someone financially? If so, the sooner you buy personal life insurance, the better.

It may be tempting to postpone buying coverage until next month, next year, or next decade. You may think, “Let me first save some money, and then I will take out a life insurance policy. I am still young and healthy, so what is the hurry?”

But thinking along those lines could prove to be a big mistake.

None of us can foresee what is waiting for us around the corner. Maybe a health scare! A sudden shift in health could make life insurance expensive for you (e.g. requiring non medical exam life insurance). Worse, it may put it out of your reach altogether.

Also, remember that insurance rates go up as you age — even if you are fit and healthy. Generally speaking, the premium amount increases about 5% to 12% on average for every year of age.

The bottom-line: If someone depends on you, buy an individual life insurance policy as soon as possible. This way, you will be able to lock in the best premium rate and enjoy peace of mind knowing you have created a financial nest egg for your family and are healthy with your medical exam.

Types of life insurance for individuals

Once you start shopping around for life insurance, you will notice you have two options — term life insurance and permanent life insurance.

Let’s find out more about both of these life insurance policies.

Term Life Insurance

Term life insurance covers you for a limited period or term. You can pick the policy term, usually 10, 20, or 30 years, when you sign up. If you die before the term is up, your beneficiary will receive the life insurance benefit. If you outlive it, they will not receive the benefit.

Term life insurance lets you buy coverage for the years when you will actually need it. Since most people do not buy life insurance until they retire, pay off the mortgage, or send their children to college, they find term life insurance a better option.

Permanent Life Insurance

Permanent life insurance, by contrast, does not come with an expiry date. Permanent life insurance coverage lasts for your entire life, as long as you pay premiums. Many permanent life insurance policies also bundle up as an investment tool. They include a savings component — called cash value.

Part of your premium dollars goes to cover the cost of insuring you and administrative fees. The rest is used for building cash value in your permanent insurance, which grows on a tax-deferred basis.

You can withdraw from or borrow against your policy cash value and use the money, however, you like.

Among the two life insurance options, permanent life insurance is more expensive. That is because it does not have an end date and builds cash value. Generally speaking, premiums for a permanent life insurance policy cost five to 15 times as much as a comparable term life insurance policy.

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How to find the best individual life insurance policy

Are you hunting for the best life insurance policy for your family? Here are some tips and tricks to keep in mind when you are looking for coverage.

Price

For most people, life insurance boils down to cost. If you want the best value, get quotes from multiple insurance companies and compare them. This is the only way to ensure you do not pay more than you have to for coverage.

Financial Health

Imagine paying thousands of dollars over the years for a life insurance policy, only to have the insurer go bust twenty years down the line. Scary, right? Pick a provider that is strong financially so that you will not have to worry about it not keeping its end of the bargain.

Electronic Application and Document Delivery

The average policy takes up to six weeks for approval.

This can be a long time for many people.

If you do not want to wait that long, opt for a tech-savvy insurance carrier. Insurance companies that accept online applications and deliver policy documents electronically boast shorter processing times than those who do things the old way.

Conclusion

When you pass away, life insurance replaces the financial support you provided to your family, or yourself with retirement income.

Without it, your dependents may not be able to keep themselves afloat. Life insurance can also pay off debts, like a mortgage, and ensure your loved ones do not lose their home if you die before you expect to.

Because life insurance provides a lot of financial security, it should be a part of your long-term financial plan. By working with an independent broker like Dundas Life, you can purchase life insurance that provides the kind of coverage your family needs, at a price you can afford.