Comments on: If you know about term life insurance this question is for you . . I am 40 years old?

By: mbrcatz17

mbrcatz17 — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 20:36:58 +0000

Welll, assuming you mean $450 per year . . .one thing to factor in, you can't compare annual premiums with monthly, when the monthly has an "installment fee" built into it. You have to compare annual premiums.

But $70 a month is HIGH. I'm wondering if the installment fee is $20 or $25 . . .

By: VirtualElvis

VirtualElvis — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 20:36:58 +0000

Did you mean to say $35 per month? $350 per month is a LOT for life insurance.

Ask your sales person why they are charging double. My experience says to go with the lower priced policy, so long as the company offer the policy is stable and making money. The brand names like Metlife and State Farm will be higher, but the smaller companies can offer a comparable product, IMO.

By: LaGabby

LaGabby — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 20:36:58 +0000

Term Life insurance is always the most expensive way to go.

By: tlbs101

tlbs101 — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 20:36:58 +0000

Keep shopping around. You should be able to get 500k, 20-year term, for about $35/month.

I have seen this advertised in several places, and my own rate is about 2/3 of yours for the same coverage, but it is through my work, through Met-Life. I am almost 50.

By: Lalagirl

Lalagirl — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 20:36:58 +0000

In my opinion, you should switch to whole life or adjustable life. For example, in adjustable, you would have a minimum and a maximum premium, which means that it's flexible to pay for either one. You would also have not only the death benefit, but an addition of cash value. In term life, your cash values goes down as you get older and gets VERY expensive as you age. Therefore, ask your agent if you could switch to either whole life or adjustable.

By: Suzanne

Suzanne — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 20:36:58 +0000

With your cholesterol level, you won't get either a preferred OR a super-preferred rate. In all likelihood, you'll be offered a standard rate (IF you truly have no other medical history), or possibly a slightly rated premium (due to your history of taking meds for the condition). That's when you'll find out the true rate for the policy the agent is trying to sell you. It's not against the law to quote a premium this way, but it's unethical in my opinion.

You also have to consider that the quote includes a discount because your home and auto insurance is with this Company.

By: aaron p

aaron p — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 20:36:58 +0000

You sound preferred or standard plus, depending on the company. Very few people get super preferred. Quoting you super pref. with elevated cholesterol is a bait and switch tactic. There are very few companies that would be convinced to offer you their best rate with cholesterol of 220.

Ask your State Farm agent how much, if any, discount you get for having your term with them. Since State Farm agents are captive, you will have to get comparable quotes from an independent agent on your life insurance. If you cannot save more going elsewhere, just stay with State Farm, but you should be able to get preferred for under $40 month with a cholesterol of 250 and a ratio of 6.0 or less and NO other health factors. Check around.

By: Ken

Ken — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 20:36:58 +0000

Deciding who qualified for what rate was precisely what my job was while working. Insurance quotes in these "preferred" classes is extremely tricky to evaluate. When it first started, there was only one preferred class. Then, when companies want to advertise even lower rates, they came up with super preferred or select preferred classes with even more stringent requirements to qualify for them. The problem is that the sales people like to quote you a rate as though you were in the best possible class to entice you to do business with them. My experience was that less than half the people who applied for the super preferred ever qualified. Just having high cholesterol is enough to disqualify you and most also disqualify you if you have normal readings but need medication to get there. BTW, some of those statin drugs were recently found to lower your readings but to be of no help at all in reducing the plaque buildup in your arteries as intended. I know of many very reputable online agencies that use only the top rated insurance companies with the lowest premiums. One of the best is SelectQuote. They have very knowledgeable people who can pretty much tell you what you would likely qualify for in terms of the various classes. If you want to have coverage fast, I'd recommend you buy what you now have offered but pay only on a monthly basis. Then go out and shop around through someone like SelectQuote to see if they can get you something significantly cheaper. If the do, just let the first policy lapse and you've only paid one or two premiums at the higher rate. Usually, you can get copies of your file from your original company to send to the new companies to speed up the process. Good luck.

By: engineer50

engineer50 — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 20:36:58 +0000

Watch out for "preliminary" quotes. They will initially quote their most favorable rate. Only after the underwriting process is done (medical history, exam, etc.) will they give you an actual rate. So you may be comparing apples to oranges if you're just looking at internet stuff.

By: jlgreenzweig

jlgreenzweig — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 20:36:58 +0000

I would ask what the standard rate is and keep that in mind.

As for other companies being cheaper on the internet - that is probably a preferred or super-preferred rate with all types of conditions. They put their best rate out there to generate the interest, then, when it is underwritten, increase the premium for your specific health history. In addition to that - those other companies may be less, but will they be around in 20 years? Or in 5 years or whatever time if, God forbid, something does happen to you?

Make sure you go with a company that is going to last (like State Farm), that will still be there and able to pay that $500,000. The last thing you want to do is sacrifice service and financial stability for price and then your family be left out in the cold in the event of your death.