Getting Life Insurance for the Elderly

Many people would think that life insurance policies for the elderly are irrelevant for it’s a common notion that they are free from the financial responsibilities they have for their children. This might be true to some extent, especially if the elderly doesn’t have any liabilities left such as debts or mortgages as getting a life insurance at this age is quite expensive. However, there are still instances wherein getting a life insurance for an elderly is not completely out of the question.

The grounds in which most elderly decide to get a life insurance basically revolve around financial benefits and convenience for their family. These include their desire to provide their own funeral expenses and to provide tax-free inheritance for their successors. Furthermore, they would like to give assistance to their grandchildren or for business-related purposes. In one way or another, everybody has his/her own reasons and it is on his/her own prerogative if he/she would get a life insurance after weighing its pros and cons.

One main con of getting a life insurance at this age is that it is costly as compared with getting a life insurance during the earlier years in life. Many factors, like the customer’s health or lifestyle, lead to this since this age group is identified with a different risk category than the other groups. The probability of one’s death and the premium need to be paid is inversely related.  In other words, the higher the probability that a person is about to die, the higher the premium would be and vice versa.

However, if you look over that one distinctive con of getting a life insurance, the pros of it positively outweigh the cons. Moreover, there are ways in which one can find affordable insurance policies that can suit his/her financial ability.

There are numerous types of life insurance for the elderly, one of which is the term life insurance. This is the most affordable type of insurance policy that one can get. There is no cash value in this kind of set-up and the death benefits are given upon the death of the insured. This type of insurance is generally availed of for funeral expenses and payment for debts and mortgages.

Another type of life insurance is the guaranteed life insurance. In this type of insurance, health status and issues of the customer don’t stand in the way of acquiring a policy. Policies are typically short-term in nature and that they only give limited death benefits. However, after some time, usually after two years, the full price of the policy is given to the beneficiaries.

Deferred life insurance is hand in hand with the guaranteed life insurance. The full price of the policy is only given to the beneficiaries after two years. In the time period wherein those two years are still transpiring, the insurance is known as deferred life insurance. In this type of insurance, the policies will only pay the total monthly payments plus the interest. There is an exception, however, in case of accidental mishaps, wherein the full price of the policy will be automatically given to the beneficiaries.

Then, there is a type of insurance basically for the purpose of burial expenses. These are simplified versions of whole life insurance policies designed to cover funeral and burial costs and no medical exams are necessary in getting this kind of insurance. This policy is normally only available for the elderly between ages 50 and 85 years.