I don't know that much about life insurance policies. I have had a few priced for me. I think I would read the fine print very carefully on a policy that guarantees me $500,000 upon death or paying $6,000 over a twenty year time span. I would say every person in America should be so fortunate as to have a life insurance policy like the one you have.
this sounds super cheap but it's the going rate for a healthy non smoker in that age bracket. Why? Because only about three percent, from memory, of all term policies ever pay out. They run out before the person dies and the premiums not used for a death payment are used to lower the cost of the product for everyone buying it. Term insurance is incredibly competitive, there really are good deals out there.
Also, remember that almost all the money paid as premiums into life insurance are regulated and required to be invested in super secure investments.
Personally I would try to choose a mutual insurer instead of a stock insurer. In the first, the policy owner is an actual owner in the company and all profits accrue to the policyholders, albeit in a very long time frame. Stock insurers first look to profit and are usually good dividend paying investments, but the key is the profit/dividend goes to third party investors, not the people being insured. Mutual companies are becoming fewer but the concept is an excellent one.
If you have not had a physical/lab work in several years, get a physical done before you apply for insurance. Really. Otherwise the underwriting will pick up stuff you don't know about, and all insurers assume the worst and worry about info intentionally withheld. A good broker armed with accurate health info is your best bet. Otherwise, you'll apply for insurance at one company, get upcharged or declined due to health issues you aren't aware of, but likely should be..., and once you've been rated or declined by an insurance company, all insurers share that data base. There is no where to hide.
Much better to go in with a known condition submitted to a carrier that the broker knows isn't scared of that particular condition, and get the best rate going in.
Different insurers have different "appetites" for risk, often simply because they specialize or understand that condition well from experience.
But go in blindly to the wrong insurance company, get turned down, and now even the company that might have accepted you the first time now won't.
I saw this happen time and time again. The agent/broker should ask a million health questions up front, and if there is a real concern, can send in a
"preliminary" submission, which if declined or objected to won't go in the big database in the sky as a decline. That black mark is really hard to deal with, and often is obtained through the total ignorance or laziness of the broker applying for insurance for you. Find an experienced broker who has access to many markets, not just one, and you will have the best chance of getting the best value. Brokers can plug in your basic data and get quotes back from fifteen companies in a matter of seconds.
If I were in my thirties or forties, I'd buy as much thirty year term as I could or that makes sense for my need. The last ten years of a thirty year policy are relatively very, very inexpensive vs taking out a new policy at your older age. And yeah, the kids may just be getting out of college then, but it's amazing how other needs show up too.
I'm going to finish this ramble by mentioning something I learned early on. It was called "finding the love". Yes, you have to do your calculations and determine financial need, but if someone has an attitude towards life insurance, perhaps from a prior bad experience, unless they are motivated by love to protect their families, the insurance doesn't get purchased. We buy this insurance not for us but because we love our families and want to protect them when we can't be there to do it. I mean to upset no one by saying this, but guys, this is what makes this discretionary insurance world go round.
almost all the life insurance I sold (always asked for, never solicited) was term insurance, and with a big company that paid a twenty percent commission the first year, and not double or triple that. Why? the premiums were usually the lowest. I had already vetted the insurer quality, now it was my job and responsibility to get the least expensive insurance in to effect so that more money was left over for college funds and general living expenses. Of course I came at this from a financial planning standpoint, not a "eat what you kill" sales approach.
I wish I could be as succinct as Bird. Sorry for the length of this. Unfortunately I used to teach this stuff in a classroom so I tend to get up on that podium too often. And frankly, I find a discussion of grease types much more interesting...
