One of the most confusing parts of life insurance is deciding the best type of coverage. Every family has different life insurance needs.
Because of its price and flexibility, term is the most popular choice on the market. But even if you’ve decided on a term plan, you still need to decide how long you’re going to buy your coverage for.
Term life insurance policies come in a wide variety of lengths— from one year to 40 or more years— but it is most common for insurance providers to offer terms between 10 and 30 years. A 10-year policy is widely considered the most basic and affordable term length, but how much does it really cost?
Before we go over this, we’ll first discuss why you might want a 10-year policy in the first place, but know that you can start comparing rates at any time with the free quote form on this page.
10 Year Term Life Insurance Policy Advantages
There are tons of different kinds of policies and lengths. Although longer policies better suit the needs of many people, there are a few key benefits to a 10-year term. Take a look:
- 10-Year Policies Are Cheap — Ten years of coverage naturally doesn’t cost as much as 15, 20 or 30-year terms. So if you’re on a budget but are in need of life insurance now, 10 years could be the right decision.
- 10 Years is Enough for When You Most Need Life Insurance — While obviously the most important years in your life probably span well over a decade, this isn’t always the case when we’re talking the most crucial years for you to have life insurance coverage. If your children are 10 years of age or older, for example, a 10-year policy will make sure that you have life insurance coverage until they reach adulthood.
- 10-Year Terms Are Great for Getting Loans — Before you are approved for a loan, be it business or personal, lenders typically want to see that you have life insurance, just in case something happens to you while you still owe money to them. A 10-year policy will do just fine in most of these cases.
10 Year Term Life Insurance Rates
First thing’s first; life insurance rates differ by person. They are determined by a wide variety of factors like age, gender (women pay less because of longer average life expectancy), current health condition, health history, etc. Each insurance applicant is then placed into categories, called health ratings.
The cheapest health rating is Nonsmokers’ Preferred Plus, and if you are in great health, you are eligible.
To help paint a picture of what you can expect though in terms of rates, let’s look at an example for people of different ages and with different coverage amounts. Keep in mind that these rates are all for 10-year terms.
- $250,000 for 40-year-old Male: $12.09 with Preferred Plus, $21.57 with Standard, $61.69 with Smokers’ Rates
- $500,000 for 40-year-old Male: $18.99 with Preferred Plus, $37.85 with Standard, $117.50 with Smokers’ Rates
- $250,000 for 50-year-old Male: $24.59 with Preferred Plus, $48.94 with Standard, $143.28 with Smokers’ Rates
- $500,000 50-year-old Male: $43.50 with Preferred Plus Rates, $92.66 with Standard Rates, $280.88 with Smokers’ Rates
- $250,000 60-year-old Male: $62.09 with Preferred Plus Rates, $116.80 at Standard Rates, $301.88 with Smokers’ Rates
- $500,000 60-year-old male: $117.68 with Preferred Plus Rates, $215.52 with Standard Rates, $589.60 with Smokers’ Rates
Getting a 10-Year Policy Without a Medical Exam
While most insurance providers do require you to get a medical exam as part of the application process, policies with lower amounts (generally, under $250,000) and shorter term lengths are sometimes the exceptions. A no medical exam policy can be an excellent option for some applicants, but we are going to outline the pros and cons.
Rates are more expensive without the medical exam though, so if you are in great health you are going to be better off just getting the medical exam. Otherwise, the financial savings for a 10-year term could be canceled out by the higher policy rates.
The next drawback is the coverage restrictions. Unlike a plan with a medical exam, you can’t get an unlimited amount of coverage. In fact, you’ll only be able to get $500,000. Yes, it sounds like a lot, but it probably won’t be large enough for you.
On the flip side, there are some benefits to buying one of these policies. The best one is how fast you get your decision.
You don’t have to sit around for months waiting to hear the answer from the insurance company. Some companies are faster than others, but most will either accept or reject your application in a matter of days. Some are even quicker.
Best Companies for 10 Year Term Policies
Not every 10-year term plan is created equally. If you’re like most people and are looking for a 10-year term policy for the best cost, the following 10 companies offer the most competitive rates for this kind of term length:
- American General
- Banner Life
- Genworth
- ING
- Lincoln Financial
- Metlife
- Protective Life
- Prudential
- SBLI
- Transamerica
How Much Life Insurance Should You Buy?
Unless you have millions of dollars saved in a bank account somewhere, more than likely you won’t have the money your family needs if you were to kick the bucket. Deciding your life insurance needs is one of the most important decisions you’ll make.
Don’t worry, this won’t be advanced algebra.
Let’s add up your unpaid expenses and bills that your family would encounter when fulfilling your final wishes. If you still have major expenses like a mortgage, student loans, and anything else, your family would find themselves with a mountain of debt, but that’s where your life insurance coverage comes in.
Next, put your paycheck in the equation. If your kids or spouse need your paycheck, you need to have enough insurance to replace it. Make sure your plan is big enough to cover your paycheck for at least 5 years.
Getting Lower Term Insurance Rates
10-year term insurance policies are going to be affordable. Short plans have lower premiums, but there are a couple of techniques you can use to get even cheaper coverage.
Let’s get started by helping you quit your worst habit, your smoking. Quitting smoking for at least a year before you apply for life insurance is one of the smartest moves you can make. If you apply for life insurance as a smoker, go ahead and toss a couple of hundred dollars out the window.
Smoker’s rates are DRASTICALLY higher compared to non-smoker’s rates.
After you’ve gotten rid of those cigarettes, keep the momentum going by making more changes, like finally using your treadmill. You’ve probably been using it as a clothes rack or have boxes on top of it, but it’s time to start using it for what it was made for.
Exercising has dozens and dozens of benefits, and one of those is to help you secure cheaper life insurance.
We always suggest our clients get several quotes before they buy a plan. Just like with cars, you don’t buy the first one you see. If you were to purchase the first life insurance plan you saw, you would end up spending way more than you needed to.
If you want to save time with your comparison shopping, let us do the shopping for you. Fill out the quote form on the side.
