No Exam Life Insurance — Longer Term or Higher Coverage?

Should you get a no exam life insurance policy with higher coverage or a longer term?

No exam life insurance is an effective way of securing financial coverage for your loved ones in the event of your passing, and it also means that you don’t have to inconvenience yourself by undergoing a medical checkup or invasive blood tests. However, like traditional insurance, there are different terms and coverage amounts for no exam life insurance. If you’re not sure how much coverage you need, consider these two questions:

• How much will my loved ones need to live on if I’m not here?
• How long do I need the policy to be in effect?

Determining the answers to these two questions will help you decide how much coverage you need and how long you want the duration of your policy to be.

Factors That Affect Coverage Amount

Knowing the questions you need to ask is not the same as knowing the answers. Arriving at the right answers can take a bit of time and effort, but fortunately, Sproutt insurance advisors have provided us with some general rules of thumb. The rules of thumb for buying no exam life insurance policies are getting coverage that is:

• 10 times your income (which may generate enough interest to replace the income)
• 10 times your income + $100,000 per child
• 10 times your living expenses + enough to cover any outstanding debts

These general rules of thumb are great, but they are general, not personal. To arrive at your personal coverage amount, consider the above, and then consider the following:

• How old are your children?
• Do you need to set up college and/or wedding funds?
• Have you paid off your mortgage?
• Do you have any other outstanding loans?

The answers to these questions will give you a better idea of how much coverage you need. If your children are older and have already finished college or gotten married, you most likely do not need as much coverage as someone with young children or even teenagers. Remember, college tuition starts at about $10K a year. Alternatively, if you have heavy debt, that might change the situation. Weigh each factor carefully to determine how much coverage is actually necessary.

At this point you might be asking, isn’t it better to get more coverage and be on the safe side? And yes, it is better to be on the safe side, but the downside to getting more coverage than you actually need is that you will need to pay higher premiums. The higher your coverage, the higher your monthly premiums. Therefore, it’s important to aim for an accurate estimate so that your loved ones can enjoy financial coverage without you having to pay unreasonably high monthly fees.

Factors That Affect Duration

If you’re buying term no exam life insurance, also known as Simplified Issue, you can determine the term length based on certain milestones. Milestones include but are not limited to:

• Reaching retirement age
• Children graduating from college
• Amassing a certain amount of savings
• Paying off your mortgage

These milestones are important because they help you determine how long your term policy should be. Depending on the age of your children and your financial situation, you may only need a 5 or 10-year term policy. However, if your children are younger or if you have a large mortgage, you will probably want a longer amount of coverage, like 15-20 years. Bear in mind that once your term ends, so does the coverage.

Here you might have the same question as above, wouldn’t it be better to get a longer term length and be safe? The answer, as you may have guessed, is the same. Yes, it’s better to be safe than sorry but the longer the term, the higher the premiums. This is why it’s crucial to get your calculations right. If you prefer life insurance that has no term, you can opt for whole no exam life insurance. This may be pricier than term but the advantage is that your policy lasts your entire lifetime. There are different types of whole life insurance, including Guaranteed Issue, which can go up to $50K in coverage, and Final Expense, which only covers the funeral/burial costs, which can range anywhere between $7000-$12,000.

Choosing Between Higher Coverage or Longer Term

If, like most people, you have a limited budget, you might find yourself asking what is better — getting higher coverage or a longer term? Fortunately, Sproutt insurance advisors have once again come to the rescue with some valuable information. According to Sproutt.com, it is wiser to choose life insurance that has higher coverage than a longer duration. Here’s why:

Policies with higher coverage and shorter duration usually offer more protection at a lower price. Off the bat, this means these policies have a higher value. Secondly, if you have determined that your family needs x amount to live on in the event that you die, then x amount is what they need. Getting a longer term instead of higher coverage would leave them short in case of disaster. Therefore, it’s better to get the proper amount of coverage, and if you need to extend the term, you can always do so at a later point.

Now that you have all the information you need, you can determine just how much coverage you need or how long of a term is best. Whichever direction you head in, the one thing you can be sure of is that when you apply for no exam life insurance, your approval can be granted in a matter of days. This means you won’t have long to wait before securing financial coverage and peace of mind for your family.