Do you want to know more about the important factors that can affect your life insurance premium?
Buying life insurance is a smart decision to secure the financial position of your loved ones and protect them long after you’re gone. However, it’s also a major financial investment that requires you to be fully committed to paying monthly premiums for many years to come. This is why it’s a good idea to get to know the different factors that affect your life insurance premium.
Your Age
The first and foremost thing insurance companies look at when deciding your life insurance premium is your age. As a general rule of thumb, younger applicants always have to pay lower premiums. This is because as you age, the chances that the insurance company will have to give a payout for your policy also increase. Therefore, insurance companies make it a point to charge higher premiums to applicants who are older.
Your Gender
The next most important factor that affects your life insurance premium is your gender. According to life expectancy rates in the United States, women are expected to live on average until the age of 86.5. This is longer than the life expectancy for men, which is about 84 years. This difference in life expectancy leads to the general principle that women have to pay lower life insurance premium than men.
Your Medical History
Another factor that helps insurance companies determine your life insurance premium is your medical history. Insurance companies usually carry out a thorough medical exam to judge your general health before giving you a final quote for the insurance premium they’ll charge you. Moreover, insurance companies also usually ask for access to your health records before they issue a final policy.
This is done to check your medical history for any serious health conditions in the past. If there is a history of serious illnesses like cancer or heart diseases then this will lead to an insurance company charging you higher insurance premiums. Insurers will also reflect on other health-related metrics like your weight, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels to estimate the probability of future health problems.
Your Family Health History
Even when you are in perfect health at the moment, your family health history could affect the life insurance premiums you are charged. If your family health history depicts a tendency of serious health issues especially hereditary diseases, then this will surely increase the monthly premiums you pay for your life insurance.
Whether You Smoke or Not
We’re all aware that smoking has been associated with many health risks. A person who smokes regularly is at higher risk of developing fatal health problems like heart diseases and cancer. This is why you will be charged higher premiums if you are a smoker. If you are someone who has quit smoking after buying a life insurance plan, then you should definitely call your insurance company to check if this will reduce your rate.
We hope this article proves to be helpful in making you understand the different factors that affect your life insurance premiums. Making small changes to adapt a healthy lifestyle like losing weight or quitting smoking will surely help you buy an insurance policy at the right price.
