Why does someone want or need life insurance over 60 years of age? The kids are grown. The house is nearly paid off. Retirement is just around the corner. It’s probably too expensive anyway.
People over the age of 60 are the largest group of people buying it today.
Even though there are agents who convinced people many years ago that they wouldn’t need coverage at this stage of the game because their investments would be such that it wouldn’t be needed. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Amount of need may be less
People’s needs change. Everyone’s situation is different. It’s possible the need is less than it was several years ago. However, it’s possible the need is not less, and may be the same, possibly more. Has the need has been eliminated?
When was the last time you took a close look at your situation?
Is burial not still an expense that will need to be met? Going forward, is the cost of burial likely to stay the same, increase, or decrease?
Will there still be a need to replace lost income when death occurs to either spouse? Where will that money come from? Is the amount of income the same, greater, or lesser now than it was? What will it be in the future?
Social Security
If both spouses receive social security benefits and one spouse dies, the surviving spouse will continue to receive whichever benefit is the higher of the two for the remainder of his or her life. For example, if spouse A receives $2,500 per month and spouse B receives $2,000 per month, and spouse A dies, spouse B will receive $2,500 per month instead of $2,000 per month for the rest of his or her life.
That leaves an income shortfall of $2,000 per month.
Retirement Planning
How much retirement planning have you done? Is there a possibility you could outlive your money and exhaust your retirement income?
Will you be able to retire or will you have to work longer than you had hoped and planned?
Are all the bases covered or are there some potential gaps that need to be filled or at least addressed?
Life expectancy
There was a time when age 60 was considered the final chapter of one’s life and people weren’t expected to live as long. Age 60 was considered old. Is it still like that or have times changed? Are people not living longer? Can you predict when you will die?
Cost
There’s no question the cost will be greater at or after age 60 than it was years ago. However, assuming you’re in reasonably good health, there are probably some affordable options.
Perhaps you’ve saved some money and it won’t be enough to live on. Have you considered a single premium whole life policy? The way it works is you pay a lump sum for a specified paid up policy. You’ll never have to make another premium payment.
