How Much Does Life Insurance Cost?

What is the average cost of life insurance?

The average life insurance cost varies greatly depending on the type of plan you own. Term life insurance is a life insurance plan that you pay into for a fixed period of time, like 10, 20, or 30 years. These plans are often less expensive than their alternative. However, your beneficiary only receives the payout (or death benefit) if you pass within the specified term.²

Alternatively, whole life insurance is typically more expensive, but the beneficiary will receive the death benefit regardless of when you pass—hence the name, whole life.³ All of this being said, the average life insurance cost per month is $26.⁴ Life insurance monthly costs vary greatly depending on what you are looking for in a plan, so we don’t recommend using this number as the ultimate baseline.

Each life insurance company will assess how much of a risk you are based on your lifestyle, and the price of life insurance will reflect this. Since how old you are can help insurance companies better understand the risk, you may want to explore how life insurance rates by age influx.

Term life insurance average cost by age and gender

Term life insurance costs are mainly influenced by the age of the policyholder, their gender, and how long the specified term is. The specific costs depend on the insurance company you choose, but a few factors can help you understand potential term life insurance costs.

In general, term life insurance is more expensive the older you are. Additionally, term life insurance is more expensive for men than women because men tend to have shorter life expectancies.⁵

On the other hand, term life insurance is less expensive when the term length is shorter. So, a 10-year term life plan would typically be less expensive than a 30-year term life plan. Lastly, the face value, or the amount of money you choose to have paid to your beneficiary, impacts the life insurance cost.⁶ Typically, you will choose the term length and face value upfront, when your term life insurance plan is being created.

Whole life insurance average cost by age and gender

In a whole life insurance plan, the term length is non-existent, so the length of the plan won’t change the cost of this permanent life insurance. However, the same influences of age and gender also apply to whole life insurance costs.

Some whole life insurance plans allow you to decide how you want to pay premiums. You can pay it all upfront, or over 10, 20, or 25 years. The payment structure you choose can impact overall costs and benefits of your life insurance plan.

The whole life insurance plan must be fully paid for in full for the beneficiary to be able to access all the benefits. We recommend chatting with an insurance agent to determine how beneficiaries can complete the plan’s payments if needed. Additionally, the overarching face value of your plan will impact the total life insurance cost.⁷

Factors that affect the cost of life insurance

• Health: Your family’s medical history, weight, blood pressure, and cholesterol may all be used to help determine your overall health. Insurance companies may use this information to mold costs.
• Smoking: Since smoking is connected to various health issues, insurance companies may change the cost based on whether or not you smoke tobacco or nicotine.
• Occupation and hobbies: If you work in a risky job or engage in high-risk activities, your rate may be more expensive.
• Driving Record: How you drive and how many accidents you’ve been in may be used to assess the level of risk an insurance agency has when choosing to insure you.⁸

Factors that don’t affect the cost of life insurance

Life insurance companies won’t use your ethnicity or religious preference to determine costs. Instead, they only look at factors that impact the risks within your life. Also, credit life insurance is the only life insurance that may need your credit score to determine eligibility and costs.

Get life insurance from Aflac

Depending on your unique needs and goals, Aflac offers both Term and Whole life insurance plans, depending on your unique needs and goals. Speaking to an agent can help clarify what your life insurance costs could be like.

Get a quote today to see how an Aflac life insurance plan could fit into your budget. Understanding potential life insurance monthly costs can help you plan for the future better.