Tobacco use: Use of tobacco can lead to a higher risk of illness and can increase your life insurance rates.If you’re worried about your health affecting your ability to get insurance, there are some companies that offer no-exam life insurance. Family medical history can also affect your rates. Health: Insurance companies may require that you go through a health exam as part of the application process, and having health conditions could make you more expensive to insure.Age: Generally the older you are, the more you’ll pay in life insurance premiums because you’re a higher risk for insurance companies to cover.Below are factors that may affect your insurance premiums. Money may be invested in stocks, bonds, mutual funds and more.ĭuring underwriting, life insurance companies review your information and family history to decide the risk of insuring you. Variable universal life: A permanent life policy where premiums can adjust, and cash value built up can be invested to grow your assets.Index universal life: A permanent life insurance policy where you can adjust your premiums and cash value earns a return according to a market index, like the S&P 500.Universal life: A permanent life policy where premiums may be adjusted, and you get a cash value account that earns interest.Whole life : A permanent life insurance policy where coverage and premiums are fixed, and the policy builds a guaranteed amount of cash value.Below are different types of permanent life insurance: This cash value grows tax-deferred and is money you can draw from during your lifetime. Aside from providing a death benefit, permanent life policies accumulate cash value as you pay premiums. Permanent life insurance policies cover you for your entire life as long as you keep up with premium payments. Return of premium term: A policy where you get a return of your premium payments at the end of the term if you outlive the policy term.Convertible term : A policy that can be converted to a permanent policy that builds cash value.Renewable term: A policy that allows you to renew at the end of the term without additional underwriting or another medical exam.This type of policy can make sense if you purchase insurance to cover a specific expense that decreases, like college costs that get lower the closer your child gets to graduation. Decreasing term: A term policy where the death benefit decreases throughout your term.Level term : A term policy where premiums and coverage stay the same for the entire term.Under the term life insurance umbrella, here are the different types of policies you can obtain, according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC): Since there’s a time limit on coverage, these policies tend to be cheaper than life insurance policies that accrue cash value and cover you for your entire life. Term life insurance policies cover you for a preset term, such as 10, 20 or 30 years. Below is a breakdown of the two types of policies - term life insurance and permanent life insurance. Life insurance policies are designed to pay out a lump sum to beneficiaries when you die, but features can vary from one policy to the next.

Best term life insurance rates