Get Life Insurance for Seniors Over 80
Once you determine what type of policy is best for you. The only way to find the best price is to request multiple quotes from multiple different providers. When checking insurance companies, look for the best financial strength ratings.
Can you get life insurance when you are 80 years old?
Yes, you can get life insurance for people over 80. Generally only general life insurance is available for over 80 years. Most seniors of this age only need life insurance to cover funeral expenses.
So you will often see policies at this age called burial insurance plans or final expense insurance.
Life Insurance For Seniors Over 80
Yes! life insurance for seniors over 80 does exist. Any policy you are considering must come from an insurance company with an A– or higher rating of A.M.
Best and AA– or higher than Standard and Poor’s or higher from Moody’s. You want your senior life insurance provider to be able to pay a claim if you need to, and in most states, only $ 300,000 of a policy death benefit is guaranteed if your insurer goes bankrupt.
Most people older than this age only need life insurance to cover funeral expenses. Hence, at this age, you will often see policies called funeral or end-of-life insurance.
This is how a complete life plan with more than 80 life policies will work:
- Premiums are fixed and cannot increase.
- Guaranteed coverage to never decrease.
- Policy cannot expire due to age.
- Generate cash value that you can borrow from.
To get started, here is a list of our top picks for three popular senior life insurance over 80 products, all with high financial ratings.
Best Term Life Insurance:
- TIAA Life
- New York life
- Amica Life
- Transamerica
- Lincoln Financial
- State farm
It is also important to consider the cost of the policy to make sure you know what your monthly premiums will be and whether or not you can afford them.
It seems obvious, but according to the LIMRA insurance research agency, 4 percent of whole life insurance policies expire each year, most of which are under 5 years old.
How much can you buy at this age?
Understand that your exact options will depend on your age, state of residence, and health.
That said, $ 2,000 is generally the minimum amount of life insurance for those over 80 that someone could buy.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, $ 100,000 in coverage is generally the maximum (and it wouldn’t be cheap).
Keep this in mind …
To get higher amounts of coverage ($ 50K and up), you may have to buy multiple policies from multiple companies (which is fine).
In case you didn’t know, every insurance company has a minimum and maximum coverage that is given to each person.
Life Insurance For Senior over 80 Rates
For over 80 people, most operators have a maximum of $ 15- $ 40k. So if you want a greater amount of coverage, you probably need to buy more than one policy.
In case you didn’t know, every insurance company has a minimum and maximum coverage that is given to each person.
Please note the following when viewing these rates:
- Eligibility is based on your health, state of residence, gender, and health.
- Women in Montana will pay men’s rates due to a state MT law.
- You may have any amount of coverage you want. You are not limited to these options. Use the quote tool on this page to see prices for any nominal amount you want.
- These are not tobacco rates. If you smoke cigarettes, you will pay more.
The Best Senior life Insurance:
- Omaha Mutual
- North American Life and Health Insurance Company
- State farm
- Transamerica Life Insurance
- American national
- Financial Foresters
- American Amicable
- Americo
- AIG Insurance
- Atena
- Security National Life
Some companies will not accept new applicants who are 80 or older.
But not these companies …
Below is a list of all companies that offer final expense life insurance to people over 80. You can view the offers from these companies using the offer tool included on this page.
1) Omaha Mutual
- Burial insurance for people over 80
- New Applicant Age Availability: 45-85
- State availability: all states except NY
- More than 80 nominal quantity limits: $ 2,000- $ 40,000
- 2-year waiting period: No (subject to subscription approval)
How to apply: You can apply via licensed agencies like Choice Mutual. It is not sold directly.
Mutual of Omaha end-of-life life insurance is the least expensive company for people over 80. If you can qualify for your plan, upload it because you won’t find a better deal elsewhere!
Please note that if you call Mutual of Omaha directly, they will have a different policy that they will offer you. It will cost more and will have a two-year waiting period.
This policy is only sold through agencies like Choice Mutual.
2) North American Life and Health Insurance Company
- New Applicant’s Age Availability: 50-85
- State Availability: All states except AK, AL, HA, LA, MA, NH, NY
- More than 80 nominal quantity limits: $ 5,000- $ 25,000
- 2-year waiting period: No (subject to subscription approval)
How to apply: Through licensed agencies like Choice Mutual. It is not sold directly.
Being in business for over 130 years, Royal Neighbors of America has a stellar track record as a very stable insurance company. The company have the most relaxed subscription to any burial insurance plan on the market.
In addition to their ultra-liberal subscription, they also offer great prices for people over 80.
3) StateFarm
- Burial insurance for people over 80
- New Applicant Age Availability: 45-89
- State availability: all states except AK, CA, CT, HI, MD, ME, DC, NY, VT and WA
- Over 80 face amount limits: $3,000- $25,000 ($ 10k Max over 85)
- 2-year waiting period: No (subject to subscription approval)
How to apply: Through licensed agencies like statefarm. It is not sold directly.
Statefarm offers one of the best subscription that accepts many different health problems. Not to mention that their policy has competitive prices for this age group.
They are basically unique because they insure people over the age of 85.
4) Transamerica Life Insurance
- New Applicant Age Availability: 45-85
- State availability: all states
- Over 80 face amount limits: $ 1,000- $ 25,000
- 2-year waiting period: No (subject to subscription approval)
How to apply: Through licensed agencies like Choice Mutual. It is not sold directly.
Transamerica is quite a household name in the insurance industry considering how long they have been in the market.
Their end-cost product accepts some very serious health issues that other companies would completely reject.
They’re not the cheapest, but they’re pretty close to what other companies charge people over 80 for life insurance.
5) Financial Foresters
- New Applicant’s Age Availability: 50-85
- State availability: all states
- More than 80 nominal quantity limits: $2,000- $16,000
- 2-year waiting period: No (subject to subscription approval)
How to apply: Through licensed agencies like Choice Mutual. It is not sold directly.
The company is not a household name, Foresters is a financially sound insurance company.
Your life insurance over 80 will accept many health problems and will be on par with what other companies charge.
They also give each policyholder access to free member benefits at no additional cost.
6) American Amicable
- New Applicant’s Age Availability: 50-85
- State availability: all states except CT, ME, MT, NH, NY, VT
- Over 80 face amount limits: $2,600- $20,000
- 2-year waiting period: No (subject to subscription approval)
How to apply: Through licensed agencies like Choice Mutual. It is not sold directly.
Commonly known as “AmAm,” they are another great company that combines competitive pricing with an indulgent subscription.
Their plan also allows you to rights to a few different optional brokers for just a few dollars of dollars.
7) Americo
- New Applicant’s Age Availability: 50-85
- State availability: all states except CT, ME, MT, NH, NY, VT
- Over 80 face amount limits: $3,200- $30,000
- 2-year waiting period: No (subject to subscription approval)
How to apply: Through licensed agencies like Choice Mutual. It is not sold directly.
Americo has a very personal subscription that allows many requests to be included for a personal check if other companies are given a wait.
Their rates are higher than most, but that’s only because they accept some health problems that other providers don’t accept.
8) AIG Insurance
- New Applicant’s Age Availability: 50-85
- State availability: all states except ME, NY and PA
- More than 80 nominal quantity limits: $2,200- $25,000
- 2-year waiting period: yes
How to apply: through authorized agencies such as Choice Mutual or AIG Direct (there is no difference if you buy directly from them)
AIG’s policy is a guaranteed problem, which means that it cannot be rejected due to your health (which is why there is a 2-year waiting period).
Only those with some very high risk health issues should purchase the AIG policy. For those who need it, luckily it’s there so they can still get coverage.
9) Aetna
Burial Insurance for people over 80
Most people associate Aetna with health insurance. It is understandable given that they are one of the largest providers of health insurance in the world.
Aetna has a subsidiary company called American Continental Insurance Company. This company is one of the two that issues life insurance for final expenses to people over 85 years of age.
If you are between 86 and 89 years old, we can help you buy coverage with Aetna. Call us at 1-800-644-2926.
10) Security National Life
Burial Insurance security for people over 80
Although not as well known as Aetna, SNL is still a very safe and reputable life insurance company.
Additionally, they are the only other operator that will touch an applicant over the age of 85.
What’s more, they are the only ones to issue new coverage to a 90 year old! Aetna stops at 89.
The downside of SNL is that they require an agent to physically meet with you to request it. That is why we do not represent them.
There are six life insurance policy options for seniors
If you are 75 or older and looking for a new life insurance policy, you will face challenges that younger people do not. The reason for this is simple: People are closer to death as they age, so the older you are, the greater the risk that companies will insure you.
This is why it is generally best to buy life insurance as soon as you identify the need and not postpone your purchase, because as your risk increases, so do your premiums.
Term of life insurance
Term life insurance is the best option for most people, including seniors, because it provides the most coverage at the lowest price, especially if you are in good health. It offers coverage for a specified number of years (generally 10 to 30 years in five-year increments), and the premiums are the same every year.
If you purchase a 10-year term policy with a $ 100,000 death benefit, you will pay identical premiums each year for 10 years, and your beneficiaries will receive $ 100,000 if you die during that time. If you die after that, they will receive nothing. You just have to agree to survive the life of your policy if that (hopefully) happens.
Term life insurance renewable annually
Annually renewable term life policies are essentially the same as term life insurance, but premiums increase each year. It may be less expensive if you need two to four year term life insurance, which could be the case if you are about to retire or pay off your mortgage.
While there are likely to be few older adults who need such short-term coverage, the yearly renewable term could save you money by purchasing a five or 10 year regular term policy and canceling it after the first few years.
In other words, with an annual renewable term policy, you are only paying your current risk; With a fixed-term policy, you are paying both your current risk of dying and your risk of dying in 10 years, even in the first year of the policy.
A certified financial planner said, life insurance broker and life insurance advisor who founded Fiduciary Life, said that most annual renewable policies do not require you to re-qualify each year based on your health.
And the Premium amounts for most annual renewable policies are defined when you take out the policy. So while premiums will increase substantially each year, and the older you are, the faster premiums will rise, there will be no surprises.
No Medical Exam Life Insurance
If you are looking for senior life insurance over 70 to 80 without having to undergo a medical exam, you will need to know which non-exam life insurance companies will give you the lowest rates.
To qualify for life insurance, some companies will require you to go through a health underwriting process. Also known as a life insurance medical exam.
In the past, companies offering the lowest rates would require a medical exam and possibly even a blood / urine test.
- This is not the case. Many companies will issue policies in amounts up to $ 1,000,000 in coverage without a medical exam.
- For most companies, the tests they require are based on the age of the applicant and the amount of coverage requested.
- Certainly not everyone is happy with life insurance medical exams, in fact there is a large portion of the population that simply refuses to get one.
- Even if it could result in lower insurance costs. Over time, we have discovered that there are several reasons why an applicant prefers not to have a medical exam.
Whole life insurance
Whole life insurance offers coverage for the rest of your life, and premiums are guaranteed to be the same every year. In addition to having a death benefit, which guarantees a payment to your beneficiary after your death, the policy accumulates a cash value against which you can borrow.
However, if you die with an outstanding loan, the policy’s death benefit will be reduced by the amount of the loan. Also, when you die, the insurance company maintains the cash value of the policy.
Because whole life insurance policies are complicated and the premiums are high because of the amount of death benefit you get, whole life insurance is just the best option for seniors in some situations.
Such as when you want to minimize estate taxes for your heirs, or if you want to leave a specific amount of money to someone or a charity no matter how old you are when you die.
“Seniors should be wary of agents trying to earn a big commission by launching a full life insurance policy they don’t need,” said Chris Huntley, president of Huntley Wealth & Insurance Services.
“Whole life insurance offers low rates of return (most policies don’t even break even for seven to 10 years) and can cost up to 20 times more than term life insurance.”
Guaranteed universal life insurance
Universal guaranteed life insurance closes the gap between full and term life insurance policies. It can end at the age of your choice, similar to the term, or it can last until you die, similar to a lifetime. Premiums are the same each year, but guaranteed universal life policies do not have a cash value component.
Not surprisingly, premiums fall somewhere in between what you would pay for term and lifetime insurance. Guaranteed universal life insurance is a useful option for seniors in various scenarios, including leaving a legacy fund.
Now avoiding inheritance taxes, paying final expenses, maximizing pension benefits, and reimbursing adult children that they will attend to him when he is older.
Universal life insurance
Universal life insurance (also called universal unsecured life insurance) lasts until you die and accumulates cash value, but cash value is tied to return on investment. If your policy investments underperform, you must pay higher premiums, sometimes substantially higher premiums, to avoid losing your policy.
Like whole life insurance, you can borrow against the cash value of the policy while you are alive, but if you die with an outstanding loan, the policy’s death benefit will be reduced by the loan amount. When he dies, the insurance company maintains the cash value of the policy.
Most seniors should avoid this type of life insurance: the cash value component makes it expensive; rates are not guaranteed; and the policies have expensive administration fees, including an annual investment fee that is generally 3 percent or more.
According to Cliff Pendell, managing partner and co-founder of the JRC Insurance Group. High premiums and fees outweigh the policy’s potential investment returns (not to mention that investment returns are unpredictable).
Burial insurance (also called final expense insurance)
Burial insurance is a type of whole life insurance with a small death benefit, generally $ 5,000 to $ 25,000, specifically intended to cover your burial expenses. Because these policies are relatively small, they have minimal medical subscription requirements.
You may need to complete a health questionnaire, but you may not need to complete a medical exam. (All of the types of policies listed above pay more attention to your current and past health; they generally require a medical examination and a thorough review of your medical records.)
What about the final expense or burial insurance?
Every time you hear the words “burial insurance,” “final expense,” or “funeral insurance,” know that all of these labels mean the same thing.
Everything is life insurance.
The final expense for people over 80 is just a lifetime policy.
There is no type of insurance for burial expenses other than life insurance.
Burial insurance policies are relatively expensive for the amount of coverage they provide, but it can be a good option for older people with serious health problems who don’t want their funeral costs to be a financial burden on those left behind.
What is a waiting period on a life insurance policy?
Although most applicants don’t realize it, there is a waiting period that comes along with many life insurance plans, especially if a medical exam is not required.
These guaranteed issuance plans are generally purchased from companies like Colonial Penn, Globe Life, AIG, and Gerber Life and have a two-year waiting period that begins on the day the plan is activated.
During the waiting period, your beneficiary (usually your family) would not receive full payment for the policy. Instead, they would likely get a refund of the premiums paid, but not the face value of the coverage.
Here is an example of how Mutual of Omaha handles the waiting period and modified death benefit:
Guaranteed life coverage
The policy is guaranteed because death benefits payable from natural causes (any other cause than accidental) are reduced during the first two years of the life insurance for seniors over 80 policy.
Your beneficiary receives all the premiums you have paid plus 10 for percent. Full benefit is paid for death due to natural causes after your second year of coverage.
Mutual of Omaha offers insurance applications up to age 84, and if you are in your early retirement over 80 and think you may want to convert a term life policy to a full life policy, check out State Farm.
What is the best life insurance for people over 80?
As noted above, Mutual of Omaha invites new life insurance applicants up to age 84, and North America allows some applicants up to age 85. Once you are 80 years old, your selection will be significantly smaller because many companies won.
‘It does not allow you to apply for life insurance. Therefore, check with these two companies if you plan to take a new policy.
If you already have a policy with a life insurance company that allows it, such as State Farm, you may be able to renew a term life insurance policy up to age 80.
If you don’t have a renewal option with your current terms policy, consider looking at one of the few companies, including Mutual of Omaha and North American, that allow new applicants after age 80.
Or you can search for more expensive whole life insurance options, which may also have higher maximum ages for applicants.