The Point Of Diminishing Return!

There is a point that us old guys reach where no matter how healthy we improve our mortality risk in the next year we just aren’t going to be able to get life insurance cheaper than we can today.

I just had this delicate conversation with a 61 year old man who qualifies for preferred rates today and could potentially, with lower cholesterol and a few less pounds, qualified for preferred best rates next year. It will be a stretch as he needs to get his cholesterol from 267 down to 240 and his weight from 230 down to 216, but it might be doable.

His rate for $1,000,000 of 15 year term insurance today at the approved preferred rate is $5040 annually. If he can get it all done in one year and no other health issues pop up he could potentially get his rate down to $4410. If it takes him two years it will cost $5230. It’s a small window of opportunity and only one company we can do it without having to get his cholesterol down to 230 or 220.

My recommendation in this scenario is take the bird in the hand and put it in force. If he can reach his goals he’ll hit a home run next year and if he doesn’t reach those goals he’ll be better off than he would be if he tries again in two years.

At younger ages the system can be worked a lot easier because the cost of insurance isn’t going up as much every year. Once you get into your mid 50’s and older, unless you can fix the problem in a year you get gobbled up by your own age.

Bottom line. I never discourage someone from looking ahead toward an opportunity of lower rates. I always, always recommend that you do your looking ahead with insurance in force. While it’s possible to improve health and your rate class in your 50’s and 60’s, generally that isn’t the direction most of us go.