When you are looking to protect yourself and your family, you need to consider life insurance. Life insurance is the financial security net that helps your family get through a rough time. But, when shopping for life insurance coverage there are several factors that can impact your premiums. These factors can include your age and gender. A carrier will also take into consideration not only your health history but your family’s. The carrier may also look at what you do for your career and your hobbies. Your choice in your insurance coverage also affects your premium.

Age

Life insurance coverage relies heavily on the age of the applicant. If you apply for life insurance when you are younger, the cost of the premium is lower. The older you get, the more costly the life insurance becomes because the possibility of health risks increases. Many investors suggest purchasing life insurance for your children when they are small. The lowest cost for life insurance is shortly after birth.

Gender

Another factor is your gender. If you are a female, you have an advantage. A life insurance policy will cost less for a female because studies show that females have a longer life expectancy. With a longer life, females can pay the insurance premiums for a longer period of time. So if a female pays less for life insurance that means that a man will pay higher life insurance premiums. Since a man has a shorter life expectancy, a man will not pay the premiums for as long a period of time as a woman.

Your Health History

When completing the life insurance application, you will need to answer several questions about your health. The insurance carriers are looking for health conditions that could affect your life. These health conditions may include:

• Heart disease
• Diabetes
• High blood pressure
• Cancer
• Cholesterol
• Body metrics and body mass index

When applying for life insurance, the carrier may also require you to have a medical exam. This exam may include blood work and other lab work to make sure everything is in the normal ranges. The medical exam may also provide insight into possible health problems that may occur later on. Your health history does affect your life insurance premiums. The fewer the serious health conditions you have the lower your premiums are likely to be.

Family Health History

Even if you currently do not have any medical conditions, your family health history can provide information on possible health problems that are hereditary. If your family has a history of high blood pressure, you have a higher risk for heart disease. This family health blueprint helps the insurance companies understand the possible health issues that can arise later in life and charge the life insurance premiums accordingly.

Smoking

Insurance carriers will charge a smoker a higher premium because of the additional health risks. If you smoke, you put yourself at risk for lung disease and cancer. These are serious health conditions that may not occur if you did not smoke.

If you were a former smoker, your premiums may still remain high depending upon when you quit. If you recently quit, the carrier may not accept your status as a non-smoker. You may not start seeing a decrease in the premiums until you hit several years of being tobacco free.

Hobbies

Another aspect that insurance companies look at is the hobbies you have. You can have a potentially higher premium if you have hobbies like rock or mountain climbing, skydiving, deep sea diving, flying a plane or racing a car. The higher the risk in the hobby causes the higher premium. The definition of high risk activities may vary by carrier, so you may want to get multiple quotes.

Career Choice

It is not uncommon for your career choice to play a role in the insurance premiums. If you have a career that is high risk, your premiums are higher. These high risk careers may include:

• Racecar driver
• Pilot
• Iron worker
• Police officer
• Firefighter
• Highway construction worker
• Drivers
• Stunt person

These careers have a higher possibility of injury so the premiums on the insured are going to be high.

Insurance Coverage

The coverage you choose will also impact the cost of the coverage. If you choose a policy with a higher value, the effect is an increase in the premium. The direct relationship between the policy value and premium occurs because the more coverage you want the higher the premium. So if you need to control the insurance costs, you should look for a smaller value to reduce the premiums.

No matter what life insurance policy you choose, make sure you get multiple quotes to ensure you are getting the most for your money. Contact our team at Bieritz Insurance for a free quote. We work with many companies in order to find you the right coverage to meet your needs at the right cost.