Most affordable life insurance companies for 40-year-olds in good health

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Foresters Financial is the cheapest life insurance company for a healthy 40-year-old, averaging $363 a year for $500,000 of coverage, $509 for $750,000 and $635 for $1 million in our data. That runs 15% to 17% below the average company at every one of those amounts, for a policy that pays out exactly the same. 

Settle on your coverage amount before you start comparing prices, since the ranking shifts as the amount goes up. Insure.com’s life insurance calculator starts at 10 times your income and adjusts for your mortgage, other debts and how long your kids will need support.

Which life insurance companies are cheapest for $500,000 of coverage at 40?

Foresters Financial averages $363 a year for $500,000 of coverage for a healthy 40-year-old, the lowest in our data. Banner Life follows at $374.

Every company below sells the same thing at this coverage amount — a fixed premium and a $500,000 payout your family collects free of income tax. Price is the only real difference, so paying the average of $429 instead of $363 buys you nothing extra.

What does $750,000 of life insurance cost at 40?

Foresters Financial averages $509 a year for $750,000 of coverage for a healthy 40-year-old, the lowest in our data. Banner Life and SBLI follow at $517.

Stepping up from $500,000 to $750,000 raises the average premium 42% and raises the payout 50%, so the extra coverage costs less per dollar than the first $500,000 did. That math is why agents push you to quote the higher amount before you commit to the lower one.

Which companies are cheapest for $1 million of coverage at 40?

Foresters Financial averages $635 a year for $1 million of coverage for a healthy 40-year-old, the lowest in our data. AIG follows at $664, tied with four other companies.

Doubling your coverage from $500,000 to $1 million costs the average buyer 79% more, not 100% more. Apply to more than one of the companies below, because a listed price only holds if that company puts you in Preferred after it reads your file.

What counts as good health to a life insurance company?

Preferred is the category insurers use for people whose blood pressure, cholesterol and weight sit in a healthy range, who use no nicotine, and who take at most one medication for a condition that stays controlled. Every rate we use in this article is a Preferred rate, and Preferred Plus sits above it, often costing roughly 20% less.

Each company sets its own limits for blood pressure, cholesterol and weight, so the same lab results can put you in Preferred at one insurer and a step lower or higher at another. 

Your lab results are only part of the file. Underwriters also weigh things a good exam day cannot fix.

• A parent or sibling who died of heart disease or cancer before 60 keeps most people out of Preferred. Ask your relatives for the dates before you fill out the application, because an answer the medical records contradict can void the policy later.
• A DUI or a few moving violations in recent years can cost you the category even with perfect labs. Insurers count car accidents as a mortality risk, so pull your own driving record first, and you will know what the underwriter sees.
• Any nicotine counts, including vaping and smokeless tobacco. Companies test for it at the exam, and tobacco pricing sits well outside the range in this article.
• Height and weight get judged together against a chart at each company. The charts differ enough that the same weight clears one insurer’s Preferred limit and misses another’s, so ask your agent where the cutoff falls before you apply.

How much does shopping around save at 40?

The same healthy 40-year-old buying $500,000 pays 40% less at the cheapest company than at the most expensive one in our data. Nothing about the buyer changes between those two prices, and neither does the policy. This is why shopping around is so important — you may be able to get much more affordable coverage simply by comparing rates from different insurers. 

A quote is not an offer. The company sets your real price after it reviews your labs, prescriptions and driving record, so the number you see online holds only if the underwriter agrees you belong in Preferred.

• Ask an agent to run your health history past several companies before you sign an application. This gets you a read from each one without a formal application on your record.
• Quote the exact amount you want, not a round number near it. Transamerica ranks third cheapest at $500,000 and tenth at $750,000, so the order moves as the amount changes.
• Check that the company sells in your state. Foresters Financial is a fraternal benefit society, which means buying a policy there also makes you a member.
• Use the same term length on every quote. A shorter term always prices lower, so a mixed comparison hands you a cheapest company that is not really cheapest.

How do I get a lower life insurance premium at 40?

Which health category you land in matters more than which company you pick. Moving up one category cuts the average premium 22% to 23%, and going from Regular to Preferred cuts it by 41%, which holds for the entire term rather than for one year.

• Get your blood pressure and cholesterol into a healthy range and hold them there for a year before you apply. Underwriters want a pattern, not one good reading, and a year of steady numbers is what moves you up a category.
• Reach your target weight before the exam rather than after. Weight is often the only thing between Preferred and Preferred Plus, and that step is worth roughly 20% off your term life rate.
• Book the exam for early morning, before you eat anything or drink coffee. Caffeine and a meal raise your blood pressure and cholesterol readings for a few hours, and the underwriter prices your whole term off that single morning, so a temporary spike costs you the 22% a category is worth.
• Ask for a reconsideration a year after you buy if your health improves. The insurer runs a fresh exam and reprices the policy at your new category. You’ll need to ask for reconsideration yourself. 

Nupur Gambhir

Managing Editor

 

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Nupur Gambhir is the editor-in-chief of Insure.com and a licensed life, health and disability insurance agent in New York with seven years of experience covering insurance. Her expertise has been featured in Bloomberg News, Forbes Advisor, CNET, Fortune, Slate, Real Simple, Lifehacker, The Balance, The Financial Gym and MSN. She holds a BA in Economics from The Ohio State University.

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