Life Insurance: Why You Need It and How to Save Money on It

This post was sponsored by SelectQuote, but all opinions are my own.

Life insurance. This is something my husband and I just recently acquired for our family, and I’m so glad we did. We are about to have our third baby, and if something were to happen to either one of us, we need to know that the other person and our children are protected, without having to rely on grandparents or distant relatives to take on the financial burden.

There are generally two types of life insurance: Whole life insurance and term life insurance. Whole life insurance is a lifelong insurance policy that steadily grows year after year. While it’s a bit more expensive than term life insurance, whole life insurance is typically what people think of when thinking of insurance policies. *But, if you’re trying to save money, I highly recommend term life insurance. Whole life insurance can be 10 times more pricey per year than term!

Term life insurance, on the other hand, is life insurance for a predetermined period of time (up to 30 years). The benefit to this type of insurance is that it’s significantly more affordable than whole life insurance. SelectQuote, a term life insurance company that’s been in business for more than 30 years, can find you term life insurance for less than a dollar a day. I don’t know about you, but if something costs me less than $1 per day but guarantees my family is protected in the event of an emergency, I’m all in.

Do I Feel More Secure with Life Insurance?

Absolutely. As I stated above, we are new to life insurance. With kids, though, I truly cannot imagine leaving them and my husband to fend for themselves financially if something were to happen to me. While we’ve done our best to pay down debts and earn side money, we still have bills to pay and an expensive monthly mortgage obligation. I sleep better at night knowing that my family is protected.

How to Save Money on Life Insurance

If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you know I like to save money. I’m not “cheap” by any means and definitely enjoy little things in life like going out to eat and decorating my home for the holidays, but at the same time, I’m always looking for ways to stretch my dollar further. Sometimes, this means ordering my meal off the kids menu when we go out to eat or splitting a meal with my husband. I use coupons regularly when shopping and try to only buy things on sale. Our life insurance policy is no different.

The absolute best way to save money on life insurance – or anything for that matter – is to shop around. If you’re seeking term life insurance, SelectQuote has a network of over 20 life insurance companies that they will work with in order to guarantee you get the best rate. The service is free to use, meaning you can comparison shop insurance companies without actually having to call different insurance companies.

Other ways to save money on life insurance include:

Get healthy! Non-smokers and those that are an average weight, for example, will pay less for life insurance than smokers and people who are even slightly overweight. Looks like fitting into your skinny jeans isn’t the only reason to lose weight, after all. If you have a pre-existing condition, you’ll most likely still have to pay a bit more for your coverage. But, in the event that something happens, it will be more than worth it to know your family is protected.

Ask if you can pay annually. You can save money on your auto insurance by paying annually rather than monthly. Most life insurance companies are willing to grant you the same benefit, too. When you’re getting quotes, ask if you can receive a monthly premium and an annual premium. Compare the costs of each.

Buy young. Fingers crossed, but I hope neither my husband nor I am going anywhere anytime soon. I’d love to live a full, rich life well into retirement. But, the reality is none of us know what tomorrow holds. While we both are young and healthy, that doesn’t mean something won’t happen in the near future. And, by purchasing term life insurance while we’re young and healthy, we’ll save money as opposed to waiting until there is more of a need (ie, waiting until we have medical conditions and a higher risk of something happening).

Buy the minimum amount you need. We only wanted to pay for the amount of coverage that we needed. While you can of course purchase more, why spend more money than you have to? Calculate your yearly expenses (mortgage, debts, bills, living expenses, etc.) in addition to the cost of college for your kids, funeral expenses, and any other future expenses you can think of. If you have a new baby, make sure to re-evaluate your coverage.

Do you currently have a life insurance policy? Do you feel more secure knowing that your family is protected?