Are you aged under 30 with a mortgage or people who depend on you financially? Safeguard your family’s future with young adult life insurance from less than £5 a month.
You’re never too young to start thinking about the future. Whether you’re planning to buy a home, start a family, or continue your education, there’s no better time to learn more about your options than the present.
However, if you’re yet to turn 30, thinking about life insurance might seem a bit premature. After all, for most young and healthy people, dying is likely to be decades away, so why take out a policy now?
Typically, life insurance for young adults is cheaper than policies designed for older people, meaning you may pay less over the course of your life. Young adult life insurance can also help you to secure a mortgage more easily and provide security for anyone that depends on you for financial support.
What Age Should You Get Life Insurance?
The age you take out life insurance will depend on your personal circumstances and needs. While taking out a policy when you’re younger is likely to be cheaper, it may not be the right decision for everyone.
Life insurance premiums often increase the most after the age of 35, but taking out level term life insurance or decreasing term life insurance too early could mean you are left without the cover you need in your 40s and 50s.
The two most common life events that prompt young adults to buy life insurance are applying for a mortgage and having children. Regardless of your age, if you foresee one or both of these events happening in the near future, life insurance could be something to consider.
Is Life Insurance Necessary for Young Adults?
Life insurance isn’t necessary for all young adults, but it can provide peace of mind to those who have families that depend on them. For example, if you have a partner who would struggle to pay the bills without your income, or young children who rely on you for all their basic needs, life insurance could provide them with financial security if you were to pass away.
To help you decide if life insurance is necessary for you, consider the following questions:
· Do you have children or relatives you take care of?
· Are you married, in a civil partnership or a long-term relationship?
· Does your partner rely on your income?
· Do you have a mortgage on your home or another property?
· Do you support your parents or extended family financially?
· Does your partner have life insurance and would you like a joint policy?
If your answer to any of these questions was yes, life insurance could be something to consider.
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How Much Does Young Adult Life Insurance Cost?
The cost of life insurance for young people is usually lower than for older adults, especially if you’re taking out a policy before you’re 35. However, age isn’t the only factor that helps life insurance companies decide your premiums.
Your lifestyle choices and overall health can have a big impact on how much you pay for life insurance. Behaviours such as smoking, vaping, and substance abuse can all increase your life insurance costs, as can certain pre-existing medical conditions. If finding affordable life insurance is particularly important to you, you may want to take steps to improve your health and change your habits.
The type of life insurance cover you take out also has an impact on cost. For example, a whole life insurance policy is likely to cost more than one for a specific term. Similarly, add-ons such as critical illness cover or family income benefit could increase your monthly premiums. It’s really important you only take out the cover you need to avoid increasing your costs needlessly.
At Money Expert, we can provide you with a range of life insurance quotes to help you make the right decision for you and your family.
Are You Too Young for Life Insurance?
UK residents can take out life insurance once they turn 18, but it can be worth exploring your options before then. There’s nothing stopping you from enquiring about different life insurance policies in the lead up to your birthday to help you make an informed decision.
However, many young people don’t explore life insurance options until their 30s because they feel too young. While it’s true that the risk of dying in your 20s is significantly lower than in your 60s, it’s important to think about what would happen to your family if you were to pass away unexpectedly.
Ultimately, your decision to take out life insurance shouldn’t rest on your age, but the people around you who may need financial protection after you die.
What is the Best Life Insurance for Young Adults?
The best life insurance for young people is the type that meets their needs. As a result, there’s no one policy that’s right for every young person. However, if you’re thinking about buying young adult life insurance and aren’t sure where to begin, here are some types of life insurance that could work for you:
· Level Term: Level term life insurance will provide you with a set amount of cover over a specific time frame. This means that the payout your family receives will stay the same, making it a reliable policy to choose.
· Whole of Life: Whole of life cover will provide you with protection throughout your entire life. This means that no matter when you die, your family will receive a payout. Whole of life policies can be more expensive, but they may be more affordable if you take them out when you’re young.
· Joint: Joint life insurance is ideal for young people that are married or have a partner. Joint cover typically costs less than two separate policies, but it’s worth keeping in mind that if one of you dies, the surviving partner will no longer be covered by that same policy.
· Decreasing Term: Popular amongst people with mortgages, decreasing term life insurance reduces over time. This means that as you pay off your debt, your life insurance will proportionally decrease to give you only the cover you really need.
· Increasing Term: If you expect your costs to increase over time, increasing term life insurance may be right for you. For example, young adults that plan to grow their family or move to a larger home may choose increasing term insurance to make sure their loved ones are protected as their lifestyle changes.
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How can life insurance help you and your family?
Life insurance can offer an important helping hand to any financial dependants you have should you pass away. The payout will help cover general expenses like bills or food shopping that you might have been responsible for. But life insurance policies are often taken out to cover debts or expenses like mortgages or funeral costs.
Mortgage Protection
If your family would struggle to keep up with mortgage payments without your income, most policies will ensure they don’t lose their home if you pass away. Decreasing term policies are designed to cover specific debts like this.
Loss of Income
If you have any dependents that rely on you for day-to-day living expenses, then a level term policy that pays out a fixed lump sum in the event of your death can be an important source of peace of mind
Funeral Expenses
If you want to ensure that your family can meet funeral or burial expenses following your death, you can seek out dedicated funeral cover policies. The average funeral in the UK cost £4,056**.
Your Children's Education
A life insurance policy can help you make sure there is money available for your children’s future, even if you are not there to see it.
Check out our life insurance guides
We endeavour to keep our users fully informed when it comes to taking out a life insurance policy. Please read through our handy guides to find the information you need.
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Life Insurance FAQs
Should I consider life insurance?
Life insurance can be a very important consideration for most people who want to make sure that they have put measures in place to provide their loved ones with financial security in the event of their death. It can be a great way to make sure that your debts are paid off if you pass away, including things such as the remainder of your mortgage. It can also pay for your funeral and can help your family cover their everyday expenses.
Having said all of this, life insurance is not necessary a worthwhile investment for everybody. If you are somebody who does not have any financial dependants and you are single, you may not want to spend your money on something that will only yield benefits when you are no longer around to reap them. In a similar way if you have children but they are of an age where they can provide for themselves financial and no longer rely upon you for their wellbeing or accommodation, there may be no real need for you to commit to this financially.
Do employers offer life insurance?
There are many employers who offer what is referred to as a death-in-service benefit. This death-in-service benefit is a payment that your family will receive from the company that employs you, if you die whilst still being employed by them. This benefit will come in the form of a lump sum and normally equals about four times your yearly salary. This can sometimes be enough to help your family with the immediate financial burden that they will be placed under but you may want to take out some extra cover depending on what you need.
How does term life insurance work?
Term life insurance is the most commonly chosen form of policy and is the most affordable - when compared to life assurance. This works on the basis of deciding on a set period and covering you for that - this time period is what is referred to as the term. This means that if you agreed upon plan lasted for a 20-year term, you would be covered for that period and if you were to die, your family would receive a payout. Once the agreed upon term has finished, your cover will expire and your family will no longer receive a payout in the event of your death.
How does your payout change over time?
The answer to this question changes depending on the type of insurance policy that you take out. If you take out a level term insurance policy, the amount that you receive as a payout will stay the same no matter when you die - provided you die within the term of the policy.
You also have the option of taking out a decreasing term life insurance policy, these policies give a lower payout the longer that the policy goes on for. This means that if you were to die in the first year of your policy, your family could receive something like £150,000. If you were to die in the last year of your policy, your family would receive a much lower sum. The main reason that people take out decreasing term policies is to cover their outstanding debts in the event of their death. Things such as mortgages will be paid off as time passes and you move through the term therefore your family will need less money to finish its payment the later your insurance pays out.
How long should I get cover for?
This is question that purely depends on your own, personal situation. Some people decide to choose a term that will last until their children have reached the age of 18 whilst others choose a term that will go until their children have finished university. It really just comes down to what you want to get out of your life insurance plan. You should also take your age into account when making this decision as that will affect the amount that you pay for your policy.
What do I do if I want a payout to be guaranteed?
Some people would like to choose a plan that will make a payout regardless of the time of their death. Fortunately, this is possible to achieve by taking out what is referred to as a whole of life assurance policy. This then means that the payout your family receives will not be dependent on when exactly you pass away. One thing to bear in mind if you do decide to go down this avenue is the fact that the cost of whole of life assurance is normally quite a lot higher than normal term life insurance.
Will my life insurance premiums change throughout the policy?
The majority of life insurance plans offer what they refer to as "guaranteed" premiums, this means that the amount that you pay is fixed throughout the entirety of the plan and you don't need to worry about them changing unexpectedly. This is worth checking in the fine print before you sign up, because not all of them have "guaranteed" premiums. Some plans will have what is referred to as "reviewable" premiums, these reviews normally result in price rises since that you will be older than you were when the insurance plan started.
This is different if you were to take a whole of life assurance policy because normally your plan will be tied to an investment, if this investment does not do well, the provider can up the cost of your premiums.
How much should I expect to pay for life insurance?
The cost of different life insurance policies vary a lot depending on what form of plan you are taking out and also on how large you want the payout to be. As with all forms of insurance, providers are essentially betting against you making a claim. This means that if they view you as a higher risk candidate, they will charge you more for insurance than they would somebody who was at a lower risk. This means that if you are somebody who is in great physical shape and leads a healthy lifestyle, you can expect to pay slightly lower rates on your premium than somebody who is not. They also take age into account when deciding upon the cost of your plan, as a general rule the older you are the more expensive the plan will be however there are other factors taken into account. If you are a smoker, quitting will lower the rates that you need to pay.
Can I get life insurance if I am already ill?
Some people find it difficult to take out life insurance if they have already been diagnosed with a serious medical condition as there are many insurance companies who will not allow policies to these people. There are however some companies that will still allow you to take out an insurance policy at a higher premium. There are other companies that offer policies which exclude cover for the disease you have been diagnosed with but will cover you if you die from a cause that is unrelated to it. You should check with an insurance company directly to find out exactly what is covered by the policies they offer, this way you can find out if the plan is relevant to you or not before you sign up to it.
How does age affect life insurance prices?
There is a general rule that applies to pricing in relation to age, and that is that the older you get the more expensive your premium will be. The reason for this is straightforward - that the older you are the shorter your life expectancy and therefore the likelihood is higher that you will pass away whilst on the plan.
However, age is not the only thing that your insurer will take into account. They will also consider things such as your general health and lifestyle so it is important to focus on these things especially if you are older and looking for an affordable policy. There are still a lot of insurers who will cover somebody over the age of 50 and some of them will even do this without requiring a medical first.
What if I want to insure my partner too?
There are many couples who are now opting to take out what are known as joint life insurance policies that offer shared protection between partners. This offers the benefits of being less complicated because you are required to fill out half as much documentation. They are also considerably cheaper than the alternative of taking out two separate policies - one for each of the individuals. However, when considering one of these policies, it is important to remember that they work on a first death basis when it comes to paying out. This means that the policy will only payout on the first death out of the two policy holders. This will leave the second partner without cover and facing the prospect of higher premiums when taking out a new policy due to their increased age. To learn more about whether a single or joint life insurance policy is right for you, take a look at our helpful guide.
Do my family need to pay tax on the payout?
The payout that your family receive as the result of your life insurance will not be taxed by capital gains or income tax. However, there is a chance that it may fall under inheritance tax in some situations. This can be easily avoided if you make sure that when you are writing your policy it is written "in trust". Writing it up "in trust" allows the payout to go straight to your dependents without being in anyway affected by inheritance tax.
How much cover do I need?
To work out how much cover you need you should work out exactly what you need it for. If you’re taking out a policy so that your dependants can pay off your mortgage when you die, then you should take out a decreasing term life insurance policy with the same value as your remaining mortgage debt.
Otherwise it’s worth trying to add up roughly what you spend regularly on behalf of your dependants. If your children are younger, then you’ll likely want to opt for more cover than if they’re older, when they’re more likely to be financially independent. Read our guide on family cover for further info.
How long should my term be?
This also depends on your reasons for taking out your cover. If your priority is to find a policy that will help your dependants cope with any debts you leave after you pass away, then you should time your policy accordingly. If the debts will be paid off within 10 years, you probably don’t need your policy to last much longer than that.
It might be the case that even when your debts are all paid off, your children might not be old enough to be fully financially independent. In this case, you might want to extend the term of your life cover until they are. If you have very young children, then you may want to get a considerably longer term than somebody who has children who are already in their 20s.
Last reviewed: 1 September 2023
Next review: 1 October 2023