You pay a lot less for term life insurance today than you would 20 years ago.

A couple of weeks ago I picked up a rate book from one of the finest and largest life insurance companies in the industry. I was just scanning the pages and it occurred to me that the term insurance premiums looked really high. I decided to do a comparison between todays premiums and the premiums of yesteryear. The results were quite surprising.

Although I was very aware that term life insurance premiums had been lowered considerably by insurance companies I was not aware that the difference was so great. The premiums for the year 2007 are one third of those for 1987 in many a case and in some cases as little as a quarter of the 1987 costs. That is a dramatic change. Why is this?

I am not an actuary or a statistician but based on what has occurred in the industry over that time period it would seem that the rise in demand for term insurance has dramatically affected the cost. Everyone wants term insurance now. Some people are aware that they may need to convert to a permanent policy later on but there are those who have no intention of buying any other type of insurance.

I will not debate the correctness of thinking of either side at this point as this article is really intended to emphasize the great reduction in term premium rates. I do think, however, I should touch on which policies are the ones people tend to buy most and why. this is for the benefit of the reader.

The 10 year, 20 year and 30 year term policies tend to be the most purchased...the 20 year term policy being the most outstanding. Round and about age 30 or may be age 35 you find yourself in a pretty solid financial position. You have achieved some measure of success. May be you are already married or, on the other hand, may be you are thinking about it. You want to have children and it occurs to you that you will need some life insurance. You think, why not buy it now while you can still get your policy at a low rate and while you can still qualify. With these plans in mind you find the 20 year or 30 year term policies could fit your need nicely.

If for some reason you had found financial stability a little later in life and your children are in their teens you may feel the 10 year term policy would be ideal.

Regardless of your situation now you will find that later on you need to buy additional life insurance. Your term policies may be about to expire. In any case they will expire at some time. If you are still in good health you can start a new term life insurance policy at a higher premium than that of your original policy.

On the other hand, life insurance companies allow you to convert your term policy within a specific period. If you are still within that period you can convert to a permanent policy. A good policy to use would be a universal life policy. I suggest this because of it's flexibility. You can also convert to whole life but this will mean a higher premium.

All in all there is no reason why anyone who needs life insurance today shouldn't own a policy. The premiums are so low.