How Much Does a Million Dollar Term Life Insurance Policy Cost?

“One million dollars…..baawaahahahahah!”

I can't help but chuckle when I think of Dr. Evil saying that in the classic series Austin Powers.

For many people, one million dollars sounds like a lot of money – and it is!

But a common misconception is that one million dollars of term life insurance is very expense.

That couldn't be further from the truth.

To demonstrate, I attained quotes from the top insurance carriers using my new handy dandy free life insurance quoter.

Yes, I realize you could have entered the info yourself and found it on your own. I thought I would be a nice guy and find out for you. 🙂

Do You Really Need a Million Dollar Term Life Insurance Policy?

A million dollars sounds like A LOT of money, and might even conjure up thoughts of being worth more dead than alive And maybe 20 or 30 years ago, that would have been true. After all, with an average income of $30-40,000 back then who could possibly imagine needing that much life insurance. But times have changed, and the cost of living is a lot higher than it was back then. If you have a family, then a million dollar life insurance policy is practically the minimum coverage you’ll need to insure that they’ll be provided for in the event of your death.

Do you think that’s an exaggeration? Let’s look at the numbers.

Final expenses – mostly funeral costs – are likely to be something like $20,000. Then there may be uncovered medical expenses. I think $30,000 is a reasonable guestimate on that front. Right there we’re at $50,000 and we haven’t even provided for anyone’s living expenses yet.

Speaking of which, let’s say that your income after taxes and other deductions is about $50,000 per year – that’s the amount of annual income that your family will lose as a result of your death. If you have two kids, say ages 10 and 8, you’ll need to cover your lost income for about 15 years, or until your youngest is in his/her early 20s. $50,000 times 15 years is $750,000.

So far, we’re up to $800,000. But what about paying off your mortgage upon your death, or providing money for your children’s college education? Either or both could easily require $200,000 or more to accomplish.

Which brings us neatly up to the $1 million mark, and we haven’t even insured your family against every possible financial need!

No – a million dollar life insurance policy is hardly exorbitant. Even for a middle income family, it’s probably closer to the new normal than we like to think, despite the fact that it seems like such an impossibly high number.

Why Term Life Insurance – Why Not Investment-type Life Insurance?

In a word – cost! Life insurance policies that include an investment provision – like whole life insurance – aren’t just more expensive than term policies, they’re much more expensive. In fact, they’re closer to the smoker rates you see below than they are to the term quotes. Are you scared yet?

That’s a problem on a number of fronts. For starters, people with the greatest need for a large amount of life insurance are usually young families. If you have young, very-dependent children, you are almost certainly dealing with the high cost associated with caring for them, such as a stay-at-home spouse (or paid childcare), rapid-fire doctor visits, babysitters, tutors, after school activities and funding their college educations. How much money will be left in the budget to pay for life insurance after you’re done paying for all of that?

There’s also the necessity to match life insurance coverage with actual financial need. Most people have a greater need for life insurance coverage at certain times of their lives than at others. Once again, we have to consider young families. They have a need for what is usually the highest amount of coverage they’ll ever require. But in 20 years, when their children graduate from college and are independent adults, the need for life insurance will plummet! This is especially true if the couple have accumulated a sizeable amount of investments over the years, and are less dependent on life insurance.

Speaking of accumulating investments, a cheap term policy allow you to save and invest a lot more than a whole life policy will. The difference will be thousands of dollars per year. And if you can save enough money going forward, you won’t need so much life insurance in the future.

So inexpensive term life insurance will be the best solution for most people. And on that note, let’s get to the quotes!

About The Term Life Quotes

As you'll notice, each table has a wide array of information.  Knowing that everybody is in a different situation, I wanted to make sure that I offered quotes for almost situation.  I've included quotes for 30 year term, 20 year term, and 10 year term.   If you're a tobacco user, I've also included some quotes on life insurance for smokers.

30 Year Term Life Quote One Million Dollars

For those that think that a million dollar term policy is expensive, you'll quickly notice that for a 25 year old male in good health only costs $645 per year with a 35 year old costing $795.   On a monthly basis that's almost next to nothing!

20 Year Term Life Quote One Million Dollars

There is a big drop off in price between a 20 year and a 30year since underwriters do not have to worry as much about life expectancy.  For many people a 20 year policy gets them exactly where they want to be in life when the policy term runs out.

10 Year Term Life Quote One Million Dollars

Once again, you get a $200 drop in the annual premium by losing another 10 years on the term.  If your life insurance agent isn't giving you all these term options and is only focused on the death benefit, then you need a different agent.

Smoker Term Life Quote One Million Dollars

For all you smokers out there – beware! The cost of of your life insurance balloons, as you’ll see here. If you’re considering kicking the habit, now is as good time as any.

You’re not powerless on this front either. Some life insurance companies will give you a lower rate if you complete a recognized smoking cessation program, and you go without smoking for at least two years. It won’t help your immediate situation, but when you see the premium rates below, you might agree that it’s something to work toward!

Bottom Line

Getting a one million dollar term life insurance policy is not as expensive as most people believe.  Even those who opt for the more expensive permanent life insurance policy will many times be surprised at the price.  Either way, you can get these larger amounts of coverage and still not break the bank.

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