Life Insurance for 70-Year-Old Woman, What You Need and What It’ll Cost

The process of getting life insurance gets harder as one ages. But that does not mean that being a 70-year-old woman will be impossible to get qualified. 

You will need a good insurance agent to do all the hard work for you since they are experienced and will advise according to the type of insurance coverage you are looking for. 

Whether you choose to look for an insurer online or through an agent, you will find different insurance companies that offer good insurance packages for people over 70. You may not get the best premiums or coverage at this age but some insurers offer really competitive rates so look around until you find one you are satisfied with.

Why Life Insurance is Important for a 70-year-old Woman

Just like any other younger individual, women at the age of 70 or above can get approved for life insurance. Before getting any life insurance coverage, it is important to first determine why you need it. It is unlikely for someone to just lock in a life insurance policy without a reason. In most cases, the policy is usually meant to serve a certain purpose especially after the insured person passes away.

For instance, applying for life insurance can help pay off a mortgage loan in case you pass away before it is fully paid. Also, these proceeds can be used to pay off other uncleared debts, instead of leaving that financial burden to your loved ones. 

If you are married or have a significant other life insurance can help secure a reliable income source for your partner after you die. You may want life insurance to support a child or grandchild perhaps have some funds available help with buying a house, car, or maybe just paying off some student debts.

Some people don’t like leaving the financial responsibility for their burial and funeral expenses for their loved ones. This is where life insurance comes into play, and any 70-year-old woman without any debts or a loved one to support can use life insurance to help pay for their final expenses. 

Life insurance proceeds can also be used to pay off possible estate taxes or income taxes that may due on the transfer of certain assets after you pass away. If you have a business that you want to keep running after your death life insurance can be a great way to ensure that operations run smoothly before it gets a new owner. 

Types of Life Insurance for a 70-year-old Woman

Finding the right life insurance coverage does not have to be hard. You only need to make sure that you have informed your agent of what your needs are and how much you can afford for a policy. This way, it will be easy to sort out the best options suited to what you want. The following are some of the most common types of life insurance for 70-year-old women.

Term Life Insurance

Term life insurance is one option that is available to you. If you only need coverage for a temporary period of time term life is the way to go. It is designed to cover an individual for a specific period of time. During the level term period your premium will not change and the death benefit on your policy will not change either.

Most companies offer coverage 10 or 15 years. However, only a handful of companies will offer a 20 year term plan at age 70.

Guaranteed Universal Life

Think of guaranteed universal life insurance like term life insurance. Technically it is not term life, but here is the thing.

You can get a guaranteed universal life policy that is guaranteed to stay in force until age 121 if you want. Chances are you won’t live to age 121, but think of this type of policy like a term policy that never ends as long as you continue to pay the premium. Sounds kind of like term policy doesn’t it.

If you are 70 today then this is like buying a 51 year term policy. You can also get coverage that is guaranteed to last until you are age 90, 100, or 110 instead. You can even pick an odd ball age like age 93 and have your policy be guaranteed to stay in force until age 93. If you did that it would be like having a 23 year term if you bought the policy at age 70.

Most companies that have guaranteed universal life policies have a minimum death benefit of $100,000. Some companies have policies that go as low as $50,000 and some go to $25,000.

Final Expense

This is another common type of life insurance for over 70. Final expense life insurance is mostly used to cover funeral expenses, outstanding debts and other expenses the deceased may not have cleared out while they were alive. 

Instead of leaving such financial burden for your loved ones, locking a final expense life insurance policy will give both you and them peace of mind. 

Coverage for final expense policies usually ranges anything from $5,000 to $50,000 and do not require medical examination to get approved. On the downside, it may be a little expensive because the underwriting is limited. You do not need to do a medical exam and the insurance company does not need to see your medical records. However, they will run a prescription drug check and see what medications you have been prescribed.

Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance

Guaranteed issue life insurance requires no medical exam and ask absolutely no questions. Therefore, anyone can qualify. With most companies that offer this kind of coverage it is available to those between the ages of 50 to 85. If you are not in good health and cannot get approved for any other type of policy the this is the way to go. Bottom line, it should be your last resort.

Also, if you have been denied approval for most insurance policies, a guaranteed issue policy may be the only option for you. 

The biggest downside for this kind of policy is that you will have to wait two full years before the policy will pay the full death benefit if you were to pass away. Also, when compared to other types of life insurance policies, guaranteed issue is more expensive. This may be a limitation for someone with a tight budget and even discouraging if it was the only option left for them. 

What to Do When Your Life Insurance Application is Denied

Understand that even though one company may not approve your application you may still be able to get approved with a different insurance company. Every insurance company has different underwriting guidelines. Some are more lenient with cancer survivors for instance while others are not. Some are better if you have diabetes and still some are better if you have a history of heart disease.

If you have been declined for coverage from one company it is important to know specifically why you were declined. Make sure the reasoning is correct. Occasionally there are errors in medical records. This doesn’t happen often, but it does happen. If it does and your doctor clears up any incorrect information, the insurance company will often accept a signed letter by the doctor on the doctors letterhead correcting something that is in the medical records.

The other thing to determine is if your application has been denied or just postponed. Often times an insurance company will postpone your application if there are pending surgeries or diagnostic tests that still need to be performed. For instance, one man we helped recently was told by his doctor that he should do a sleep study since he was showing signs of sleep apena. His application was postponed until after the sleep study was performed.

If your application is denied, ask your agent to contact the insurance company and inquire for the reasons why it was not approved. Review the information you are given to see if it is correct. Also, find out if there is anything you can do to get approved. If not, proceed to find another company that covers elderly individuals. 

One thing to that can prevent having your application denied is make sure you apply with the right company based on your health and lifestyle habit from the beginning. This is just one reason it is so important to work with a good independent agent. A independent agent can shop the market for you and help you determine the insurance company that will look at your application most favorably. On the other hand a captive agent is an employee and only represents one company. Presumably they will do the best they can for you, but they are limited in what they can offer you.

Sample Life Insurance Rates for 70-year-old Woman

Premium rates will differ from one company to the other and some policy packages will be more expensive than the others. Below are some sample rates for 70-year-old women. 

10-year term policy for a 70-year old woman

$96.16 monthly rate for a $25,000 policy

$91.67 monthly rate for a $50,000 policy

$118.62 monthly rate for a $100,000 policy

$192.59 monthly rate for a $200,000 policy

$257.31 monthly rate for a $300,000 policy

$457.55 monthly rate for a $500,000 policy

Simplified issue whole life insurance 

$53.24 monthly rate for $10,000 policy

$103.28 monthly rate for $20,000 policy 

$153.31 monthly rate for $30,000 policy

Guaranteed issue whole life insurance

$74.52 monthly rate for $10,000 policy

$110.78 monthly rate for $15,000 policy

$163.60 monthly rate for $20,000 policy

$204 monthly rate for $25,000 policy

Take Away

At 70 years of age, you will have a couple of companies to choose from, but not all insurers will have favorable rates and coverage. It is critical that you weigh the options you have and ask for advice from an expert if need be. Check rates for both short term and long term policies then decide to depend on what you will be able to afford.