Should I Wait to Buy Term Life Insurance?

[stevembarnett]

Here is my situation...I am a 49 yr old software developer, with a wife and no kids. I currently have no life insurance but plan to get a 15 yr $500k term life insurance policy to be covered until retirement age. My health is not ideal...I am about 80 lbs overweight with high cholesterol, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes. Also I quit smoking about 15 yrs ago.

Recently I started a new whole food plant based diet that has proven to help tons of people like me lose the weight, reverse all of the health conditions listed above to the point of no longer needing any of the accompanying prescription medications...all with a relatively short amount of time (1 to 2 years). I am already seeing the health benefits after losing 20 lbs in 2 months and am determined to continue this lifestyle indefinitely.

So my dilemma is...Should I get a policy now and be locked into a higher rate for 20 yrs due to my current health or wait to see if I can get healthy in a reasonable amount of time first in order to bring down the rate? I know that this is a risk decision that only I can make. I just need to know what to level of benefit to expect if I do choose to wait. I am not sure how much of a rate improvement to expect if I were to drastically improve my health. Also do I have to have a consistent level of good health for a certain period of time before the rates will be lower. I know that each year the rates will be higher because of my age, but I'm not sure which will outweigh the other...Good Health vs Age.

Any opinions or guidance is much appreciated!

Thanks,
Steve

 

[STIBROKER]

Here is my situation...I am a 49 yr old software developer, with a wife and no kids. I currently have no life insurance but plan to get a 15 yr $500k term life insurance policy to be covered until retirement age. My health is not ideal...I am about 80 lbs overweight with high cholesterol, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes. Also I quit smoking about 15 yrs ago.

Recently I started a new whole food plant based diet that has proven to help tons of people like me lose the weight, reverse all of the health conditions listed above to the point of no longer needing any of the accompanying prescription medications...all with a relatively short amount of time (1 to 2 years). I am already seeing the health benefits after losing 20 lbs in 2 months and am determined to continue this lifestyle indefinitely.

So my dilemma is...Should I get a policy now and be locked into a higher rate for 20 yrs due to my current health or wait to see if I can get healthy in a reasonable amount of time first in order to bring down the rate? I know that this is a risk decision that only I can make. I just need to know what to level of benefit to expect if I do choose to wait. I am not sure how much of a rate improvement to expect if I were to drastically improve my health. Also do I have to have a consistent level of good health for a certain period of time before the rates will be lower. I know that each year the rates will be higher because of my age, but I'm not sure which will outweigh the other...Good Health vs Age.

Any opinions or guidance is much appreciated!

Thanks,
Steve

Take out a plan now and when your health improves replace it with a new policy.....Online LIfe Insurance Quotes | No Agent Needed | M2 Insurance

 

[jdeasy]

No. Everyone should just wait until the day before they die to get life insurance.

The real problem is figuring out that day.

 

[stevembarnett]

Thanks STIBROKER!...Great advice! Please excuse the ignorance. I didn't realize that you could simply drop a policy that easily. I thought you were locked in...duh

 

[eersfan]

You can replace (drop) a policy anytime you wish to do so. But if you do, make sure the replacement policy in in-force before cancelling the old one.

 

[LGilmore]

To the OP. You're a type II (so am I) you will be a type II for the rest of your life. It is not reversible, only controllable.

What ever you buy now, will probably be the best price you will get for the rest of your life.

Keep working on getting things under control so you will live longer. But, please don't kid yourself into waiting until things get better and then purchasing.

I tell you this as a totally uninsurable person. If I had not purchased my coverage prior to, I would have none. Try to get what you can now and don't expect it to be cheap. It won't be.

Life insurance companies don't care if you don't buy from them as then they don't have to pay anything for your premature death. You should care about the people you'll leave behind as they will actually experience the consequence of your death. Get what you can now.

If and I do mean if your health improves later, you can always buy another policy. But, the longer you wait at this point, the less likely you are to find anything.

Sorry. don't wait, you can't or the people you love can't afford it.

 

[DHK]

It's also possible to take a new medical exam and have an existing company re-rate your policy after at least 12 months, and lower the premium on that existing policy.

Either way - as others have said - don't wait and don't expect it to be cheap.

Some is better than none.

More is (generally) better than less.

A 'bad policy' will still pay out a death benefit.

 

[Cash]

You have a much higher chance of dying from an unintentional accident than diabetes at this point in your life.

Definitely get in shape though. You are just now hitting the age where men start to die due to health problems that can be mitigated.

I lost 30 pounds in a short amount of time eating steak and eggs with pineapple.

 

[stevembarnett]

Thanks everyone for the great advice! I will proceed with getting a policy now, and later if my health improves I will look into getting a new policy.

LGilmore - I hear you...My doctor also told me that I would have diabetes for the rest of my life. However there are plenty of examples of people who have reversed their type 2 diabetes with a whole food plant based diet. Check it out...It could change your life.

 

[jboussea]

Thanks everyone for the great advice! I will proceed with getting a policy now, and later if my health improves I will look into getting a new policy.

LGilmore - I hear you...My doctor also told me that I would have diabetes for the rest of my life. However there are plenty of examples of people who have reversed their type 2 diabetes with a whole food plant based diet. Check it out...It could change your life.

alot of diseases that are common today are linked to our poor diet and poor agriculture... It only makes sense that better diet and better agriculture would reverse that.. but people don't know what consitutes a better diet and we've been misinformed for years..

have you followed John Bergman?