Life insurance, also known as life assurance or life cover, is all about making arrangement to have a sum of money paid to our estate, or the people we leave behind, when we die.
Although we might want to consider life cover whatever our age, there are good reasons why we start to think about it when we get into our 50s.
Before we talk about the specific needs of the 50-somethings, let's go over exactly what life insurance is and the different types of policy you can buy.
There are two main type of life policy, term life insurance and whole life insurance.
We'll look at each one in turn: Term Life Insurance This is a policy where you insure your life for a specified term, or period of time.
This might be 25 years or it might be 5.
It could be whatever you choose.
You pay premiums to an insurance company for the whole term, and, if you die within the term, the policy will pay out the amount you insured your life for.
If you don't die within the specified period then the policy will make no payment to you.
Whole Life Insurance A whole life policy lasts until you die.
You generally pay premiums to the insurance company for the rest of your life, and, when you die, the policy is guaranteed to pay out the sum you insured your life for.
It's important to be clear about the differences between these two types of insurance policy, and understand the circumstances under which they will or won't make any payments.
There many reasons for considering an over 50s life policy.
Here are some of them: If you have a mortgage to pay off then a term life assurance policy which lasts as long as your mortgage has left to run will enable the debt to be cleared if you die within this time.
If you want to make sure that your funeral expenses are paid for whenever you die then a whole life assurance policy will pay a lump sum on your death.
If you have a growing family then a term policy will see that they are provided for if you die whilst your children are still growing up.
Not only is it important to choose the right type of policy, you also need to pay careful attention to the amount you will get when you die.
This is sometimes called the sum assured.
Obviously the greater the sum, the higher your premiums will be.
This should have given you an insight into life insurance for the over 50s policies, but it's always essential to get proper financial advice before buying any sort of insurance policy.
Although we might want to consider life cover whatever our age, there are good reasons why we start to think about it when we get into our 50s.
Before we talk about the specific needs of the 50-somethings, let's go over exactly what life insurance is and the different types of policy you can buy.
There are two main type of life policy, term life insurance and whole life insurance.
We'll look at each one in turn: Term Life Insurance This is a policy where you insure your life for a specified term, or period of time.
This might be 25 years or it might be 5.
It could be whatever you choose.
You pay premiums to an insurance company for the whole term, and, if you die within the term, the policy will pay out the amount you insured your life for.
If you don't die within the specified period then the policy will make no payment to you.
Whole Life Insurance A whole life policy lasts until you die.
You generally pay premiums to the insurance company for the rest of your life, and, when you die, the policy is guaranteed to pay out the sum you insured your life for.
It's important to be clear about the differences between these two types of insurance policy, and understand the circumstances under which they will or won't make any payments.
There many reasons for considering an over 50s life policy.
Here are some of them: If you have a mortgage to pay off then a term life assurance policy which lasts as long as your mortgage has left to run will enable the debt to be cleared if you die within this time.
If you want to make sure that your funeral expenses are paid for whenever you die then a whole life assurance policy will pay a lump sum on your death.
If you have a growing family then a term policy will see that they are provided for if you die whilst your children are still growing up.
Not only is it important to choose the right type of policy, you also need to pay careful attention to the amount you will get when you die.
This is sometimes called the sum assured.
Obviously the greater the sum, the higher your premiums will be.
This should have given you an insight into life insurance for the over 50s policies, but it's always essential to get proper financial advice before buying any sort of insurance policy.