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Life insurance is a great way to care for your family's financial needs once you're gone. In the right circumstances, it can be a retirement tool and can help your descendants build generational wealth. Compare cheap life insurance options that fit your budget below.
Best Cheap Life Insurance of 2024
- Best for guaranteed coverage: Ethos Life
- Best for customer satisfaction: State Farm Life Insurance
- Best for pre-existing conditions: Guardian Life Insurance
- Best for whole life: New York Life Insurance
- Best for customized coverage: Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance
- Best for military and veterans: USAA Life Insurance
- Best for foreign nationals: Transamerica Life Insurance
Best Cheap Life Insurance Comparison
The best cheap life insurance is a segment of the best life insurance that offers decent coverage without breaking the bank. It might not have the most comprehensive benefits or bells and whistles, but the companies within this guide still offer a variety of coverage options, many of which can still play a major role in your financial plan.
Here are our picks for the best cheap life insurance companies in 2024.
Best affordable life insurance for customer satisfaction
State Farm Life Insurance
State Farm Life Insurance took the top spot in the most recent JD Power U.S. Life Insurance Study. Its agents are well versed in its auto, home, life, and other insurance products, quoting with all applicable discounts, claims management, and more. State Farm sells several types of whole life policies ranging from a single premium option (for immediate protection) to a whole life policy with fixed payments. Adults between 50 and 80 may also qualify for a final expense policy with a $10,000 death benefit.
State Farm Life Insurance operates in all states except Massachusetts, New York, and Wisconsin. State Farm Life and Accident Assurance Company offers similar life insurance policies in New York and Wisconsin. Wherever you are within the U.S., quoting is easy, especially if you're already a customer.
Read our State Farm Life Insurance review.
Best affordable life insurance for pre-existing conditions
Guardian Life Insurance
Guardian Life Insurance offers easy online quotes in minutes with no insurance agent required. In addition, the company offers term policies as short as 10 years and as long as 30 years. It also provides whole, universal, and other life insurance products.
What sets Guardian Life apart from other life insurance companies is its unique HIV life insurance. Of course, conditions apply, such as a two-year history of antiretroviral therapy, no AIDS-defining illnesses, and an undetectable HIV viral load. Recently, the company has expanded this program to allow buyers up to age 65. Buyers with a history of IV drug use also have more flexibility as the company can offer coverage after seven years instead of the previous 10 years. The HIV plan is just one of the innovative life insurance products offered by a select few life insurance providers, including Guardian Life.
Read our Guardian Life Insurance review.
Best affordable life insurance for guaranteed coverage
Ethos Life Insurance
Also among the companies in our list of the best no medical exam life insurance, Ethos Life is known for its efforts to work with difficult-to-insure populations. The company offers easy online quotes and term and permanent life insurance options. It also has guaranteed issue policies, meaning guaranteed acceptance if you fall between predefined age limits. At this time, all guaranteed issue policies with Ethos are whole life policies. While some companies may offer no medical exam term life insurance, issuance requires underwriter review.
Ethos' guaranteed coverage plans can offer death benefits up to $25,000 for applicants between 65 and 85. Guaranteed plans primarily cover funerals and other final expenses. If you're seeking a higher death benefit, Ethos offers whole, term, and no medical exam policies. Its monthly premiums start at just $7 per month, but interested customers should get a quote on their preferred life insurance plan to nail down exact premiums.
Read our Ethos Life Insurance review.
Best affordable life insurance for whole life
New York Life Insurance
New York Life Insurance specializes in multi-million dollar investment policies great for retirement planning with term, whole, and universal life insurance options. However, it does not provide online quotes. In addition, New York Life insurance agents complete extensive training to answer all questions about its policies and help buyers identify the right policy. New York Life agents can add riders to customize plans to meet your needs. Even with some of its smaller policies, policyholders may earn dividends.
Read our New York Life Insurance review.
Best affordable life insurance for customized coverage
Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance
Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance temporarily unseated State Farm as the top life insurance company in customer satisfaction. While it may not top JD Power's rankings currently, the company continues to offer easy quoting, strong customer service, and a streamlined process overall. Northwestern Mutual also allows buyers to utilize diverse riders to customize plans to meet their needs.
Adding a rider to protect your life insurance benefits if you're sick and can't make payments is just one of the affordable life insurance riders offered by Northwestern Mutual. Working with a qualified life insurance agent is the best way to ensure you can customize your plan to meet your needs.
Read our Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance review.
Best affordable life insurance for military and veterans
USAA Life Insurance
USAA Life Insurance is available to buyers with no connection to the military, though USAA as a whole has become synonymous with financial services for veterans. What makes it unique is its life insurance policies are open to active-duty military members. Outside of SGLI (servicemember's group life insurance), many life insurance companies restrict coverage for military members in specific ways. SGLI may be generous while you're involved with the military. But once you separate, the coverage would no longer be available.
USAA offers whole life insurance policies with expedited coverage for deployed soldiers. It also provides severe injury benefits and coverage for wartime. One key selling point for veterans is USAA guarantees SGLI replacement when separating from the military.
Read our USAA Life Insurance review.
Best affordable life insurance for foreign nationals
Transamerica Life Insurance
Transamerica Life Insurance (AEGON) offers life insurance limits of up to $10 million with many universal life insurance policies and other permanent options. Visa holders can also buy plans with Transamerica. When evaluating your risk class, some restrictions may apply depending on the country of origin.
Transamerica has decades of history in the life insurance market. It also reports faster underwriting and processing times than its competitors. If you're interested in life insurance with Transamerica, we recommend contacting an agent. It offers limited quotes online, but many of the best policies are only sold through licensed insurance agents.
Read our Transamerica Life Insurance review.
Types of Cheap Life Insurance
Term Life Insurance
Term life insurance is one of the cheapest types of life insurance because it doesn't guarantee a payout. Instead, you're buying temporary coverage over a set period of time, usually over 10, 20, or 30 years. If you die during your term, your beneficiaries get a payout. However, if you die after your policy ends, your loved ones don't get anything.
Term life also lacks the added benefits that come with some types of permanent life insurance, such as cash value, which is money that a permanent life insurance policy accrues that can be used by the policyholder during their lifetime.
Simplified Issue Life Insurance
Simplified issue life insurance is a type of no medical exam life insurance, which simplifies the underwriting process. Applicants still have to answer a health questionnaire and insurance companies still have access to an applicant's medical records and prescription history, but don't have to see a doctor. The application process is far quicker than a traditional life insurance application process. However, serious or terminal medical issues can still prevent you from qualifying.
Simplified issue policies are generally more expensive than traditional term life insurance. However, with limited death benefits, they're still cheaper than many other types of life insurance.
Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance
Guaranteed issue life insurance offers coverage with low applicant requirements and a simple underwriting process. It has relatively high premiums compared to the aforementioned simplified issue or term life, but is still cheap compared to other types of life insurance.
Guaranteed issue offers lower death benefits than simplified life, usually just enough to cover final expenses such as funerals and burials. As such, it's limited to applicants who are 50 and older.
How to Find the Cheapest Life Insurance
We recommend starting with online research if you want a low cost life insurance plan. You can get quotes online if you want a plan to cover funerals and other limited costs. But first, decide what you want your life insurance plan to do, how much you can afford to spend each month, etc.
Consider Your Needs
While policy terms and cost are important to consider, flipping through various life insurance policies won't do you much good unless you know what you're looking for. You'll need to consider what your goals are for your policy and the kind of death benefits you want to pass onto your loved ones.
Consider Your Health and Age
You'll want to consider your health and age in your life insurance search, as these factors determine what you're eligible for and what you should expect to pay. These factors will also affect your needs, as younger people may want to use their policy for investing and older people may want to simply ease the final expense burden on their loved ones after they pass.
Shop Around for the Right Policy Type
As your goals and needs solidify, you'll begin to understand the type of life insurance you should be shopping for.
For example, if you want your policy to play a role in your financial life, you'll want to look for policies with investment options, such as whole life insurance or universal life insurance. If you're more concerned about unexpected deaths or want a cheap policy, a term life insurance policy will be preferable. Affordable life insurance for seniors can be more difficult to find. Your best bets for this type of insurance is guaranteed issue life insurance.
Compare Quotes
The best way to find life insurance is to collect quotes from as many life insurance companies as you can to understand what you'll pay with each policy. You can use life insurance aggregators like Policygenius to compare multiple quotes side-by-side. You should be prepared to answer an extensive list of questions related to your current health status, your medical history, and your family's medical history. You may also have to answer questions related to your financial health and driving history.
Once you input all this information, you'll be able to find low-cost life insurance companies and quotes for various types of life insurance, such as no medical exam quotes.
Talk to an expert
We recommend talking to at least one licensed insurance agent. Ask questions about the things you don't understand. Let an agent help you calculate the ideal benefit for your needs. Ask which riders customers add to the policies you're looking at. Additionally, Some of the best life insurance products can only be quoted or sold through a licensed insurance agent
Best Cheap Life Insurance FAQs
It's never too late to get life insurance unless your age is above a company's cutoff. The advantage of getting a life insurance policy when you're relatively young is that you will be considered less of a risk and, therefore, pay lower premiums.
The most important thing to keep in mind when applying for life insurance is that you shouldn't lie. If the insurer discovers later that you weren't truthful about aspects of your application, such as health conditions or substance use, your policy could be rendered ineffective.
Adverse health decisions, such as smoking, can make life insurance more expensive since you pose a greater risk to your insurer. Additionally, choosing certain policies, like permanent life insurance or no medical exam insurance, can increase your monthly premiums.
Yes, you can still get life insurance if you smoke, but you will typically pay higher premiums than non-smokers, and your death benefits may be limited. Some companies may offer non-smoker rates after you've been smoking-free for a certain period.
Yes, cheap life insurance can be worth it. Although you may not get extensive coverage, it can still provide important financial protection for your loved ones after you pass away.
Why You Should Trust Us: How We Reviewed the Cheapest Life Insurance
We look beyond the obvious factors like online quote calculators and affordable pricing to see what life insurance companies offer. We consider the following:
- Customer satisfaction (as rated by JD Power)
- Financial stability (as rated by AM Best)
- Life insurance policy types offered
- Average monthly premiums/affordability
- Waiting periods required for complete life insurance benefits
- Exclusions that would prevent you from getting life insurance with the company being reviewed
- What you can expect from life insurance agents who quote a company's policies
- How available are a company's life insurance products? (is it licensed to sell life insurance in all 50 states and Washington, DC?)
- How ethical company practices are measured by recent controversies, charitable activities or donations, etc.
Read more about Business Insider's life insurance ratings methodology.
