When you reach the age of 87 years, it is definitely viable to take a life insurance policy. However, there are so many things that are involved. There are few companies that offer life insurance for 87 year olds.
At this age, people end up having many doubts and problems coming up with the right ideas of how to go about life insurance. There are many things that make people worry about life insurance especially when you have never been involved in taking one before. The truth is that if you are not well informed you might end up confused and finding it difficult to process.
Best Life Insurance at 87 Year Olds
It is clear to say that not all life insurance policies that are worth taking at the age of 87. When you are at this age there are so many forces acting up you that are very positive. Some of the challenges that you might face are health issues, old age, lack of money since you are not working.
Taking a term life insurance, it means that there might not be money to take care of your funeral in case you die. Moreover, a term policy is not offered for the elderly over 70 by most of the insurers.
Whole life insurance policy is the best in this case. A whole life insurance policy will cover you until you die and take care of your funeral expenses leaving your family in a good financial condition. You can call it a funeral or burial insurance as well, which is a type of whole life policy.
Benefits of Taking a Whole Life Insurance at 87
Here are some of the advantages of taking a whole life insurance policy over term insurance at the age of 87.
- Your coverage will not decrease at all. There is a time when you take a life insurance policy your life coverage decreases due to various factors such as age or health. But not for this one.
- It is a full-time policy that will not expire at any age. This is not like a term policy which ends up expiring within a certain time. When you take this type of insurance policy you are sure it will be going on until you die no matter your age.
- No changes on premium costs. You do not want to have issues whereby premium charges starts changing or increasing later in life. The whole insurance policy assures you no changes in premiums.
Funeral Expenses
This is the most important and one of the major reason why people will take life insurance at this age. Although, there are other reasons this one is the main. When you die you do not want your family to have problems taking care of your funeral services.
At an earlier age, there are many reasons to have a policy. But, for seniors over 80, paying the burial expenses is the main purpose.
At the age of 87, many people are old enough such that they can no longer work. This means that maybe you are not able to make some money and set aside for your funeral.
You may also be interested in a certain type of funeral which means that your family will be left with a big burden of taking care of all funeral expenses. A life insurance policy will help a lot to fix all this.
In other cases, you might have been ailing and as a result, your family is not financially okay to take care of funeral expenses. Funeral expenses can go up to more than $20,000.
Need to Leave Something for Your Family
There are seniors who have this type of motive. This is where you want your family to have something to use when you die. This is a case where you want them to benefit from the claim of life insurance. Taking life insurance will help them claim the money and use them in whichever reason once you are gone.
People who want such things to happen you will find out that they have already saved or set aside enough money for the sake of their funeral and once you die the money goes to the family.
Charity Program
This is a case in which you want to leave some benefits to a charity program. This can also be done through a life insurance program. In this case, you will have money enough for your funeral already. However, in return, you will take life insurance to benefit your charity work. Once you are gone they can claim all that money.
Requirements for Life Insurance at 87
There are a number of things that insurance companies look of when you are looking into getting life insurance for seniors.
Your Health Status and Medical Records
This is one of the most important factors for any insurance company when dealing with a person at the age of 87 years old. All insurance companies are very keen to examine and scrutinize everything about your life and health at this age.
They need to make sure that you are not going to be a liability to them. This means when you are seeking whole life insurance at this level, get all your papers in order to show your medical or health status.
In many cases, insurance companies demand to do medical tests themselves to ascertain your health status. Although there are special cases where this is not done.
What insurance companies are interested in these cases is looking at any history of serious illnesses such as blood pressure, cancer, heart problems or surgeries.
When you also have certain habits such as drinking or smoking it will highly affect everything as far as insurance companies are involved.
In case you have a history of drinking or smoking you can consider stopping for some time before you apply for insurance to make everything easy for you when it comes to medical status.
Also consider, taking a prior medical test if you have not had any for a long time to make sure that you are well prepared you to get tested.
Other than that, an insurance company will look at your current state in terms of health by asking you the following questions:
Have you ever had dialysis from renal disease?
Ever suffered any mental incapacity?
Have you had or advised to have either bone marrow, organ or stem cell transplant?
Have you had diabetes before you reached age 40?
Any history of Parkinson’s disease?
Any congestive heart failure?
Dementia, Alzheimer’s disease case?
Have you had any paralysis of any part of the body?
In Case You Have Had Surgery or Any Major Illness in the Past
Many people end up scared and worried that they might be denied because of such conditions. That is not the case. When you have been ill or you have had major surgery recently, you will still be awarded whole life insurance.
The good news is that it even increases the chances of you getting insured. However, the main thing is that insurance companies would like you to be as honest as possible about the condition.
In that case, they are able to offer you a policy that will be able to suit you.
Can You Get a Policy Without Medical Exam?
Yes, it is very possible. People have a different opinion about the life insurance medical exam. There is no problem with that and that is why you can choose what you want to happen. You can decide whether you want to take their exam or not.
However, this is a special case. There are companies that have room for this and you have to make that arrangement. In return, you will be required to pay more on the premiums than normal. To know more about no medical exam life insurance, read this.
Know Your Beneficiaries
You do not want to leave your family or beneficiaries in a problem whereby they do not know who should claim your benefits. This means that you have to arrive at the right beneficiary for your life insurance benefit before you even visit an insurance company.
If you want your spouse or charity or grandchildren it is something you should decide early enough since it will be required when it comes to applying and approving the policy.
Who is the Owner?
When it comes to life insurance, the owner is the person entitled to pay the insurance premiums. You can choose to be the owner and pay the premiums for yourself or someone else can do that for you. Your children or grandchildren can be a good option when you are not able to pay or if they are willing.
Finding the Right Company, You are at 87
When you are at the age of 87, you need to have an easy time. This is not the time to have problems moving up and down simply because you got to a company that cannot deliver well.
This means that if you would like to get the right company, enjoy your life insurance and your beneficiaries have no problems when it comes to claiming the benefits.
Company Services
Different insurance companies approach differently. Different companies also have different policies concerning age and health. When you are getting life insurance these are factors that will be of great importance.
They will also affect your cover and the premiums you will have to deal with. Compare different companies to find the best.
Company Premiums in Relation to Your Budget
When you are planning to take an insurance policy budget is one of the most important things to have in mind and in the right way. This means that you will go to a company whose premiums meets your expectations.
So, when you are looking for a life insurance company, you have to make sure that they are offering premiums that not only fit into your insurance goals but also go in line with your budget. This is because sometimes a budget can be fixed and some companies may feel to be expensive than others.
Company Reputation
Looking at what the company has done in the past, and how people rate it is very important. The company ratings from its previous clients is definitely a clear manifestation of how much the can do. You do not want to work with a company that will not meet your requirements or honors the agreement you have.
Use an Agent
It is a very good thing to do in case you do not know so much about insurance. Very many people have very little information about insurance, insurance policies and procedures. However, insurance agents have all the right information that you need and you can ask them all the questions you have.
To avoid all the struggle, you can get an agent to help you not only choose a good company, but also get to decide the best policy for your needs. Many insurance agents will also help you when it comes to applying and processing all the details required in whole life insurance.
Bottom Line
At the age of 87, whole life insurance is a good thing. It will not only help your family take care of your final event which is the funeral. It will also give them a good time after you are gone. Some of the benefits of life insurance may go a long way into helping your children, grandchildren or spouse in improving their lives after your send off.
It is also a good thing to consult with your family members whenever you are about to take a life insurance policy at this age. They can play a good role in supporting you.