Clarkhoward Home

Mon-Fri 1-4pm ET
Stations near you | help

Video Minute Archives
Daily Audio Archives
Rip-off Alerts
Call of the Week

Today's Show Notes
Previous Show Notes
Clark's Greatest Hits
Free and Cheap

Ask Team Clark
Call 10am-7pm ET
(404) 892-8227

Member Center
Blogs
Newsletters
Message boards
Meet the Team

Appearances
Books
Photos
TV
Talk to Clark 1-4pm ET:
(877) 87-CLARK or
(404) 872-0750

Advertisement
Ask Clark  Looking for something on the site? Search for it here!  Also see Clark's Greatest Hits
help

Shop around for your term life insurance

Term life insurance is not the most interesting topic. But Clark has to keep mentioning it because it just keeps getting cheaper! Level term is what it’s usually called, and it means you buy insurance for a set number of years depending on your age. For example, if you have young kids and you want to provide financial security for them until they are adults, you would want a 20-year term policy. If you’re 35 and you want to provide for your remainder of your spouse's life, you might get 30-year term. The prices keep getting cheaper because life spans are getting longer. As a result, you’re in a position to buy insurance at a much lower rate. The Wall Street Journal ran some numbers to show us how things have changed since the ‘90s. They looked at a 40-year-old man with a 20-year term. In the ‘90s, it cost $1400. Today, that same policy is $400. So, if you bought a term insurance policy in the past 10 years, you may be able to get a cheaper one today. Just make sure that when you’re buying this insurance, you get enough to take care of all your loved ones. Usually, a good bet is 10 times your current income. If you make $100,000 a year, for example, you need a $1 million policy. You can shop online now and get comparable quotes from several companies. Just be sure you go with a company that gets either an A+ or an A++ rating from AM Best.

Unfortunately, Clark won't be able to answer any questions submitted via commenting. If you have a question, please try posting it to our message boards.

Add your comment

Security Image * Please enter the code shown at left
what's this?

There are no comments yet. Be the first to post one!


Advertisement


This week's poll
The high cost of jet fuel has a lot of people staying at home this summer instead of traveling. Is there a "staycation" in your immediate future?
Yes, I just can't afford a plane ticket and/or hotel room right now.
No, I've saved up all year just to get away for a bit.
Maybe, I have to wait and see how my finances pan out.
see previous polls


Advertisement