Is it too late to get life insurance at 73?

It is not too late to get life insurance at 73, though your options will be more limited and more expensive than they were at a younger age.

Available Policy Types at Age 73

• Final Expense / Burial Insurance: Small, permanent whole life policies (typically $5,000 to $25,000) designed specifically to cover funeral costs, medical bills, or small debts. They are easy to qualify for in your 70s.
• Whole Life Insurance: Permanent, lifelong coverage that locks in a level rate and builds cash value. Many major providers (like Mutual of Omaha and USAA) accept applicants up to age 85.
• Term Life Insurance: Temporary coverage (such as 10-year terms) is still offered by some carriers for 73-year-olds in good health, though options become scarcer after age 75 or 80.
• Guaranteed Issue / Simplified Issue: Policies that require no medical exam or health questions. Note that guaranteed issue plans often feature a two-year waiting period before the full death benefit applies to natural causes.

What to Consider

• Cost: Premiums are significantly higher in your 70s due to shorter life expectancy. Buying a smaller, targeted death benefit (e.g., $10,000–$25,000) keeps monthly payments manageable.
• Health vs. No-Exam: If you are in good health, taking a traditional medical exam can help you qualify for lower rates. If you have pre-existing conditions, a simplified or guaranteed issue plan is usually the practical route.
• Compare Quotes: Rates vary widely between companies that cater to older adults.

You can look into carrier details and compare options directly through resources like Mutual of Omaha, Aflac, or Ethos.

Getting life insurance at age 73 can be worth it if you have specific financial goals like covering funeral costs or protecting a surviving spouse, but high premiums mean you must carefully weigh the cost against your needs.

When It Is Worth It

• Covering final expenses: Small final expense or burial policies (often $10,000 to $25,000) ensure your family does not have to pay for funeral and burial costs out of pocket.
• Protecting a spouse: If your spouse relies on your pension or Social Security survivor benefits will drop, a policy can help replace that lost income.
• Leaving an inheritance: It can provide a tax-free legacy for children, grandchildren, or a charity.

When It Is Not Worth It

• No financial dependents: If you have no debt, no mortgage, and your spouse or family is financially secure using your existing savings, the monthly cost may outweigh the payout.
• Prohibitive costs: Traditional policies become very expensive in your 70s. Over time, you might end up paying more in total premiums than the policy actually pays out.

Available Options

• Final Expense / Burial Insurance: These are small whole life policies that do not require a medical exam—just a few health questions. They offer fixed premiums that will not increase.
• Guaranteed Issue: These accept applicants regardless of health, though they usually feature a "graded" waiting period (meaning full benefits are only paid if you pass away after a set initial timeframe, like two years).
• Term Life: Rarely available or practical at age 73 because terms are short and costs spike sharply.

Before buying, read guides like CBS News on Senior Life Insurance to evaluate if a policy fits your budget. You can also research providers specializing in older adults through the U.S. News Best Life Insurance for Seniors rankings.

Life insurance will not pay out a death benefit if you outlive a term life policy after it expires, or if a permanent policy reaches its maturity age (typically 100 to 121 years old), though permanent policies may pay out their cash value at maturity instead.

When Policies Stop Paying Out

• Term Life Insurance: These policies expire after a set number of years (such as 10, 20, or 30 years) or when you reach a specific maximum age limit outlined in the contract. If you outlive the term and do not renew or convert it, the coverage ends and no death benefit is paid.
• Permanent Life Insurance (Whole or Universal): These policies last your entire life, provided you keep paying the premiums. However, they feature a "maturity date"—traditionally set at age 100, though newer policies extend to 120 or beyond. If you are still alive when the policy reaches this advanced maturity age, the death benefit terminates and the insurer typically pays out the accumulated cash surrender value instead.

Other Reasons a Payout Might Be Denied

• Lapsed Coverage: If premium payments stop and the policy runs out of cash value to sustain itself, the policy terminates at any age.
• Misstatement of Age: If you lied about your age on the application, the insurer may adjust the death benefit payout downward rather than denying it entirely, depending on when it is discovered.

Dave Ramsey says seniors only need life insurance if they still have debt, a mortgage, or dependents who rely on their income.

When Seniors Need Life Insurance

• You have debt: If you carry a mortgage, consumer debt, or car loans, a policy helps pay those off so your spouse is not burdened.
• You have dependents: If an aging spouse, a child, or a relative relies on your ongoing income to survive, you need coverage.
• You are not self-insured: If your retirement nest egg is not big enough to completely replace your annual income through investment growth, you still need a safety net.

When Seniors Do NOT Need Life Insurance

• You are debt-free: If you owe nothing to anyone, including your home.
• You are self-insured: If your investments and savings are large enough that your family can live off the growth after you die, you can drop or skip life insurance entirely. Ramsey teaches that life insurance is meant to be temporary, not a permanent expense.

Rules on Policy Types

• Buy term only: Ramsey strictly recommends level term life insurance because it is simple and affordable.
• Avoid whole or burial insurance: He strongly advises against whole life, burial insurance, and universal life policies. He calls them expensive rip-offs that mix poor investments with high fees.
• Age limits: While you can technically buy a policy in your 70s or 80s, rates get very expensive, and finding affordable coverage becomes much harder.

Most people stop paying for or drop their term life insurance policies between ages 55 and 70, coinciding with retirement, the payoff of major debts like mortgages, and children becoming financially independent.

When Coverage Normally Ends

• Term Life Insurance (Ages 55–70): Most term policies are bought for 10, 20, or 30 years during peak earning and parenting years. People usually let these lapse or cancel them when the term expires or when they become "self-insured" through retirement savings.
• Whole or Permanent Life Insurance (Lifelong): Permanent policies do not have an expiration date. Policyholders typically pay into them for life, unless they choose to surrender the policy in retirement to free up cash.
• Maximum Application and Renewal Limits (Ages 80–90): For policies that do extend into older age, most standard term coverage completely caps out or becomes too expensive to renew by age 75 or 80.

When deciding whether to keep or drop a policy, opinions vary; as discussed on Reddit, some individuals drop coverage early once they build significant wealth, while others maintain longer terms well into their 60s for extended peace of mind.