When Is the Right Age to Buy Life Insurance? Spoiler Alert: Now

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You: 23, in a serious relationship, got a job, future looks bright.
Also you: No life insurance.

What could go wrong? Unfortunately, plenty. According to Business Insider, millennials are more likely to use an extra $1,000 to pay off debt than to put towards savings or an emergency fund, but what happens if there is a crisis?

Technically, the best time to buy life insurance is right after you’re born. But since that boat has sailed, now works too.

When And How to Get Life Insurance

In your 20s, we think that your money is better spent on life insurance than on aggressively paying back debt because life insurance is way cheaper in your 20s than in your 40s.

This may not be obvious, and the economics of it will surprise you: if you get a 20-year term life policy from Bestow today (when you’re young and healthy), the cost over the course of the policy can be half as expensive as the same policy purchased in your mid-40s.

Insurance is a good idea, even if you aren’t married and don’t have kids (yet). In fact, it can be quite helpful, especially if you have a lot of student loan debt. After you’ve locked in a low rate, that insurance can go to cover any debts your relatives, new spouse and future children will have to pay if anything happens to you.

Term life insurance is cheaper now than it’s ever been — and it’s a lot easier to get when you use an online company like Bestow on iOS or Android. Twenty years ago, life insurance companies paid armies of underwriters and actuaries to figure out how much each individual’s insurance should cost, based on their age, their medical history and lots (and lots) of other factors.

Technology has used that information from the past to automate the underwriting process and sometimes it is even cheaper. Otherwise, in the traditional process, it could take days (or months) to get approved for a policy, and that’s after filling out paperwork. Now you can apply online and get covered in minutes.

There’s never been a better time to get life insurance — especially if you’re healthy and young. See how little you will pay for a lot of protection with this calculator: