How Does A 40-Year Term Life Policy Work?
A 40-year term policy will insure you for exactly 480 months before the insurance protection ends. Any death while the policy is in force will cause the insurance company to pay out the full death benefit. Your beneficiaries are entitled to the payout money, which they can spend and keep as they see fit.
You must be 45 years old or younger to have access to this length of term coverage, and all 40-year term policies have a fixed price.
What Happens After 40 Years?
When a term life insurance policy ends, you’re simply uninsured. Also, the premiums paid over the last 40 years remain with the insurance company. You don’t get any money back. The only time you get money back when a term policy expires is if you had a “return of premium rider”.
If so, you will indeed get a refund of 100% of your premiums should you reach the end of the policy term. Please note that return of premium riders on term insurance are extremely rare and will significantly increase the cost of the policy.
What Options Are There Before And After The 40 Years Are Up?
You don’t have to just let a term life policy expire. Before it ends 40 years later, you generally have the following options to continue having life insurance:
- Renew your coverage: It’s commonplace that term life policies will automatically give you the option to renew your coverage when you are close to the end. The great part is that you don’t have to qualify for the renewal. You simply must agree to it. Expect a hefty premium increase, which is usually why people choose not to renew coverage (the price will be much, much higher than what you were paying).
- Convert to permanent coverage: Most term life insurance policies include a guaranteed option to convert to whole life coverage. The main difference between whole life and term life is that whole life lasts forever. If you do opt to convert, be prepared for a large increase in cost because A) whole life costs 2-10 times more than term life, and B) the price is calculated at your current age, and you’re older now.
- Buy a new policy: If you let your 40-year term policy expire without renewing or converting, your only option at that point would be to buy new coverage. You may be able to buy from the same insurer, but you may need to find another provider. Forty years later, you’ll need to seek out life insurance for senior citizens, which is available with most insurers.
40 Year Term Life Insurance Policy Rates
Life insurance prices are based on factors such as age, gender, health, coverage amount, and whether or not you take a medical exam. That said, below are some sample 40-year term life insurance prices.
Who Is A 40-Year Term Good For?
A 40-year term life policy can provide long-term financial security for most of your adult life. The ideal candidates usually include:
- Primary breadwinner of the household– You may have a spouse or children who rely on your income for their way of life. A 40-year policy will last much longer than necessary to ensure that if you die prematurely, the policy will replace your income so your dependents aren’t out on the street.
- Pay off a mortgage– Mortgages only last up to 30 years, so this term length will cover you for more time than you need to ensure it’s paid off if you were to die.
- Want coverage into retirement years– Since it lasts 40 years, you’ll likely be retired when it ends. You can rest assured that this policy will cover you well into your retirement years.
How To Qualify For A 40-Year Term
To qualify for a 40-year term life policy, you may have to complete a medical exam. The only time you can forgo the exam is if you’re very healthy. If you’ve had any health challenges or ambiguous medications in your history, anticipate having to complete a medical exam.
Basically, you’ll meet with a nurse who will measure your height and weight, take your blood pressure, and gather a blood and urine sample. In addition, the insurer will request all your actual medical records. From start to finish, this whole process takes about 4-6 weeks before the application is approved.
At present, you cannot buy a 40-year term directly from an insurer’s website or by mail. You must meet with a licensed insurance agent (either in person or via phone).
If your policy is approved, you’ll typically receive a physical policy in the mail within 2-3 weeks.
- Nationally licensed life insurance agent with over 16 years of experience.
- Personal annual production that puts him in the top .001% out of all life insurance agents in the nation.
Anthony Martin is a nationally licensed insurance expert with over 16 years of experience and has personally served over 10,000 clients with their life insurance needs. He frequently authors entrepreneurial and life insurance content for Forbes, Inc.com, Newsweek, Kiplinger, and Entreprenuer.com. Anthony has been consulted as an expert life insurance source for dozens of high-profile websites such as Forbes, Bankrate, Reuters, Fox Business, CNBC, Investopedia, Insurance.com, Yahoo Finance, and many more.
- Nationally licensed life insurance agent with over 20 years of experience
- Best selling Amazon author.
Jeff Root is a nationally licensed life insurance expert with over 20 years of experience. He has personally helped over 3000 clients with their life insurance needs. Jeff is a best-selling Amazon author and the managing partner of a highly successful insurance brokerage that manages over 2,500 licensed insurance agents across the USA. He has been a featured life insurance source for prestigious websites such as Forbes, Bloomberg, MarketWatch, Nerdwallet, and many more.
- Nationally licensed life insurance agent with over 15 years of experience
- Best selling Amazon author of five insurance sales books.
David Duford is a nationally licensed insurance expert with over 15 years of experience. He has personally helped more than 15,000 clients buy life insurance. David has been featured as an expert source for highly authoritative publications such as A.M. Best and Insurancenewsnet. He also runs one of the largest Youtube channels to help aspiring insurance agents serve their clients better.
- Nationally licensed life insurance agent with over 20 years of experience
- Best selling Amazon author.
Jeff Root is a nationally licensed life insurance expert with over 20 years of experience. He has personally helped over 3000 clients with their life insurance needs. Jeff is a best-selling Amazon author and the managing partner of a highly successful insurance brokerage that manages over 2,500 licensed insurance agents across the USA. He has been a featured life insurance source for prestigious websites such as Forbes, Bloomberg, MarketWatch, Nerdwallet, and many more.
- Nationally licensed life insurance agent with over 15 years of experience
- Best selling Amazon author of five insurance sales books.
David Duford is a nationally licensed insurance expert with over 15 years of experience. He has personally helped more than 15,000 clients buy life insurance. David has been featured as an expert source for highly authoritative publications such as A.M. Best and Insurancenewsnet. He also runs one of the largest Youtube channels to help aspiring insurance agents serve their clients better.
