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Is Life Insurance Worth It for Singles?
By Parvesh Benning, Licensed Life Insurance Broker · Updated October 13, 2026
“Unless you have a major debt or dependent or someone that relies on your income, you don’t really need additional insurance.”
That’s our answer to single clients who have none of those. The exceptions are what the rest of this page is about.
I don’t believe in just doing these things just for the sake of doing them. There should be a reason here to do them. For a single person, that reason is usually someone specific: a parent who co-signed or guaranteed a loan, family you send money to, or whoever would have to pay for your funeral.
Is Life Insurance Worth It for Singles?
By Parvesh Benning, Licensed Life Insurance Broker · Updated October 13, 2026
“Unless you have a major debt or dependent or someone that relies on your income, you don’t really need additional insurance.”
That’s our answer to single clients who have none of those. The exceptions are what the rest of this page is about.
I don’t believe in just doing these things just for the sake of doing them. There should be a reason here to do them. For a single person, that reason is usually someone specific: a parent who co-signed or guaranteed a loan, family you send money to, or whoever would have to pay for your funeral.
“Well, you have no dependence, you know, why do we have any insurance on you? Right. But I know there’s more to that.” That’s what I told a single client in his late twenties while another advisor was pitching him more coverage.
The “more” is usually one specific person or bill. In close to 50 single-client files we pulled, people bought for a co-signer, family overseas, an employer, a funeral, or to lock in coverage before marriage, and rarely “just in case”. For the general case for life insurance, see our guide on why people have life insurance in Canada; this page is only about being single.
Short answer: if nobody would be left owing money or losing support when you die, you probably don’t need life insurance yet.
It starts to make sense when one of these is true:
- Someone co-signed or guaranteed your loan
- Parents or family rely on your money
- A funeral you don’t want to leave to family
- Marriage or kids likely in a few years
None of those? Waiting is reasonable. Single and self-employed, or carrying a mortgage on your own? Disability and critical illness coverage may matter more than life insurance, so start with living benefits first.
This page, by question
- When you don’t need itNo debts, no one relying on your money
- Who’s left exposed if you dieCo-signers, guarantors, family you support
- Disability and critical illness firstSingle homeowners and the self-employed
- Who you can name as beneficiaryFriends, cousins, the estate, a charity
- Covering a funeralWhen that’s the only need
- Single now, married laterTerm length and adding coverage
- Single parentsA different answer
- Questions singles askWork coverage, RRSPs, no income
When a Single Person Doesn’t Need Life Insurance (and One Reason to Buy Anyway)
If you have no major debt, no dependants and nobody who relies on your income, you don’t really need life insurance right now. That’s the advice we give single clients in that spot, even when it means there’s no policy to sell.
“If it gives you peace of mind to have it, take it. If you don’t think you need it, don’t take it.” That’s how I put it to clients who are on the fence. Here’s what saying no looked like in two real files:
Kept what he had. No new policy.
“I can’t recommend more than this, because I just don’t think it’s justified right now.”
Late twenties, no partner or kids, already holding about $500,000 of life cover plus critical illness. Another advisor was pitching him a bigger permanent policy.
Skipped life insurance. Topped up disability instead.
Debt-free, home paid off, no dependants. His view, and ours: the real exposure was losing his income, not dying.
Mid-thirties, single, high income, already covered by group long-term disability through work.
The one reason to buy before you need it
“You never know if insurability takes a hit, right? So sometimes you do it just for insurability purposes.” Approval is based on your health the day you apply, and as long as the application was answered accurately, a later diagnosis doesn’t undo a policy that’s already in force.
Be honest about the trade-off, though. For a healthy non-smoker, waiting from 25 to 30 often changes the price very little, so the real cost of waiting is a change in your health, not your birthday. More on buying in your 20s and what putting it off can cost.
If someone in the next section is on your list, the answer changes, and the policy should be sized to that problem rather than a rule of thumb. Our guide to how much life insurance you need walks through the math.
Who Is Left Exposed When a Single Person Dies: Co-signers, Family and the Estate
The people left exposed when a single person dies are the ones tied to their money: someone who co-signed or guaranteed a loan, family who count on what they send, and whoever has to settle the estate and pay for the funeral. If none of those people exist and your estate can cover its own bills, there may be little for life insurance to do.
“You want standalone insurance, you don’t want it tied to a loan. You want it to be independent of a loan because it has full flexibility by doing that.” I said that to a student whose grandparents had co-signed her loan. These four files show how we size a policy to the person who is actually exposed:
Ages and amounts are real; names and other details are left out for privacy.
If a lender offers you its own insurance on the loan, compare it with a policy you own before you sign. Your own policy names your beneficiary and stays with you if the debt moves, and our mortgage insurance vs life insurance comparison covers the rest. Already have lender coverage? My recommendation is to apply for your own and receive approval before cancelling; you can compare personal mortgage coverage here.
The tax on registered accounts is often a huge surprise to clients. Married people can usually transfer an RRSP to a surviving spouse or common-law partner tax-deferred; single people generally can’t, though special rules can apply when a financially dependent child or grandchild is the beneficiary. That’s one of three things a single person’s estate has to deal with:
What a single person’s estate settles
- Your RRSP. With no spouse or common-law partner to roll it to, its value is generally reported as income on your final tax return (CRA rules). Ask a tax professional what that means for your account.
- The CPP death benefit. $2,500, plus a top-up of up to $2,500, for a maximum of $5,000 (Service Canada). The top-up applies only when there’s no spouse or partner eligible for a survivor’s pension and you never received a CPP or QPP retirement pension, disability benefit or post-retirement disability benefit. You must have contributed enough to qualify.
- Probate fees. In Ontario, estate administration tax is $15 per $1,000 of estate value over $50,000 (Ontario), and life insurance paid to a named beneficiary isn’t part of that value. Other provinces set their own fees.
Life insurance paid directly to a named beneficiary is generally tax-free and usually skips the estate, but that also means the money goes to that person, not to the estate’s bills. If the policy is meant to cover the RRSP tax or the funeral, choose a beneficiary who will handle that, or coordinate the policy with your will. More on when life insurance is taxable in Canada and using life insurance to pay off debt.
Disability and Critical Illness Insurance for Singles: Often the Bigger Need
For a single person with a mortgage or a business, disability and critical illness insurance often matter more than life insurance. If you die, nobody depends on your income; if you get sick or hurt, you still owe the bills and there’s no second paycheque in the house.
“With critical illness, it’s a one time lump sum. If something happens to you, it pays out a lump sum. With disability, it’s literally meant to replace your income until age 65.” That’s how I explained it to a client who asked for exactly those two covers, and specifically not life insurance: single, self-employed, and she’d just bought her first home on her own.
What she pays, and what it buys
$41 a month
buys
a $100,000 lump sum
Critical illness, 20-year term. Paid when a diagnosis meets the policy’s definition of a covered condition and she survives the waiting period, commonly 30 days. Some early-stage conditions pay only part.
$113 a month
buys
$4,000 a month to age 65
Disability, after a 90-day wait, about twice her mortgage payment. To 65 is the benefit period she chose, and payments continue only while she meets the policy’s definition of disability.
Together about $155 a month, roughly 2% of her income. No life insurance, by choice.
The trade-offs she accepted:
- The disability policy came back with a permanent exclusion for mental-health claims, tied to a treated history.
- No interim disability cover while underwriting ran; the critical illness was approved on the call.
- The first 90 days of any disability are hers to fund.
- Under her policy’s schedule, the critical illness premium jumps about 3.7 times at renewal in year 21 unless she converts earlier.
Her premiums as issued. Critical illness rates can change, and yours depend on your own application.
How much disability coverage a single person needs depends mostly on what work already gives you. Three files, from no coverage to plenty:
No disability coverage through work
Self-employed, no EI. She bought her own: $4,000 a month to 65.
Group coverage that doesn’t match the income
Single executive with $7,500 a month of group long-term disability. He added $10,000 a month of his own for about $3,000 a year; insurers cap total disability coverage, and that cap usually counts the group plan.
Solid group coverage for a desk job
Group plan paying 70% of income to 65. We recommended against buying individual disability on top.
“If you’re not working, there’s no disability claim because you had no income to begin with,” so disability coverage only makes sense while you earn. Group plans also belong to your employer, and the employer can change their terms. More on group vs individual disability coverage and critical illness vs disability insurance.
Whether disability or critical illness benefits are taxed depends on who owns the policy and who pays for it, so check with a tax professional. When you’re ready, compare disability insurance quotes or critical illness quotes, or read whether critical illness insurance is worth it.
Who Can a Single Person Name as Beneficiary, and What Underwriters Ask
Ideally, name a person as beneficiary where possible, and you can generally name anyone: a parent, sibling, friend, cousin or charity. When someone else applies for or owns insurance on your life, the insurer may look at their insurable interest, your written consent and the financial reason for the coverage; and even when you own the policy yourself, naming someone outside close family can draw underwriting questions.
This is where single people actually run into friction. With three different insurers, naming a friend, a cousin or a girlfriend drew insurable-interest questions, and one decline was reversed only after a written explanation. Here’s how two of those conversations went, one where a friend owned the policy and one where a cousin was only the beneficiary:
A friend as owner and beneficiary
Underwriter
The arrangement looks temporary, so we can’t establish a long-term insurable interest. We’re declining.
Our reply
They’ve known each other for more than 20 years and are beneficiaries of each other on their assets. They have no next of kin and consider each other to be exactly that.
Decline reversed: approved at standard rates
A cousin as beneficiary
Underwriter
What is the cousin’s insurable interest? Does she live with the insured? Does she take care of the insured?
Our reply
This is her closest relative and like a sibling. She has no spouse or children. No, they don’t live together, and no, the cousin doesn’t take care of her.
Policy issued
Wording shortened; names and identifying details left out.
Naming your estate is allowed, and some single clients ask for it. The problem is if the estate has liabilities or creditors, they can go after the life insurance benefits, which is why we steer people toward a named beneficiary; see how a beneficiary designation compares with your will.
Before you name anyone
- Describe the relationship, not just the label. “Closest relative, like a sibling” tells an underwriter more than “cousin”. Assumption Life’s beneficiary form, for example, asks for the person’s full name and their relationship to you.
- Expect questions for anyone outside close family. Insurers that ask usually want three things: how you know them and for how long, whether you live together, and whether they look after you.
- Name a secondary beneficiary. It’s easily preventable trouble if your first choice dies before you.
- Family overseas is fine. The money can be sent by wire anywhere in the world, and your beneficiary only needs to know the policy exists to start a claim.
- Don’t leave it blank. On BMO Insurance’s application, for example, a blank beneficiary goes to the owner or the owner’s estate.
- Leaving it to a charity. Beneva’s underwriting guidelines let a charity own the policy and be the beneficiary as long as you pay the premiums. BMO Insurance’s guidelines cap charitable coverage at about 20% of your net worth and won’t accept a charity connection created just for the application.
More on beneficiary rules in Canada, insuring someone else, leaving life insurance to a charity, and, if you live with a partner, life insurance for unmarried partners.
Life Insurance to Cover a Funeral When You’re Single: Lifelong vs Term
With funeral expense insurance, we typically don’t want to do a term plan; we’d want to do a life plan. If a funeral and some final bills are your only need as a single person, a small lifelong policy usually fits better, because that need lasts your whole life and term either ends or renews at a much higher price.
A single woman in her mid-40s came to us wanting one thing: enough for her adult daughter to cover the funeral and get her back to her home country. She already had a 20-year term quote from elsewhere, and my concern with it was simple: “with a term policy, there’s a big shock in the future that a lot of people don’t realize.”
The same person, two ways to pay for a funeral
20-year term, $150,000
Now to 65: $22.32 a month
From 65: about $347 a month
Lifelong, $50,000, no medical exam
$70.62 a month, and the contract fixes that premium for life
- Term over 20 years: $22.32 × 240 = about $5,357, then about $4,164 a year if she kept it.
- Lifelong over 20 years: $70.62 × 240 = about $16,949, and the premium doesn’t move after that.
- What each pays: term pays $150,000 only if she dies before it ends or lapses; lifelong pays $50,000 whenever she dies.
Different amounts and lengths of coverage, so this isn’t a like-for-like price comparison; it shows how each approach behaves over time. Bar heights are to scale with the monthly premium. Figures as quoted to her at the time; yours depend on age, health and the plan.
That’s the trade-off: lifelong costs more every month from day one, and “if we want more coverage, something has to give, right?” There’s no point of setting it up if it’s not comfortable. Some plans with no medical exam also pay only a limited benefit in the first two years, so ask before you buy.
Older single clients ask the same thing in their own words: “What happens in ten years time when you still gotta get a funeral and everything like that?” Here’s what three of them chose:
| Client | Chose | Monthly | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| 65, no family to handle things | $50,000 term to 85 | $119 | About $28,555 paid in over 20 years, then it ends |
| 66, smoker, daughter as executor | $25,000 lifelong, no medical exam | $122 | Premiums pass $25,000 in about 17 years |
| 67, divorced, one adult son | $25,000 lifelong plus $150,000 10-year term | $307 | Drops to about $105 after year 10 |
Premiums as signed at the time, rounded to the dollar. Each case was priced on that person’s age and health.
For older smokers, premiums can catch up to the benefit in under 20 years, so run that math before you sign. If you want the numbers for your own age, compare no-medical options, or read more on funeral insurance in Canada, simplified vs guaranteed issue and what happens when term expires.
Single Now, Married Later: How Long a Term Should You Buy?
“If you just want to have a bridge of coverage, of course you can do a cheaper term.” A single person expecting marriage or a home within a few years can bridge with a 10-year term; if the need will last decades, a longer term bought now usually costs less than renewing or re-buying later.
“It’s significantly cheaper to do 30 year up front. It’s the reality of the way the numbers work.” I said that to a single client weighing a 30-year term against renewing a string of 10-year terms. Four situations, and the length that fit:
Marriage likely soon, short need: bridge it
A newcomer in his mid-30s expecting to marry within two years was approved for a 10-year bridge: $2 million plus $100,000 of critical illness, about $100 a month.
Marriage possible, long need: lock in the long part
A 34-year-old supporting family overseas was quoted $2 million at about $100 a month for 20 years, or about $200 for 30.
No change expected, need lasts decades: go long
A 26-year-old who wanted coverage well into his 60s was quoted $500,000 for 40 years at about $58 a month.
Young and unsure: length is cheap
When we run the numbers across carriers, $250,000 for a 30-year-old non-smoking woman starts from about $11 a month for 10 years, $13 for 20 and $19 for 30.
First three: figures as quoted to those clients. Last one: current carrier rates at standard health, monthly. Your price depends on your own application.
It is always easier to decrease coverage than it is to increase it later. Going down is simple; going up means you’d have to qualify again, at the rates of that time, which is why we often take it in stages: cover the need you have now, and plan for what marriage, a mortgage or kids would add.
Ask before you apply
- Can I add coverage at marriage or a birth without new medical evidence? Some policies build this in. Assumption Life’s FlexTerm, for example, allows an increase before age 60 of up to 25% of the amount, to a maximum of $125,000, at marriage, divorce, adoption, childbirth or a university degree, if you aren’t disabled.
- Does common-law count? Insurers split on it, and none of the guides we’ve read treat an engagement as a trigger.
- Is that option on this plan? Plans with fewer health questions may not carry it, so check before you trade options for speed.
- Until what age can I convert or extend? Converting to permanent coverage needs no new medical, but it’s priced at your age when you convert, so it’s never cheaper than now. Here’s how extending and converting term work.
Waiting a decade has a real price: when we run the numbers across carriers, $250,000 of 20-year term for a non-smoking man starts from about $16 a month at 30 and about $27 at 40, based on current carrier rates, illustrative only and subject to underwriting. More on choosing a term length and what a 20-year term costs, or compare term quotes.
Single Parents Need a Different Answer: Coverage, Term Length and a Trustee
If you are not here, your income disappears, and for a single parent there’s no second income behind it. So unlike most single people, a single parent usually does need life insurance; the real questions are how much, for how long, and who handles the money for a child.
Younger parents especially don’t always see how valuable their income is, or what not being there would mean over a much longer period of time. A common starting point is DIME (debts, income, mortgage, education), and for a single parent the income piece is usually the biggest. Four single-parent files, and where the money goes:
Mother, 32, three children, about $40,000 of debt
$500,000, 30-year term, plus $50,000 critical illness: about $65 a month
→
All three children
Mother, 48, one young daughter
$35,000 lifelong: about $43 a month
→
Her sister, as trustee
→
Daughter
Mother, two children aged 8 and 2
$50,000 lifelong: about $60 a month
→
A named trustee
→
Both children
Mother, 51, son aged 16, cover to his mid-20s
$500,000, 10-year term, fewer health questions and no medical exam: about $99 a month
→
Son
Premiums as quoted to each parent, rounded to the dollar. Health, age and plan type drove each price.
Name a trustee for a minor
“Naming a trustee for your kids is easily preventable. Unfortunately I have seen situations where horrible things can occur, and it’s so easy to do at the time of setting up the policy.” A child named directly, with no trustee, won’t control the money until they reach the age of majority in their province; an estate lawyer can set up a formal trust if you want more control than that.
If you remarry or move in with a partner, the plan changes again; see life insurance for couples. And if you’re weighing coverage on the kids themselves, read whether child life insurance is worth it.
Questions Singles Ask About Life Insurance
These are the questions single clients ask us most often, answered briefly.
Do I need life insurance if I’m single with no kids?
Usually not, if you have no major debt, nobody relying on your income and enough savings to cover your final bills. The common exceptions are a co-signer or guarantor on your loan, family you support with your income, a funeral you don’t want to leave to someone else, or wanting to lock in coverage before marriage or kids.
How much life insurance can a single person get with no income?
Less than someone with earned income, because insurers size coverage to a financial need. Being single doesn’t change the rules in any underwriting guide we work from; limits come from earned income times a multiple that shrinks with age, or from fixed caps when there’s no income. Two examples from insurer underwriting guidelines:
- iA, traditional underwriting: adults without income up to $500,000 under age 50 and $250,000 from 51 to 70, assessed against net worth; students generally up to $500,000.
- Manulife: unemployed applicants up to $250,000, term coverage only; students 18 and over up to $500,000.
Higher amounts can be considered case by case, and insurers change these limits, so treat them as a starting point rather than a promise.
Is the life insurance from my job enough?
It helps, but we don’t treat it as your plan. Group coverage is usually one or two times salary, and we don’t normally count on it because jobs change and companies change benefits; if you leave or the plan changes, that coverage can shrink or end. More on how group life insurance works.
Isn’t term life insurance a waste if I outlive it?
Only the way car insurance is a waste in a year you don’t crash. “We also buy car insurance as well, right? And we’re not hoping we get in a car accident so it pays out.” Term is usually the least expensive way to cover a need with an end date; plans that hand money back cost noticeably more for that feature.
Is permanent life insurance worth it for a single person with no heirs?
Sometimes, but only with a clear reason and premiums you can keep paying for years. I’d only look at it if you want coverage for life no matter what, or you’ve already maxed out your TFSA and RRSP and want another tax-sheltered option.
“These are good plans, especially longer term, but they’re not great plans if they’re surrendered in the first few years.” Many permanent policies include some guaranteed cash value, but the growth shown in most illustrations depends on dividends or credited rates that aren’t guaranteed, and if the goal is saving for a house, I would separate the two. See our guide to permanent life insurance or compare permanent options.
How much does life insurance cost for a single person?
Usually less than people expect while you’re young and healthy. When we run the numbers across carriers, $500,000 of 20-year term for a 30-year-old non-smoker starts from about $28 a month for a man and $20 for a woman, at standard health; your own price depends on your age, health and the term you choose.
“Every situation is unique. However, today you may be insurable and tomorrow you may not.”
If someone in your life would be left holding a debt, a funeral bill or a gap in support, it’s worth one conversation. We compare coverage from almost 20 insurers at no cost to you, look at disability and critical illness alongside life insurance, and if the honest answer is that you don’t need anything yet, we’ll tell you that.
Talk to a broker directlyor call 1-877-654-6119
Licensed in Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Head office in Dundas, Ontario.
