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Why Have Life Insurance? What It Pays For, and Who Can Skip It
Written by Parvesh Benning, Licensed Life Insurance Broker
A group plan at work isn’t a policy you own, and neither is the mortgage insurance your lender offered.
Life insurance is a straightforward thing to get your head around. You have a mortgage, you have kids, you need to replace income. So if you weren’t here, how long would your family feel the loss of that income? A policy pays the people you name a lump sum, generally tax-free, so nothing has to be sold at the wrong time while they adjust. If you don’t have a major debt or anyone who relies on your income, you may not need one at all.
Updated October 11, 2026
Why Have Life Insurance? What It Pays For, and Who Can Skip It
Written by Parvesh Benning, Licensed Life Insurance Broker
A group plan at work isn’t a policy you own, and neither is the mortgage insurance your lender offered.
Life insurance is a straightforward thing to get your head around. You have a mortgage, you have kids, you need to replace income. So if you weren’t here, how long would your family feel the loss of that income? A policy pays the people you name a lump sum, generally tax-free, so nothing has to be sold at the wrong time while they adjust. If you don’t have a major debt or anyone who relies on your income, you may not need one at all.
Updated October 11, 2026
Most people ask me how much they need, not what type of insurance to buy, and that’s the right place to start. By the time they call, the reason is usually already decided: a new baby, a new house, or a group plan that ended with the job.
Why our clients bought coverage
Replace income for the family
89%
Pay off the mortgage or other debts
87%
Both income and debt, together
80%
Final expenses
14%
98 of our own client files with a recorded reason, late 2022 onward: our brokerage’s clients, not a sample of all Canadian buyers. Clients can choose more than one reason, so the bars add up to more than 100%.
Income and the mortgage almost always travel together, so the sizing section starts with both. After that comes what work and bank coverage leave out, what a claim actually takes, and the cases where the honest answer is less coverage or none. I work with almost 20 insurers, which is why the figures on this page come from real quotes and real client files rather than one company’s price list.
Go straight to your question
- 01What it pays for
- 02How much coverage makes sense
- 03Work and bank coverage vs your own
- 04The parent at home
- 05Will it actually pay?
- 06Tax, probate and estate reasons
- 07What waiting costs
- 08Health, job or age complications
- 09Term or permanent
- 10Who can skip it or buy less
- 11Questions people ask before buying
What Life Insurance Pays For: Income, the Mortgage and the Kids
Life insurance isn’t necessarily an investment; it’s protection. When you die, the insurer pays a lump sum, called the death benefit, to the people you name, and that money is meant to replace what your death takes from them: mainly your income, and the debts and day-to-day costs your income was covering.
It helps to put it next to your home insurance. That insures the house, and it has nothing to do with you. This insurance is there for the people who were counting on your paycheque.
Insurers won’t just write whatever amount sounds good. They ask why you want the coverage and how you worked out the number, then size it to the loss your death would actually cause, because it isn’t supposed to be a windfall.
Purpose of insurance (tick all that apply)
✓Income for survivors
Sized to: years of your income, with fewer years allowed as you get older
✓Mortgage or loan
Sized to: the balance still owing (see using life insurance to pay off debt)
Estate: tax owing at death
Sized to: the tax your estate is expected to owe. It protects an estate, it doesn’t build one
Business: key person, buy-sell, or a lender’s condition
Sized to: what the business would lose or owe
Charitable gift
Sized to: considered once your personal needs are covered
Ticked: the two reasons most of our clients choose, usually together.
On larger applications, the insurer asks for the reasoning in writing.
The estate, business and charity boxes are real reasons, but they usually come up later, once there’s a cottage, a company or a planned gift in the picture. If that’s you, start with life insurance for business owners in Canada or life insurance as a charitable gift.
What You Owe Plus a Few Years of Income: Sizing Your Coverage
The easiest one, from my perspective, is just covering the mortgage, because ultimately you want it paid off if something were to happen. Then you add income replacement for a period of time, a transition period, not a salary forever. What you owe plus a few years of after-tax income is a sensible starting number for most families.
A real file, de-identified: a couple, both 38, one young child
Mortgage still owing
$700,000
+ Ten years of income
$780,000
60% of about $130,000 gross, so $78,000 a year. It stands in for take-home pay and doesn’t have to be down to the dollar.
= What the needs analysis supports
$1,480,000
− Group life at work, 2× salary
−$260,000
Counted only because it’s there today. It ends with the job.
= Starting recommendation
about $1,200,000
Range offered: $750,000 to $1.2 million. The couple’s own first guess, before the math: $800,000.
Insurers will do 15 or 20 years of income replacement. I don’t think that’s necessary off the bat, especially when there’s no coverage in place at all today. Ten years is a runway, and that’s the point of it.
Subtract group life only if you can count on it, because it ends with the job (more on that below). For perspective, some insurers’ guidelines allow 20 to 35 times income for earners in their twenties, with less as you age; the exact limit varies by insurer, age, income and the rest of the file. This method lands well under that ceiling on purpose.
Most families land below their own number, and that can still be a reasonable budget decision. Keep in mind, what’s recommended doesn’t mean that’s what you should do; it’s just what insurers are basically saying. Being covered for $300,000 is still better than being covered for nothing.
Match the length to your youngest child
With a newborn, I’d start at a 20-year term at minimum, because kids aren’t completely independent at 19. More on choosing a term length.
Going down is easier than going up
You can usually reduce coverage later, but increasing it means qualifying again at an older age. Some families buy in layers instead, with more coverage early and part of it ending sooner, using more than one policy.
To run your own numbers line by line, the life insurance needs calculator guide walks through each piece. Treat what it gives you as direction, then pick an amount that’s comfortable month in, month out.
If you’d like a second set of eyes on your number, including what you already have through work or the bank, talk to an independent broker. There’s no cost to compare, and sometimes the honest answer is that you need less.
Coverage Through Work or the Bank vs a Policy You Own
Two times salary through work is something, but there’s still the mortgage, still the kids, still childcare. Group life and a lender’s mortgage insurance are useful extras, but neither one is a policy you own, so I treat them as a bonus and build the real coverage on a personal policy.
Group life at work
PaysYour beneficiary
AmountOften 1 or 2 times salary
Over timeSome plans reduce it at 65
If you move onEnds with the job
Who controls itYour employer’s plan, which can change
The Canada Life, Sun Life, Manulife and iA group plans we checked give you 31 days after leaving to apply to convert, usually capped around $200,000, and some set an age limit. Your plan booklet sets the actual rules.
Lender mortgage insurance
PaysThe lender
AmountThe balance still owing
Over timeShrinks, the premium usually doesn’t
If you move onStays with the old lender
Who controls itThe lender’s policy, not yours
Some lender products only confirm you qualified once a claim comes in. Read the certificate.
A policy you own
PaysWhoever you name
AmountStays level
Over timeSame premium for the term
If you move onGoes with you
Who controls itYou do
Your health is assessed before it’s issued. Answer the application honestly, and later health changes don’t affect it.
The one major advantage with your own life insurance is the benefit doesn’t decline. With mortgage insurance it usually does, and you keep paying for the original amount. Here’s how that played out in one file this year.
One file from this year, de-identified
Woman, 45, $350,000 left on a 25-year mortgage, a long-stable health condition diagnosed years ago
Lender’s mortgage insurance
About two months of questions
Result: a one-line letter. Not approved.
Personal simplified-issue term, 25 years, $350,000
24 to 48 hours
Result: $82.58 a month, with firm approval expected the next day.
What the same coverage priced at, monthly
Fully underwritten, no rating
about $60
Fully underwritten, likely 1.5× rating
about $90
Simplified issue: health questions, no exam
$82.58
Quoted at the time, example only. Fully underwritten is checked first. With her likely rating, simplified came in under it.
If the regular premium is $100 and the insurer comes back with a 1.5 rating, you pay $150. That’s why simplified came out ahead here. It’s a route, not a bargain: if her health stays stable, a fully underwritten policy later could cost less, but only if she still qualifies then.
Other files where lender or creditor cover fell short
HadLender mortgage insurance
What happenedDeclined after honest disclosure
What we didSimplified personal term, $500,000 each
Had$600,000 bank cover, $800,000 mortgage
What happened$200,000 short of the debt
What we didPersonal term, $1.25 million
HadCredit union mortgage insurance
What happenedNo answer in four months
What we didPersonal term, approved automatically
HadLender cover on a new mortgage
What happenedIllness part declined, accident only left
What we didPersonal quotes for both partners
HadCreditor insurance on an $18,000 loan
What happened$6,387 over the loan term
What we didPersonal $50,000, 20-year term
From our own client files. Details changed to protect privacy.
Lender cover isn’t always the wrong call. It can be the only quick option on closing day, and a cheap older bank policy is often worth keeping as a base. Whatever you have now, apply for coverage and get approved before you cancel anything.
If the mortgage is the main reason you’re shopping, compare personal mortgage protection quotes, or read mortgage insurance vs life insurance, side by side. For what happens to your coverage at work when you leave, see how group life insurance works.
Why a Parent at Home Needs Life Insurance Too
Even though a parent at home is able to work, the reality is that if one spouse isn’t there, the other can’t work the same way. There’s no paycheque to replace, but the family still loses something with a real price on it, and insurers recognize that and will cover it, within limits.
She told me she felt decades late to this. No, you’re not that late. And once it’s approved and in force, going back to work, changing jobs or a health change down the road doesn’t touch the policy, as long as the application was answered honestly.
How much insurers will cover for a parent at home
Ranges reflect selected insurers’ guidelines, not a rule. Most look at household income, the working spouse’s coverage and the children’s ages, and many cap the parent at home at what the working spouse carries. The application decides.
In our files, amounts up to around $500,000 for a parent at home have often gone through with little extra explanation, especially when the working spouse carries at least as much. Above that, we write the case for the underwriter, and when the reasoning is real, it can be accepted. Here’s what that looked like in two files.
Underwriter ruling, from our files
Lower-earning parent, three kids under 18, a mortgage
The case: her absence would mean more caregiving and paid help, and could cut into her spouse’s ability to keep earning.
Approved at $2 million, 25 years, as applied for. The family settled on $1.5 million for 20.
Underwriter ruling, from our files
Grandparent raising three grandchildren
Her income didn’t support the amount on paper, and the insurer asked for justification. The case: she’s an essential caregiver.
Offered $1 million, at a higher premium because of height and weight.
One caution from that first file: the bigger gap in that house was the self-employed main earner, who still hadn’t applied. Cover the parent at home, but not instead of the earner. There’s more on life insurance for stay-at-home parents and on who new parents should insure first.
Will Life Insurance Actually Pay Out? What a Claim Takes
Claims do get paid. Nobody goes online to say they had a great death claim, which is part of why insurers get such rough reviews. What decides a claim is the application you signed, and what decides the speed is the paperwork: in our own files, families were paid anywhere from about a week to five months after the death or the notice.
Days from death or notice to payment, seven of our claim files
Each bar runs to the day the family was paid. These are selected files, not an average or a promise of how fast a future claim will be settled. Carriers and amounts are left out for privacy.
7 days
Nothing slowed it. Small permanent policy, paperwork complete.
22 days
The doctor’s statement had to cover five years of history, and the funeral home’s death certificate wasn’t accepted.
23 days
Straightforward. But a group policy from the deceased’s job surfaced 429 days later, and nobody had known it existed.
56 days
A banking paperwork error, plus forms that needed original signatures. Paid 7 days after the corrected forms went in.
130 days
The cause of death was unclear, so the insurer needed the coroner’s report. Paid 14 days after it arrived.
149 days
Faxed forms went missing and the cause of death was left as unknown. Paid 31 days after the file was complete.
Denied, about 212 days
Death 13 months after the policy started. The insurer found false statements on the application.
When a doctor’s medical certificate doesn’t clearly identify the cause of death, the insurance company is required to gather more information. The coroner’s report is the official record of what happened, and it helps the insurer confirm no exclusions apply. That’s usually where the long waits come from.
I would rather you hear that from me now than have your family run into it later. This summer we found a policy, placed through another company, that left a diagnosis off the application. We replaced it with fully disclosed coverage before anything happened.
What your family will be asked for
1The policy, or at least the insurer’s name and policy number
2An official death certificate; some insurers won’t accept the funeral home’s version
3The insurer’s claim forms, filled out by the beneficiary
4A statement from the attending doctor, sometimes covering years of history
5The coroner’s report, if the cause of death is unclear
6Banking details for the person receiving the money
Tell your family what coverage exists, including group life at work. If you’re the one searching, here’s how to find a life insurance policy after someone dies.
If the policy was placed through us, we do the paperwork with the family rather than leaving them to figure it out. For the reasons claims get turned down and how appeals work, see why life insurance claims get denied in Canada.
Tax, Probate and Estate Reasons Specific to Canada
At the end of the day, what you leave either goes to your kids, a charity or the government, or some combination of the three. Paid to a named beneficiary, a life insurance death benefit is generally not taxable income, and it goes straight to that person instead of through your estate.
One $500,000 death benefit, two ways to direct it
Named beneficiary
- Paid directly to the person you named
- Not part of your estate
- No probate fees on it
- No wait for the will to be probated
Name a backup too: if your beneficiary dies before you and no contingent beneficiary is named, the money is paid to your estate.
Estate as beneficiary
- Becomes part of your estate and is handed out under your will
- Counted in the estate’s value: up to $7,500 more in Ontario Estate Administration Tax
- Potentially exposed to the estate’s creditors
- Usually slower to reach anyone, especially if probate is needed
Ontario example: the Estate Administration Tax is $15 per $1,000 above the first $50,000, and insurance paid to a named beneficiary is excluded. Other provinces set their own probate fees. More on a beneficiary designation vs your will.
The way the CRA looks at it, you’re considered to have sold your property just before you died. So the question is, what would that tax bill be? Some assets create none at all, and others can create a big one.
On a family cottage, when both spouses pass away, there’s tax owing on that, and probate is small next to it. That’s why the usual tool here is a joint last-to-die policy, which pays out only when the second spouse dies.
From our files
Couple near retirement, a family cottage
The tax on the cottage at the second death was the real concern. Probate was the smaller worry.
From our files
Business owners, 62 and 66, two daughters
One daughter works in the company and will inherit it. The other needs an equal share from somewhere else.
Corporate-owned joint last-to-die, $500,000, 10-year term: quoted at about $122 a month, against well over $500 for two separate policies. Quoted at the time, example only.
This is a real reason, but it mostly shows up for older or incorporated clients, not young families. Everything here is general information, not tax advice, so have a CPA look at your own estate; there’s more on when life insurance is taxable in Canada and on the capital dividend account for corporate-owned policies.
Why Waiting to Buy Life Insurance Costs More Than the Premium
It doesn’t get cheaper as time goes on; it’s cheaper every year that you’re younger when you do it. Insurers price you on your age and health on the day you apply, and once the policy is in force, that price is locked for the term.
$500,000, 20-year term, non-smoker: starting from, per month
| Age | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| 30 |
$27.90 |
$19.80 |
| 35 |
$30.15 |
$22.05 |
| 40 |
$43.65 |
$32.40 |
| 45 |
$69.75 |
$49.95 |
| 50 |
$120.60 |
$81.00 |
A man at 50 pays about 4.3 times what he’d pay at 30 for the same coverage.
Best health class, lowest available across carriers in our internal quoting system. Based on current carrier rates, illustrative only, subject to underwriting and change. A rating for health raises these numbers.
You never know when insurability takes a hit. The risk isn’t only that something happens to you; it’s that you can’t qualify anymore, or not at that price. To see where your age lands today, compare term life insurance quotes from Canadian insurers.
What a two-year delay cost one client
Semi-retired, late 60s, a line of credit to cover, no coverage of her own. De-identified.
First application, insurance age 68
$250,000, 15-year term: about $255 a month
A follow-up test was still pending
The insurer closed the file, and a year on, it needed a brand-new application
Second application, insurance age 70
Same coverage: $298 a month
+$43 a month
About $516 a year, about $7,740 over the 15 years
Approved on the new application. Quoted at the time, example only. Backdating to save age can sometimes win back a year for a few months of back premiums.
Because it’s two years older, the premium is higher. A routine screening usually isn’t the problem; an open investigation is, because most insurers won’t make an offer while a test is pending, guaranteed issue aside. And I would not make any medication decision for insurance purposes. That should be entirely between you and your physician.
The same idea at 82
$25,000 for final expenses
A healthy 82-year-old, wishing she’d done it before 80: about $192 a month with a medical exam, or $10,000 without one for $123.
At $192 a month, about 11 years of premiums add up to the $25,000. Quoted at the time, example only.
When waiting is fine
- A postponement is the insurer’s call, not a failure
- Never skip a test or treatment to get insurance
- Buying earlier also means paying for more years
None of this is a reason to panic-buy, just a reason not to let it drift. There’s more on the cost of putting off life insurance and on what life insurance costs in Canada by age and term.
Getting Covered With a Health Condition, a Risky Job or Older Age
Often, yes, but the path changes. There’s technically three paths, and the one that fits you decides both what you pay and how much coverage you can get.
Path 1: Fully underwritten
They ask every question, and depending on your age and the amount, there may be an exam or lab work.
Lowest price if you qualify. A health issue often means a higher premium (a rating), not a no.
Checked first
Path 2: Simplified issue
Health questions, no exam. It’s still underwritten, and your answers are binding.
Example: CPP Simplified Elite, up to $500,000 at ages 18 to 60 and $350,000 at 61 to 80, with the full benefit from day one.
Costs more than an unrated policy
Path 3: Guaranteed issue
No health questions at all.
Example: Manulife Guaranteed Issue Life, up to $100,000 at ages 18 to 70 and $50,000 at 71 to 75. If death is from natural causes in the first two years, the premiums paid come back with interest instead of the benefit.
Last resort
Fully underwritten comes first because if you qualify, it’s the cheapest coverage you’ll get. Even the wording of one medical question can decide it: on one file this year, two insurers quoted the identical premium, and we went with the one that asked narrowly instead of using a catch-all question.
Before anything goes on your record
“Before I submit anything, I contact the underwriting departments anonymously, without your name attached. That way we find out before an application goes in, and without anything on your record.”
1. Anonymous check
Your age, history and the amount go to the underwriters, with no name attached.
2. A likely answer
Replies this year included a minimum 150% rating for a cancer history before 50.
3. Apply where it fits
Only then does a real application go in, and only where the answer is good.
Why it matters: simplified applications ask whether you’ve ever been rated or declined, so one decline can narrow the market.
Age works the same way. Before 60, it’s a lot easier to qualify; after 60, more is required and it does get more expensive, so the paths narrow faster.
Find your situation
Medical conditionLife insurance with a medical condition
Smoke, vape or use cannabisRates and reclassification
In recoveryThe current rules and application tips
PregnantApplying during pregnancy
Dangerous jobLife insurance for dangerous occupations
Risky hobbiesHazardous activities and coverage
New to CanadaLife insurance for newcomers
Credit or bankruptcy historyHow financial history affects approval
If you already know you’ll need a no-exam route, compare no medical life insurance quotes, and read how simplified and guaranteed issue differ before you apply.
Term or Permanent: Which Reason Each One Covers
My recommendation is always to do whatever is affordable, for the longest time that’s affordable. For most families that means term, because it covers the reasons that end, like the mortgage and the years the kids depend on you; permanent is for the reasons that don’t end, like tax at death or final expenses.
Reasons that end
Term
- The mortgage
- Income while the kids are growing
- Debts and loans with an end date
10 to 30 years, or more. The lowest price for the coverage.
The bridge
Most term policies can be converted to permanent with no new medical, before a deadline set in the contract, priced at your age then.
Reasons that don’t end
Permanent
- Tax owing at death
- Final expenses at any age
- An equal share for a child who won’t inherit the business
Whole life or universal life, often four to five times the cost of term. Compare permanent quotes.
I always find I’ll have a conversation with someone several years later, and the question is, why didn’t we go longer? The only reason we didn’t is because it was cheaper.
What our clients actually buy
Type of policy
■ Term 83% ■ Whole life 8% ■ Universal life 8% ■ Term 100 1%
How long the coverage lasts
20 years 36%, 10 years 15%, 30 years 12%, lifetime 11%, 25 years 10%, 15 years 9%, other 7%
Our own client files since late 2022: 106 policies by type, 101 by length.
Permanent has its place, but at often four to five times the cost of term for the same coverage, it needs a real reason and the cash flow to keep it funded.
Bought as an investment
If the main goal is an investment to draw from, I’d suggest there are other vehicles you should use first and foremost.
Universal life that’s underfunded
One client was told $100 a month would cover him for life. The projection showed about $450 a month by his 50s. We replaced it.
Add-ons you don’t need
Riders can help, but most people don’t need most of them. One couple this fall dropped child riders; there just wasn’t the value there.
For the details, see the types of life insurance in Canada, whole life, universal life and Term 100 explained, or what a 10-year term and a 20-year term cost by age.
Does Everyone Need Life Insurance? Who Can Skip It or Buy Less
No. The way I put it to clients: unless you have a major debt, a dependant, or someone that relies on your income, you don’t really need additional insurance. Insurers apply the same test, because if no one would suffer a financial loss when you die, there’s no need for life insurance.
Ten years goes by real quick. Realistically, you don’t need the same amount of coverage later in life, and no one wants to pay an insane premium in retirement either.
When the need shrank: four files from the last two years
SituationCouple about 60, mortgage-free, kids grown
Was$450,000 each, renewal offer about $1,200/mo
ChoseAbout $100,000 each, their own call
SituationCouple at 66, renting, one earner
WasRenewal set to roughly quadruple
Chose$100,000 each; his simplified 10-year about $91/mo
SituationCouple, 68 and 69, $100,000 each
WasRenewing at $180 and $314.37/mo
ChoseNew 10-year quotes: about $80 to $84 and $130
SituationMidlife couple, home paid off, kids 20 and 15
WasOlder term policies with child riders
Chose$250,000 each, one 10-year policy: $42.53 her, about $43 to $50 him
Quoted at the time, example only. Old coverage stays in place until the new policy is approved.
When a renewal jumps, they’re not over-quoting you; the price is based on the contract you signed, with no new medical. If your health hasn’t changed, we can shop the entire market, but keep the old policy until the new one is approved. There’s more on what to do when term life insurance expires and on whether life insurance is worth it for you.
Questions People Ask Before Buying Life Insurance
These are the questions clients ask once they’ve decided they want coverage, answered the way I’d answer them on the phone.
01Will the insurer really pay my family?
Yes, when the application was answered honestly. In our own claim files, families were paid anywhere from about a week to five months after the death or the notice, and the long waits came from unclear causes of death and missing forms; the one denial in those files involved false statements on the application.
02What doesn’t life insurance cover?
Once a policy is in force, it generally pays for death from any cause, illness or accident. The main exceptions are:
- Suicide within the first two years, where premiums are usually refunded instead
- A misstatement on the application found within the first two years
- Anything your contract specifically names as an exclusion
03If my health changes after I buy, will my premium go up?
No. Once the policy is in force, a new diagnosis doesn’t change your premium or your coverage, and you don’t have to report it to the insurer. That’s the advantage of having the insurance in place, as long as the application was answered honestly.
04Can I get my premiums back if I don’t die?
Not with regular term. It’s like car insurance: if you don’t get in an accident, you don’t get a refund of your premium, and honestly, we’re rooting for you to spend that money, because it means there wasn’t a payout. Return-of-premium designs exist, but they cost far more.
05What if I can’t afford the amount I’m told I need?
Buy what you can keep paying. If the number is X, maybe we don’t do X, we do half of X, because you have to be honest with yourself about what’s comfortable; no one else is paying for it. You can add a second policy later, as long as your health still qualifies.
06Isn’t the CPP death benefit enough?
No. The CPP death benefit is a one-time payment of up to $5,000, and an eligible spouse or partner may also get a monthly survivor’s pension, but neither is meant to replace an income or clear a mortgage. More in our guide to the Canada Pension Plan.
Basic amount
$2,500
Top-up
Up to $2,500 more, only with no surviving spouse or partner eligible for a survivor’s pension
Maximum
$5,000, once
07Do I need a trustee if my kids are the beneficiaries?
Yes, while they’re minors. A child under the age of majority, 18 or 19 depending on the province, can’t receive the money directly, so without a trustee named on the policy or a trust in your will, it can end up held by a court or government office until they come of age. An estate lawyer can set this up properly, and there’s more on who to name as a beneficiary.
08Why can a bigger policy cost less than a smaller one?
Insurance companies discount in increments, so a $490,000 policy is actually more expensive than a $500,000 one. Here’s how that looked when we ran the numbers across carriers:
$240,000
from $20.36
$250,000
from $19.13
$490,000
from $31.45
$500,000
from $30.15
Man, 35, non-smoker, 20-year term, best health class, per month. Based on current carrier rates in our internal quoting system, illustrative only, subject to underwriting and change.
09I’m young and healthy with no kids. Should I buy now?
Probably not yet, unless you carry a major debt or someone relies on your income; you don’t need insurance unless you want it. The case for a small policy now is insurability: if a family or a home is coming, locking in your health while it’s good can be worth a modest premium.
What to Do Next If You’re Thinking About Life Insurance
You can’t go back in time, but you can do something about it now. Start with the reason, then the number, then the path: if someone relies on your income or a major debt would be left behind, price a term policy that runs as long as the reason does, and if neither is true, it’s fine to wait.
1
Name the reason. Income, the mortgage, the kids, or tax at death.
2
Do the math. What you owe plus a few years of income, minus only the group cover you can count on.
3
Check the path. Fully underwritten first, with an anonymous check if your health is complicated.
Whatever you have today, keep it until the new policy is approved.
You can buy from one insurer directly, and nothing stops you. A client this summer had already priced a policy online with the insurer; through us it was the same $32.85 a month for $500,000 over 20 years, approved automatically, plus help with the extension and conversion options that come with it. Example only, at the time quoted.
If your question is a different one
Worried about an illness more than a death? Critical illness insurance quotes
Worried about not being able to work? Disability insurance in Canada
Want the buying process step by step? What to know before buying life insurance in Canada
Protect Your Wealth is an independent brokerage founded in 2007, with its head office in Dundas, Ontario. We’re licensed in Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and work with almost 20 insurers.
