In our early or mid-20s, getting term life insurance is the last thing in our minds. The common belief is? being young and healthy, we do not need term insurance; Or since responsibilities are less, we do not need insurance, etc. Now, contrary to the popular belief, buying term life insurance early is not only important but also beneficial.
Here are the 4 reasons why you should buy term life insurance early
#Reason 1: Premium amounts for a term insurance policy is low
This is the biggest advantage of buying term life insurance early. As you grow older the premium amount for term life insurance policies increases significantly.
Let’s suppose, you want to buy a Rs 1 crore term life insurance plan, that provides you coverage till 75. If the yearly premium amount you are likely to pay is a little more than Rs 6,000 at 25, you pay around Rs 10,000 at 30. And at 45, you will have to shell out Rs 30,000 as the yearly premium for the same coverage amount.
At a younger age, you are healthy and have fewer responsibilities, insurance companies consider these factors while deciding term life insurance premium.
#Reason 2: As a premium amount is locked for life, you pay much less in total
Once you buy a term policy, the premium amount is locked for a lifetime, i.e. it remains the same throughout the policy tenure. Hence, buying it early means saving a big amount of money over a period of time.
For example, for a term life insurance cover of Rs 1 crore till 75, a 25-year-old needs to pay a yearly premium of Rs 8,000. That is, he/she has to shell out Rs 4 lakh in the next 50 years. Meanwhile, for the same policy, a 35-year-old pays Rs 15,000 per year, i.e. Rs 6 lakh over the years in total.
So, you have to shell out Rs 2 lakh extra for the same policy for buying it at 35 and not 25. Thus it shows that buying early means saving more money.
Waiting too long to get term insurance is a risk as you are leaving your family vulnerable in case of unfortunate event or death early on, thus they may have to face financial hardships.
Buying a term life insurance early on means your family and dependents get covered earlier on.
#Reason 3: Your family and dependents get covered earlier on.
Waiting too long to get term insurance means you are leaving your family vulnerable that if you die early then they would have to face financial hardship. Even if you are not married if your parents are dependent on you how will they manage their expenses? Plus, if you have any loan? automobile loan, student loan, or even credit card debt? your family members will have to pay for it. This might put them under more financial pressure.
Buying a term life insurance early on means you do not have to worry about it anymore.
#Reason 4: Enjoy the tax benefit from the initial stage of your career.
The primary reason for buying term insurance is to ensure that your family does not have to go through financial trouble if you are not there. But you also enjoy tax benefits for buying a term plan.
Here are the 3 tax benefits you enjoy from the term plan:
Section 80C: Under this section, you can claim a tax deduction for the premium amount that you pay for the policy. Section 80C is the biggest tax deduction pool and under this section, you can claim a deduction up to Rs 1.5 for certain investments and purchases.
Section 80D: This exemption is allowed on the premium paid towards health-related coverage like critical illness riders. You can claim deductions up to Rs 25,000 for the premium paid towards it.
Section 10 (10D): The nominee can claim this tax benefit while claiming sum assured in case of the death of the policyholder. The entire amount is completely exempt from taxes.
Bottom Line:
Term life insurance is an essential financial product that you have to buy at some point? sooner or later. But, if buying term life insurance early on translates to benefits like paying less, enjoying tax benefits from the early stage of your career, cover for your family earlier, etc, why miss out on them.
