You don't necessarily stop needing life insurance at a specific age; rather, the need changes as your financial responsibilities decrease, often around retirement when mortgages are paid and kids are independent, but it can still be valuable for covering final expenses, estate taxes, or leaving an inheritance, though options become more limited and costly as you age. The decision depends on whether your accumulated assets (like retirement savings) can cover future needs without your income, making ages 60+ a common time to re-evaluate coverage.
Martin Lewis's Thoughts On Life Insurance. Generally, Martin recommends Life Insurance as a financial safety net for you and your family. It's a way to buy peace of mind, helping to relieve your loved ones' financial burden during an already difficult time.
As you enter your golden years, financial planning and security remain crucial for ensuring a stable and comfortable retirement. Life insurance can help provide additional peace of mind and a financial safety net for loved ones.
With that in mind, in my opinion, the only type of life insurance that makes sense is term, which is good for a specific period of time. The premium is based on your age, gender, health, the death benefit desired, and the term.
At What Age Is Life Insurance No Longer Needed? Life insurance is no longer needed for many people once they reach their 60s or 70s. At this point they have retired, their kids have grown up, and they've paid off their mortgage and other debts.
Life insurance is only supposed to do one thing: replace your income if you die. If it tries to do anything else (like invest your money), it's a total rip-off. That's why we only recommend term life insurance.
The "life insurance 7 year rule," or 7-Pay Test, is an IRS test for permanent life insurance (like Whole or Universal Life) to prevent overfunding; if you pay more than the maximum premium needed to fully fund the policy in seven years, it becomes a Modified Endowment Contract (MEC). MECs lose some tax benefits, making withdrawals and loans taxable as income (earnings first) and potentially subject to penalties, though they still provide a tax-free death benefit. The test resets if you make significant changes (like increasing the death benefit) to the policy, starting a new seven-year period.
Read on to see which life insurance policies we rated the highest in 2025:
Having both a savings account and life insurance in place is important. Insurance can protect the now, while your savings can cover the future. By setting you and your family up to be financially secure after your income-earning years, your policy will no longer be your single source of financial safety.
One disadvantage of life insurance is that the older you are, the more you'll pay for a policy. This is because you're more likely to pass away during the policy period than a younger policyholder and trigger the death benefit.
The 10x rule for life insurance is a simple guideline suggesting you buy a policy worth 10 times your annual income to provide a safety net for dependents, replacing your earnings for about a decade to cover living expenses, debts, and future needs like college. While a good starting point, it's a basic calculation that often needs adjustment using more detailed methods like the {Link: DIME formula (Debts, Income, Mortgage, Education), which provides a more personalized estimate by factoring in specific financial obligations.
Warren Buffett's 8+8+8 Rule — A Lesson for Every Professional This rule reminds us of the importance of balance in our daily lives: 8 hours for work, 8 hours for rest, and 8 hours for personal time. This principle highlights the value of employee well-being, productivity, and sustainable performance.
Suze believes that permanent life insurance such as whole life or indexed universal life (IUL) are bad investments, much like other financial entertainers such as Dave Ramsey. In her opinion, she feels you would be better off investing the money you save by buying cheaper term life, than by investing in life insurance.
We also see them failing to purchase coverage adequate for their needs, naming the wrong owner for the policy, neglecting to integrate their life insurance into the rest of their financial planning and forgetting to keep policies up-to-date.
Depreciation. Cars reportedly lose 20% of their value in the first year of ownership and retain just 40% of their original value after five years. Clearly, that is not a good investment. “Your goal should be to buy the least expensive car. Period,” said Orman. “That should steer you to a used car rather than a new car. ...
There isn't any age cut-off that makes life insurance no longer worth it; it's all about your personal situation. That being said, it is often worth having life insurance after 65 if you have dependents who rely on you financially.
Policy expiry age – this is the age when the life insurance policy will automatically end. This is usually 65 years for TPD cover, 70 years for Trauma and Income Protection and 99 years of age for Life (Death) cover - but again it will depend on the insurance provider and type of policy.