Shifts in pricing, underwriting or marketing strategies may be pulling more consumers ages 30 to 59 into the U.S. individual life insurance market.
The number of applications submitted by people in the 30-59 age group increased by almost 9% between June 2022 and June 2023, and that helped lead to an overall activity increase of 4.5% for applicants of all ages, according to new numbers from MIB Group.
The performance of universal life, a kind of insurance that has a cash value and can be used in many different kinds of long-range financial planning arrangements, has been especially strong for consumers ages 0 through 50, and growth in coverage amounts for people seeking $2.5 million to $5 million in death benefits has been very strong, MIB says.
What It Means
Much of the recent growth in life application activity might have come from clients in their prime working years seeking to use life insurance in planning for college expenses or post-retirement expenses.
The Numbers, by Age
Here are the year-over-year activity change figures for June, for applicants in five different age groups:
- Ages zero-30: +7.6%
- Ages 31-50: +8.9%
- Ages 51-60: +0.2%
- Ages 61-70: -4.0%
- Ages 71 and older: -6.0%
MIB is a Braintree, Massachusetts-based group that helps member companies share some of the data used in life insurance underwriting. It bases the activity numbers on the number of policies flowing through its systems.
The application counts do not correlate precisely with sales, because some applicants may submit two or more applications for coverage, and insurers reject some applicants.
The Policygenius Price Index
A web broker, Policygenius, uses its own sales data to post a monthly term life price index.
The prices in the index tables range from the average monthly premiums for a 25-year-old female nonsmoker who needs $250,000 in death benefits up to the average monthly premiums for a 55-year-old male smoker who needs $1 million in death benefits.
This month, the cost for the 25-year-old female nonsmoker seeking $250,000 in coverage increased 3.3%, to $14.60.
The cost for the 55-year-old male smoker seeking $1 million in coverage fell to 1%, to $1,006.82.
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