Life, health & Medicare
Life insurance
How much, and for how long. Those two questions have arithmetic behind them, and doing the arithmetic before anybody shows you a product is the whole difference between advice and a sale.
Life insurance replaces money that stops arriving when somebody dies. That is all it does, and it makes the sizing question tractable: what would stop, who depends on it, for how long, and what is already there.
Almost every conversation in this trade runs the other way round — a product first, a need constructed around it afterwards. We do the arithmetic first, in front of you, and it produces a number and a term. Sometimes it produces zero, and we will tell you that too.
The arithmetic, done properly
Add up what actually has to be replaced. The income your household would lose, for the number of years it would be needed — until the youngest child finishes education is the usual anchor. The mortgage balance. Outstanding debts. Education costs, if you intend to fund them. Final expenses, which are real and are typically eight to fifteen thousand dollars.
Then subtract what already exists: savings and investments, existing group cover through work, and Social Security survivor benefits, which people routinely forget and which are substantial for a household with children. The difference is the number you need. For a typical Queens household with young children and a mortgage it usually lands somewhere between $500,000 and $1,500,000, and we would rather show you the working than assert a multiple of salary.
Term, and why it fits most people
Level term insures you for a set number of years at a fixed premium and pays nothing if you survive the term. That sounds like a defect and is actually the point: it matches cover to the period when people depend on your income, and it is cheap precisely because most policies never pay.
For a healthy non-smoker in their thirties or forties, $500,000 of twenty-year level term typically runs $220 to $900 a year in this area. Choose the term to end when your dependency does — a twenty-year policy taken when your youngest is two carries you to their twenty-second birthday.
Ask for a policy with a conversion privilege. It lets you convert some or all of the term into permanent cover later without new medical underwriting, which is worth a great deal if your health changes. It usually costs nothing extra and it is the single most useful feature to check for.
Underwriting, and what actually moves the price
Age, tobacco use, height and weight, blood pressure and cholesterol, family history, driving record and dangerous hobbies. Tobacco roughly doubles or triples the premium and includes vaping and regular cannabis use for many carriers, so answer that one honestly — a policy rescinded during the two-year contestability period pays nothing.
Many carriers now offer accelerated underwriting for healthy applicants under a certain age and face amount, meaning no medical examination and a decision in days rather than weeks. It is not always cheaper than fully underwritten cover, so where the difference matters we will quote both and let you choose speed or price.
When the answer is that you do not need it
If nobody depends on your income, you have no dependants and no co-signed debt, life insurance is solving a problem you do not have. A single person with no children, renting, with no debt anybody else is liable for, usually needs enough for final expenses and nothing more.
Similarly, if you have adequate group cover through work and your need is modest and short, adding an individual policy may be unnecessary — though group cover ends when the job does, which is the argument for a small individual policy underneath it. We will say which of these you are, and the commission on the answer does not enter into it.
Switching is sometimes right and it is often oversold. Switching is sometimes right and it is often oversold. New York Insurance Law 2123 forbids misleading statements and incomplete comparisons made to get somebody to drop a policy they already have, which is the trade's name for its own oldest trick. Before we recommend a move we price what you lose as well as what you save: claims-free and tenure credits that restart, a policy period you are part-way through, and, on a motor policy, the New York lapse trap — a gap in cover on a registered vehicle costs you the registration and a civil penalty for every day of it, which is far more expensive than the premium you were saving.
Included as standard
How we handle this line
The needs arithmetic done first
In front of you, with the Social Security survivor benefit included, before any product is named.
Term matched to the dependency
Ending when the youngest finishes education or the mortgage ends, rather than at a round number that suits a quote.
Conversion privilege checked
The right to convert to permanent cover later without new underwriting. Usually free, and worth a great deal if your health changes.
Health questions answered honestly
A rescinded policy pays nothing. Tobacco and cannabis use in particular, because they are the ones people are tempted on.
Accelerated and full underwriting compared
No medical examination is faster and not always cheaper. You should see both prices before choosing.
Told when you need less, or none
Group cover, existing savings and no dependants all reduce the answer, and reducing it is advice rather than a lost sale.
When to ring us
Signs this is worth a conversation
- You have children and no individual cover outside work.
- Your only cover is a group policy that ends when the job does.
- You have a mortgage a survivor could not carry alone.
- You were sold a policy without anybody adding up what you needed.
- Your circumstances have changed since the policy was written.
- You have been quoted permanent cover without seeing the term price beside it.
Life insurance — what it typically costs
- Typical annual premium for $500,000 of 20-year level term for a healthy non-smoker in their thirties or forties.$220 – $900
This is a typical premium range for this area. It is not a quote, and it is not our price. We do not set premiums: a carrier files its rates with the Department of Financial Services and our commission is already inside the filed rate, so the same policy from the same carrier costs the same through any producer in New York. What genuinely moves your own number is which carrier writes it, the limits and deductibles you choose, and the facts on your record — which is what we would go through with you before anything is quoted.
Questions we are actually asked
Life insurance — frequently asked
How much life insurance do I need?
Enough to replace what stops: lost income for the years it is needed, the mortgage, other debts, education if you intend to fund it, and final expenses — less savings, existing group cover and Social Security survivor benefits. For a Queens household with young children that usually lands between $500,000 and $1,500,000, and we will show you the working rather than quoting a rule of thumb.
How much does life insurance cost?
For $500,000 of twenty-year level term, typically $220 to $900 a year for a healthy non-smoker in their thirties or forties. Age and tobacco use move it more than anything else — tobacco roughly doubles or triples it.
Do I need a medical examination?
Often not. Many carriers offer accelerated underwriting for healthy applicants under certain age and face-amount thresholds, giving a decision in days without an examination. It is not always the cheapest route, so we quote both where the difference is material.
Is the life insurance through my job enough?
It is a good start and it has two weaknesses: it usually ends when the employment does, and it is commonly a multiple of salary rather than a figure derived from your actual needs. A modest individual policy underneath group cover solves both, and is cheapest bought while you are young and well.
Related cover
Usually considered alongside this
Term vs whole life
The comparison the trade is worst at making honestly, because the two products pay the person selling them very differently.
5× – 15×
Disability income
New York's statutory disability benefit is $170 a week and has not moved since 1989. Everything past that you buy yourself.
1% – 3% of income
Final expense
A small whole life policy sold hard to people who are frightened. We sell it, and we will show you the arithmetic first.
$40 – $180
Group benefits
Small-group health, dental and the New York statutory disability and paid family leave cover that is not optional.
$650 – $1,400Bring the declarations page and we will read it with you
Ask us what it would cost
Send or bring the summary pages of what you already have — those two sheets are where most of the useful conversation is. We will tell you what we would place it with and what that would cost, what we are paid for doing it, and whether you should move at all. Quite often the answer is that your current policy is priced fairly and you should keep it, and that is an answer we give in writing like any other.