A term life insurance is an ideal way to protect your family from any kind of eventuality that may occur in your absence. Being a pure protection plan, it offers a death benefit to your chosen nominee in the event of your unfortunate demise. With the given payout, your family can fulfill their short- and long-term financial goals and sustain on the available corpus as a replacement for your income.
While it is extremely crucial for young people, senior citizens will find it equally important to cover their loved ones with an insurance policy if not already. There are plenty of feature-rich term insurance plans that are ideal for people achieving or exceeding their forties. The coverage of these policies may go as high as 75-80 years of age. Let us know more about how term insurance can be beneficial, even at an older age.
Benefits of Term Insurance for Senior Citizens
1. Lesser Premium Payments
Along with the single premium payment option, the traditional plans only offered regular premium payment as an alternative available to the interested investors. While it was completely fine for younger people as the policyholder is required to pay premiums until the plan expires.
However, as you progress through time and reach your 40’s, it gets difficult to manage to pay the premiums regularly, especially if the coverage is for as long as 80 years and are on the verge of getting retired from work.
Nowadays, plenty of insurance companies offer the ‘Limited premium payment’ benefit that requires the policyholder to pay premiums for only a limited time and enjoy the benefits offered by the policy. This makes them easily affordable when you’re in your 40’s and may retire soon.
2. Whole Life Coverage
If we were writing this a couple of years ago, we might have suggested to you that term plans only provide coverage for fixed policy periods like 10, 20, or 30 years, followed by an age limit up to which you can enjoy the coverage.
While it is still the same for the base plans, some modern-generation plans also allow you to gain whole life coverage. This means you can easily enjoy coverage much past the age of 40, right up until you’re alive.
Additionally, by combining this option with other term insurance benefits like limited premium payment, you’ll surely find it easier to carry a life insurance coverage without involving any financial burden in your elderly age as a senior citizen.
3. Additional Coverage
When you purchase basic term insurance, it generally includes only a death benefit to your dependents in case of your untimely death. However, by adding riders to your policy, you can also enjoy various additional benefits that may even exceed the agreed assured sum.
While riders are subjected to the terms and conditions of your preferred insurance company, you should be able to find plenty of additional riders to add to your policy easily as per your coverage and financial requirements.
4. Tax Benefits
Although the Income Tax Act of India already provides several tax exemptions and concessions for senior citizens and a higher basic exemption limit, you can still make use of a term plan’s tax benefits in case your tax liability is still high.
According to section 80C of the Income Tax Act, the premiums you’ve paid towards your insurance policy are exempted from any kind of taxation. Additionally, even the benefits offered by the plan to you or your dependents (based on the incident) are also exempted from taxes.
5. Affordable Life Cover
When you retire from work, you may not have any other income source apart from your pension. With term insurance, you can enjoy protective insurance coverage without having to worry about any financial burdens or liabilities.
It’s comparatively more affordable than most of the other types of insurance policies, as it is essentially a pure life cover. Therefore, if you’re even at your post-work phase, you can still manage to pay the premiums without any hassles.
Keep in mind that it’s never too late to start, and you just need a plan that features your preferred entry and exit age to get started. You can also talk with a financial advisor to get some recommended plans or choose one from this article.
Best Term Insurance Plans for Senior Citizens in India
1.HDFC Life Click 2 Protect 3D Plus Plan
The HDFC Click 2 Protect 3D Plus is a term plan that provides an adequate cover for critical illness, death, or permanent disability. Moreover, you can choose from over six different payout options, along with further classification in lump-sum and recurring income options. The plan also provides the benefit of a premium waiver in case you’re permanently disabled in the event of an accident.
2.Aegon Life Term Insurance
Aegon Life Term insurance is also a promising term life insurance that allows you to choose from two different ways to receive the death benefit. Apart from the standard lump sum payout in the event of your death, there’s an additional option that offers half of the assured sum right after your death and drip feed 3% of the sum assured every month as a recurring income benefit.
3.Canara HSBC OBC iSelect Star Term Plan
The iSelect Star Term Plan by Canara HSBC OBC is by far one of the best term insurances for senior citizens. It has a plethora of customization features that allow you to personalize the plan as per your age, requirements, and financial goals.
Final Words
When it comes to protecting your loved ones, there’s no such thing as a perfect time. As long as you care for your family members, you can choose to have a term insurance policy. Several different companies are offering amazing plans at your convenience. Therefore, consider doing some research on your part and choose a policy that greatly resonates with your requirements