Jane Brody in the New York Times published an article yesterday on centarians. According to the census bureau, the number of centenarians in the US has increased to 96,548 in 2009 from 38,300 in 1990. “…only about 20 to 30 percent of longevity is genetically determined. Lifestyle seems to be the more dominant factor.” “….three critical attributes that might be dubbed longevity’s version of the three R’s: resolution, resourcefulness and resilience.” (bold added)
That seems good advice for whatever age you are, especially in the Great Recession.
Now what does that mean in regards to life insurance? In the old days, a centenarian’s life insurance policy was whole life insurance, and turning 100 the policy would be worth at least its face amount in cash. “Happy 100! Here’s a check for your original $100,000 policy, plus dividends, for a grand total of $264,823.56.”
Today you’re probably going to meet whole life’s more willful step-daughter universal life (UL), because whole life is too expensive for most mortals. With a guaranteed UL you can set the age guarantee to whatever you want: age 100, age 105, age 110, up to age 121. The tricky part of a guaranteed UL is that living beyond the age rate guarantee, baring extension provisions, leaves the policy with zero value. Aye, a willful and heartless step-daughter she may be. Better check with an agent’s proposed age guarantee because the agent may devise an earlier age just to make it cheaper. Get involved in this age limit decision based on your lifestyle and genes. Keep in mind you may make it past 100 and, according to Wikipedia, the human longevity age record is 122: Jeanne Calment (1875-1997). The likes of her we rarely see. Undisputed second place is 114.
I recommend you set the UL age guarantee to age 121. “Happy 100! No, problem! I’d have to close in on the world’s record to outlive my life insurance policy.” This way you have peace of mind as resolute, resourceful and resilient, you live past 100.