Generally, you need life insurance if other people depend on your income or if you have debt that will carry on after your death. However, the older you get, the more expensive life insurance becomes. That’s why the younger you are when you buy life insurance the better usually, especially if you can lock in a low rate. If you wait too long to purchase life insurance, not only is it more expensive, it can be harder to get the policy approved by an insurance underwriter.
The right time to buy life insurance varies from person to person, depending on family and financial circumstances. If you want to purchase a permanent insurance policy with a cash value, you need to own it long enough for the cash value account to grow. If you get a term life policy, it’s only in place for a certain number of years and doesn’t include a cash value component, so the optimal time to purchase a policy may be different.
