6 Best Life Insurance Policies in Your 40s and 50s

If you’re considering a midlife life insurance policy, or if you have coverage but want more, there are plenty of options to choose from. The best life insurance in your 40s or 50s will depend on your budget, health and life circumstances.

To select our list of the best life insurance policies in your 40s and 50s, our experts focused on financially strong companies with low ratios of consumer complaints. Then we narrowed down the options by evaluating age availability as well as policy features and riders that may be important to people in midlife.

The companies below can cater to a variety of needs in midlife, ranging from simple term policies to plans with add-ons for long-term care. For definitions of the options available with each policy, see our guide to life insurance riders.

Best term life insurance: MassMutual

Overview: Many people in midlife need life insurance coverage only for a certain amount of time — until their mortgage is paid off and their kids are done with college, for example. If this sounds like you, consider MassMutual’s term life insurance policies.

Available for periods ranging from one to 30 years, MassMutual’s term policies generally include an accelerated death benefit, which means you can access part of your death benefit early if you’re diagnosed with a terminal illness. (The death benefit is the payout your beneficiaries will receive after you die.)

MassMutual term policies also offer the opportunity to convert all or part of your coverage to permanent life insurance without having to take another medical exam. This feature can be useful if you decide later that you want coverage to last for the rest of your life.

Coverage amounts: $100,000 to $5 million or more.

Issue ages: 18 to 75, depending on the term length. The 30-year term policy is open only to those 55 or younger at the time of issue.

Riders: Accelerated death benefit, waiver of premium.

» Read the full review: MassMutual life insurance

Best no-exam life insurance: Lemonade

Overview: Midlife often comes with countless demands on your time — like caring for aging parents or shuttling tweens to soccer games and piano lessons. If you’re healthy, a policy from Lemonade that skips the life insurance medical exam may be a convenient choice.

With Lemonade, you can do your entire life insurance application online. Many applicants are approved right away, with no need for an exam. Lemonade’s term policies can cover you for 10 to 40 years, although the longest terms may not be available to older applicants.

Lemonade offers coverage through a partner company, Legal & General.

Coverage amounts: $100,000 to $100 million.

Issue ages: 20 to 75.

Riders: Accelerated death benefit, accidental death benefit, children’s life insurance, term rider (offering extra insurance for a period of time) and waiver of premium.

» Read the full review: Lemonade life insurance

Best hybrid life insurance/long-term care: Lincoln Financial

Overview: As you reach your 40s and especially your 50s, it’s wise to start planning ahead for your potential long-term care needs. While you can buy stand-alone long-term care insurance, you may also want to consider hybrid policies that include life insurance.

With a MoneyGuard policy from Lincoln Financial, you’ll have funds available for long-term care — but if you don’t use them, the company will pay a death benefit to your beneficiaries after you die. Learn more about life insurance with long-term care benefits.

Depending on which MoneyGuard product you choose, your long-term care benefits will either be guaranteed or have the potential to grow based on the performance of market investments.

Coverage amounts: Up to $500,000.

Issue ages: 30 to 70 for MoneyGuard Market Advantage (a variable universal policy); 40 to 80 for MoneyGuard Fixed Advantage (a universal policy).

Riders: Options vary by policy and may include an accelerated death benefit, lapse protection, protected value (to keep market downtowns from reducing your accumulated long-term care benefits) and return of premium rider.

» Read the full review: Lincoln Financial life insurance

Best burial insurance: State Farm

Overview: If you don’t need much life insurance but want some coverage for end-of-life expenses, burial insurance may be a good choice. State Farm offers final expense policies that don’t require answering health questions or taking a medical exam, as long as you’re within the eligible age range (45 to 80 in most states).

State Farm was the highest-ranking life insurer for customer satisfaction in J.D. Power’s 2024 Individual Life Insurance Study — the fifth year in a row the company took top honors.

Coverage amounts: $10,000 to $15,000.

Issue ages: 45 to 80 in most states (50 to 75 in New York).

Riders: None.

» Read the full review: State Farm life insurance

Best guaranteed universal life insurance: Penn Mutual

Overview: Guaranteed universal life insurance may be an appealing choice for people in midlife who want the security of permanent coverage without the lofty price tag. Like permanent policies, guaranteed universal policies can last your entire life, but they build up very little cash value — which means they’re more affordable than many other permanent policies.

Penn Mutual’s Guaranteed Protection Universal Life policy has a guaranteed death benefit as long as you keep paying your premiums, with no-lapse protection till age 121. You can pay your premiums every year, every month or another frequency in between. You can also skip or postpone payments if you have enough cash value to cover them.

Coverage amounts: Starting at $50,000 (or $100,000 if you’re age 56+ at time of issue).

Issue ages: 0 to 85.

Riders: Accelerated death benefit, accidental death benefit, children’s term insurance, chronic illness accelerated benefit and guaranteed increase option, among others.

» Read the full review: Penn Mutual life insurance

Best for people with health conditions: Guardian

Overview: By midlife, many Americans have picked up at least one chronic health issue — which can make it harder and more expensive to buy life insurance.

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But you can still get life insurance with pre-existing conditions.

Guardian tends to be more willing than other insurers to cover people with health issues, even offering policies to people with HIV. Guardian’s life insurance options include term policies ranging from one to 30 years, plus whole and universal policies.

With excellent financial strength ratings and a low ratio of consumer complaints, Guardian is a solid pick for a variety of life insurance shoppers.

Coverage amounts: Vary by policy.

Issue ages: Vary by policy.

Riders: Depending on which policy you choose, rider options could include an accelerated death benefit, accidental death benefit, guaranteed renewability, paid-up additions, term conversion and waiver of premium.

Why get life insurance in midlife

Life insurance is a good idea at any age if people in your life depend on your income. That could mean a partner, kids, aging parents or employees of a business you own. If you die prematurely or unexpectedly, your financial dependents might struggle. Having a life insurance policy can ease that burden.

There are other reasons to buy life insurance at this age. The payout from your policy could help with:

• Covering your funeral, burial or cremation costs. The median cost of a casket, funeral and burial was $8,300 in 2023, the last year for which data is available.

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• Paying off debt, such as a mortgage or loan. The responsibility of loans could fall to your heirs, who may be unprepared to handle these expenses.

• Leaving an inheritance. You may wish to leave a legacy for your children or grandchildren.

• Contributing toward college tuition. If you haven't started a college savings account, life insurance could help provide funds for your children or grandchildren.

• Supporting a cause. You can name a charity or other organization as a beneficiary on a life insurance policy.

How to choose the best life insurance for people over 40 or 50

There are two main types of life insurance. Term life insurance expires after a set period of time (like 10, 20 or 30 years), while permanent life insurance typically lasts the rest of your life. Depending on the policy you pick, you may be able to customize your coverage with riders.

When you’re in the market for life insurance, consider these options:

• Term life insurance is designed to cover the years people depend on your income. You can choose a term that will run out around the time your need for life insurance ends, such as when the kids move out or the house is paid off.

• Whole life insurance is the most popular type of permanent coverage. It builds cash value over time and usually lasts a lifetime, so it’s often used in estate or retirement planning. You can use whole life insurance to ensure your dependents receive a payout no matter when you die, or as a way to build up retirement funds after maxing out your 401(k) and other retirement savings accounts.

• Universal life insurance is a type of permanent life insurance that offers flexible premiums and death benefits. The cash value also grows at a guaranteed minimum interest rate, so you can expect predictable returns. Since universal life insurance allows you to adjust your coverage based on your needs over time, you’ll need to pay closer attention to your policy.

• Group life insurance is free or low-cost coverage, usually offered as an employee benefit. The death benefit is typically worth a specific amount, like one year of your annual salary, and doesn’t require a medical exam.

• Burial insurance is designed to cover the cost of a funeral and end-of-life expenses, so the death benefit is typically capped at low amounts. Policies are often “graded,” which means you might have less coverage for the first two years the policy is in effect. This type of whole life insurance may be a good value if you have underlying medical conditions that would disqualify you from other coverage types.

» MORE: Compare life insurance quotes

Buying extra life insurance coverage in your 40s or 50s

Perhaps you already have coverage, whether it’s group life insurance through your employer or a policy you took out years ago. But maybe you’ve reached a point where you wonder whether you have enough.

You can own more than one life insurance policy. This is helpful if you find yourself taking on additional financial obligations, such as a mortgage or care of aging parents. You can also "ladder" multiple life insurance policies in a way that makes it more affordable than buying a single, larger policy.

There are various ways to figure out how much life insurance you need, but the general idea is to calculate your long-term financial obligations and subtract the value of your assets. Life insurance helps pay for the remainder if you die.

Use our tool below to estimate your life insurance needs.

Costs of life insurance in middle age

The main factors that affect life insurance rates are age, health and lifestyle, which is why it’s important to buy a policy as soon as you identify a need for it. That way, you’ll be able to lock in the lowest rates possible.

Annual cost of term life insurance

Here are sample rates for a $500,000, 20-year term life insurance policy for nonsmoking applicants in good health. These prices reflect annual rates.

Annual cost of whole life insurance

The price of permanent coverage, such as whole life insurance, will typically be much higher than for term life. Part of the extra premium goes toward building cash value.

Here are sample rates for a $500,000 whole life insurance policy for nonsmoking applicants in good health. These prices reflect annual rates.

» MORE: Average life insurance rates

More about top-rated life insurance companies

Looking for a different type of life insurance policy? Check out NerdWallet’s top picks across these categories: